ANCHORAGE – Today, the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund) announced that the Municipality of Anchorage is one of ten cities to receive a planning grant and technical assistance to identify and plan for local municipal financial empowerment strategic priorities. The CFE Fund’s CityStart initiative, with support from JPMorgan Chase and others, offers mayors and their administrations a structured approach to identify financial empowerment goals, convene stakeholders for sustainable success, develop concrete strategies, and ultimately craft an actionable blueprint rooted in local priorities and opportunities. Anchorage will receive an intensive 6-9 month technical assistance engagement partnership, along with a $20,000 planning grant.
“In today’s dynamic economy, financial empowerment can help catapult a family forward—and that’s great for the entire community, because the more we know, the faster we grow,” said Mayor Ethan Berkowitz.
“Cities control a host of policies, programs, and funding streams that can transform the lives of residents with low incomes on a large scale. Across the nation, more and more city leaders are embracing high-quality financial empowerment programs to improve the financial stability of their city residents and communities,” said Jonathan Mintz, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. “We congratulate Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and look forward to working with him to empower Anchorage residents, and we thank JPMorgan Chase for their longstanding commitment to and investment in municipal financial empowerment.”
The CityStart initiative draws on the CFE Fund’s extensive programmatic work with local government leaders in over 60 cities, connecting on-the-ground insights about the impact of financial instability on families, communities, and municipal budgets with tangible, measurable, and sustainable municipal strategies to improve families' financial lives. Under the CityStart initiative, Mayor Berkowitz, working with the CFE Fund, will host a day-long municipal financial empowerment "boot camp" event that will bring together key local constituencies from municipal departments, local funders, and community organizations. Based on issues identified in the boot camp in coordination with the Anchorage i-Team and ongoing homelessness prevention and diversion efforts, Anchorage will craft a municipal financial empowerment blueprint identifying actionable implementation steps. CityStart cities have historically leveraged their engagement with the CFE Fund to further their commitment to this work. For example, the Cities of Syracuse, NY and Shreveport, LA used CityStart to plan a Financial Empowerment Center that offers one-on-one financial counseling to city residents. Support from the CFE Fund will allow Anchorage to improve financial stability and quality of life for Anchorage residents.
For more information, contact Kristin DeSmith, Communications Director, (907) 343-7133.
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About the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund)
The CFE Fund supports municipal efforts to improve the financial stability of households by leveraging opportunities unique to local government. By translating cutting edge experience with large scale programs, research, and policy in cities of all sizes, the CFE Fund assists mayors and other local leaders to identify, develop, fund, implement, and research pilots and programs that help families build assets and make the most of their financial resources. The CFE Fund also supports the award-winning Cities for Financial Empowerment Coalition, a 10-year-old organization whose invited member cities share best practices and cutting edge strategies for municipal financial empowerment success. For more information, please visit http://www.cfefund.org/ or follow us on Twitter at @CFEFund.