State Assets Policy Projects
CSD is collaborating with faculty and staff at the G. W. Carver Agricultural Experiment Station at Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama to develop state and regional asset-building coalitions in the southern Black Belt region. Goals of the project are to build capacity for an inclusive statewide and regional asset-building coalition in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi using Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as partners. Central to the vision of the project is raising awareness that will strengthen asset-building strategies in the Black Belt region. The project disseminates information about asset-development initiatives such as financial literacy and education programs, access to banking, Individual Development Account programs, land loss and ownership, pre- and post-hurricane recovery strategies, new strategies to deliver asset-building programs, policy, and research initiatives, and new approaches to develop unique partnerships and collaborations.
View information on coalition development meetings. MOKANSave is a bi-state coalition that brings together non-profit and community-based organizations, financial institutions, legislators, policy advocates, private foundations, and other stakeholders to explore the potential for asset-building policies and programs in Missouri and Kansas. Created by CSD, MOKANSave has sponsored, organized, and hosted five community forums and one bi-state conference on Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) and other asset-building strategies. The State Assets Policy Project (SAPP) informs development of asset-building policies at the state level. SAPP is specifically designed to include traditionally marginalized groups.
SAPP projects include the Rural Wealth project, which focuses on marginalized rural communities, and the coalition-building project in Black Belt states, which focuses on land loss associated with natural disaster and racial disparities. SAPP offers state-by-state asset-building policy information to policy makers and program staff, and supports formation of state-level asset-building coalitions.
In addition, CSD hosts annual conferences that bring stakeholders together to discuss policy, share best practices, and plan for the future.
Funding provided by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Past funders include the Ford Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, F.B. Heron Foundation, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and the MetLife Foundation. As industry has replaced agriculture in much of the country, rural America has experienced a hollowing out of assets. In addition, rural communities have struggled to maintain economic, social, and political stability while suffering major declines in population. The Wealth Building in Rural America project conducted research on asset development in rural America, with a focus on underserved populations, such as people of color, immigrants, and people with disabilities.
Funding provided by National Rural Funders Collaborative, F.B. Heron Foundation, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation. |
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