BALTIMORE, MD. (Wednesday, January 26, 2022) —Today, Mayor Brandon M. Scott joined JPMorgan Chase, Deputy Mayor for Health, Equity, and Human Services Faith Leach, Emi Reyes from the Latino Economic Development Center, and Bree Jones, Founder and CEO of Parity Homes, to announce a $20 million commitment from JPMorgan Chase towards economic equity and mobility in Baltimore City.

JPMorgan awarded  POWER: Prioritizing Our Women’s Economic Rise collaborative led by the Latino Economic Development Center, in partnership with the City of Baltimore, University of Maryland, Baltimore (Baltimore Community Engagement Center), Black Women Build Baltimore, Baltimore-D.C. Building Trades, and Baltimore Community Lending a $5 million grant as part of the Advancing Cities challenge. The collaborative will increase economic development opportunities — small business, workforce, and real estate development — for Black and Latina women in West Baltimore. 

The initiative seeks to reform the City’s vacant housing disposition process by removing barriers for small Black and Latina women developers to access properties in underdeveloped West Baltimore communities. Finally, the initiative will help Black and Latina developers access flexible capital, including grants to close the appraisal gap on vacant homes in West Baltimore neighborhoods.

In addition, JPMorgan awarded $2 million to Parity Homes to create 200 new homeownership opportunities for low-income households and a construction apprenticeship program. This initiative will help scale up community-centric development models and increase demand for homeownership opportunities in neighborhoods experiencing hyper vacancy. The goal is to create pathways for existing residents and other social collectives to purchase homes together block-by-block as a means of community-building and wealth-building.  

“I want to start by thanking JPMorgan Chase for committing $20 million towards closing the racial wealth divide in the Baltimore region,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “This critical investment ties directly into our shared vision for equitable, community-based development and economic growth across Baltimore City. We can’t emerge as a stronger community if we don’t invest in the economic well-being of Black and Latina women.”

"Thanks to this investment from JPMorgan Chase, the POWER collaborative will be able to develop wealth-building pathways for Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed (ALICE) Black and Latina women in West Baltimore," said Deputy Mayor Faith Leach. "These pathways will be across three main accelerators: Small business development, skills training, and affordable real estate development/homeownership. By providing training in these key areas, direct support to grow women entrepreneurs, and by supporting a specific sector of high impact women entrepreneurs – affordable housing developers – we can create a continuum of wealth creation for Black and Latinx women and contribute to a safe, healthy, and thriving communities in West Baltimore and across the City."

The $20 million for Baltimore City is part of a broader $75 million five-year commitment from JPMorgan Chase to the Greater Washington region. 

Plans for the remaining $13 million will be announced in the coming months. 

“Business must do its part to help solve challenges facing the customers and communities it serves,” said Peter Scher, Vice Chairman, JPMorgan Chase & Co. “Addressing inequities requires concerted and sustained efforts by public and private sector partners that seek to build wealth for Communities of Color. This new commitment, along with what we’ve learned from growing our business and community support here, will hopefully be a model for others to follow and help create meaningful, lasting, and equitable change in the region.”

Today's announcement is part of JPMorgan Chase’s $30 billion racial equity commitment to advance economic inclusion and help close the racial wealth gap.

The JPMorgan Chase AdvancingCities initiative has been active in the Greater Washington region since 2017. This is the first investment in Baltimore City.