Four Accomplished Voices for the Vulnerable to Receive First Asset Builder Champion Awards

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Honorees Recognized as the Racial Wealth Gap Takes Center Stage on Capitol Hill with New Research, Recommendations

WASHINGTON—April 29, 2014—Four distinguished leaders in identifying and working to fix the nation’s wealth inequality problem will be honored for their long-time dedication to the effort this week as the issue receives heightened attention from Congress.

The Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative is honoring Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Thomas Shapiro, Ph.D., director, Institute on Assets and Social Policy, Brandeis University, with its Asset Builder Champion Award. Others receiving the award are Kilolo Kijakazi, Ph.D., program officer, financial assets and economic security unit, Ford Foundation and Saru Jayaraman, J.D., co-founder and director, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United.

The initiative will present the awards as it releases its Beyond Broke: Why Closing the Racial Wealth Gap is a Priority for National Economic Security. The report and its recommendations are the focus of a day-long summit Thurs., May 1 at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center. Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi will address attendees at 3 p.m.; the entire program will be streamed online and a full agenda is available at www.globalpolicysolutions.org.

The report found the average African American and Latino household owns only six and seven cents respectively for every one dollar in wealth held by the typical white family, and that the average liquid wealth of whites ($23,000 in cash reserves) is now over 100 times that of African Americans and more than 65 times that held by Latinos. The numbers are based on new analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

“The awardees provide us with research, policy and advocacy base with which to understand the depth of the racial wealth gap. The latest numbers about the racial wealth gap are incredibly disturbing in a country that appears to be as rich as America. These four individuals aid us in understanding why there is such a schism and what we must do to end it,” says Maya Rockeymoore, Ph.D., president, Center for Global Policy Solutions, which manages the initiative.

Saru Jayaraman, J.D.

Jayaraman, author “Behind the Kitchen Door” and co-founder, Restaurants Opportunities Centers United, has been a leading advocate for increasing the minimum wage including for tip workers who currently earn below the minimum wage in states across the country. Her strong voice has prompted policymakers at the federal and local levels to call for (and pass in some cases) higher minimum wage laws. She also provides a beacon of hope for workers at the margins of the economy who need a strong advocate to fight for their interests.

Kilolo Kijakazi, Ph.D.

Kijakazi has been an entrepreneur, analyst, scholar and funder dedicated to highlighting the racial wealth gap and its impact on minority businesses specifically and to communities of color generally. As a program officer at the Ford Foundation, she created and funded the Closing the Racial Wealth Gap initiative in 2005 and continues to support its Experts of Color Network. Her vision is to see the issue become a priority for policymakers who can close the gap.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)

Rep. Lee has been a steadfast champion for anti-poverty measures her entire career. She chairs the Democratic Whip’s Task Force on Poverty. As the single mother to two boys in the 1970s, Lee experienced firsthand the importance of American anti-poverty programs. When she was raising her sons and taking classes, public assistance was a bridge over troubled waters. Programs like unemployment insurance, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly called food stamps) are critical to lifting families out of poverty and Lee has fought to preserve and strengthen these public assets for all families.

Thomas Shapiro, Ph.D.

Shapiro had been a leading researcher uncovering the causes and scope of the racial wealth gap. His path breaking work has helped guide advocates seeking to advance strategies to close the gap.  He co-authored “White Wealth/Black Wealth,” the first book to systematically analyze the racial wealth gap in the U.S. As the director of Brandeis University’s Institute on Assets and Social Policy, he is educating new generations of potential advocates and experts on this critical issue.

The ABC Awards will be presented Wednesday in D.C. The master of ceremonies will be Derek “Fonzworth Bentley” Watkins, who believes education opportunities are part of the pathway needed for closing the racial wealth gap.

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The Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative is a national collaborative effort managed by the Center for Global Policy Solutions in collaboration with the Insight Center on Community Economic Development and with generous support from the Ford Foundation. The program seeks to build awareness and support for efforts to address racial and ethnic wealth inequalities based on structural factors. To achieve this goal, more than 180 scholars, advocates, practitioners, and other experts of color have come together to inform the national economic debate with diverse perspectives and to provide policy solutions to create an inclusive and equitable future for all Americans.