By Dustin Tyler Joyce
February 2, 2009

"If we are to learn anything from the global economic crisis we are facing now, it is that financial education is more important than ever," said Conference President Miami Mayor Manny Diaz as he presented the fifth-annual Dollar Wi$e Capacity Grants awards. The grants of $25,000 to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, $15,000 to Conference Vice President Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, and $15,000 to Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey were presented during the 77th Winter Meeting of The U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington (DC) January 18.

San Francisco will use its $25,000 grant to strengthen its Bank on San Francisco initiative, which was developed under Newsom's direction and has become a national model for helping the "unbanked" develop a relationship with a mainstream financial institution. Newsom noted that 54 percent of African Americans and 57 percent of Hispanics in San Francisco were among the city's estimated 50,000 unbanked households. Now, Newsom reported, 24,714 have opened a bank account through Bank on San Francisco in just the past two years.

"It's not just about wealth creation in the context of wages," Newsom stated in accepting the award. "It's about getting people the opportunity to get banked, build their credit ratings, be able to leverage those credit ratings in terms of loans and opportunity, and to change a check-cashing mentality to a banking mentality, which is dramatic in its impact and consequences." The Dollar Wi$e Capacity Grant will allow Bank of San Francisco to extend its outreach and offer financial education to the program's participants, teaching them how to maximize the benefits of their new bank accounts.

Seattle plans to use its grant of $15,000 to further the financial education component of its Bank on Seattle-King County initiative, which is based on the San Francisco model. In addition to reaching out to the Seattle area's estimated 52,000 households without a bank account, Bank on Seattle-King County is offering financial education to the unbanked and other area residents through a network of nonprofit organizations. Materials on bank accounts and personal and family financial management are being translated into 12 languages, including Amharic, Cambodian, Chinese, Korean, Laotian, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrigna, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. "It is a great program. It reaches out to people who need to have the services that these financial institutions can provide," commented Nickels. "And it creates a real sense of social and economic justice in our community."

Omaha provides financial education, technical support, and microloans to low- and moderate-income business owners in the city through the Micro Business Development Program. "Government works best when people work together," Fahey explained. "We … form collaborative partnerships, working through the banks, the credit unions, the chamber of commerce, and the United Way of the Midlands to make sure we're reaching out to those people who need the help the most, to make sure they understand the value of financial literacy, [and to] make sure they understand the value of savings." The city's grant will help expand its Workplace Financial Education Program, offering free financial education and household financial planning to employees of businesses in Omaha.

The three recipients were chosen from a field of 34 applicants. "The three cities we are recognizing through these Dollar Wi$e Capacity Grant awards demonstrate how America's mayors are leading the way on financial literacy," Diaz stated. "We commend them and thank them for their work."

The Dollar Wi$e Capacity Grants Program awards cities that participate in the Dollar Wi$e Campaign and demonstrate outstanding and innovative ongoing financial literacy programs for their citizens. The program was established five years ago and is funded through the financial support of Bank of America. The next application period for the Capacity Grants is expected to open in fall 2009, with grants awarded in January 2010.

For more information on the Mayors' National Dollar Wi$e Campaign, contact Dustin Tyler Joyce at 202.861.6759 or djoyce@usmayors.org, or visit www.dollarwiseonline.org.