Paving Different Paths to the Desired Result 

In 2013, I was teaching cross multiplication to my Algebra II students when I noticed one child getting frustrated at how I did the work. We talked during the class, and I learned they were upset because their Algebra I teacher (whom they loved) taught them a different way to do it the year before. We were a small school, so after class that day, the Algebra I teacher did me a huge favor and came in to show the kids that one could get the right answer with either method. This lesson from my time as a teacher has followed me at every level of my career since. If I’m going to try to achieve something with a group of people, I need to be able to explain clearly what the final product looks like, how I got there, and that different paths can lead to the desired result. As I moved from teaching to nonprofits to my current role as a funder, I’ve learned that sharing our vision with collaborators helps us to pressure test our intent and create a more complete illustration of what we’re trying to accomplish. 

One of the core objectives the Trust’s Growing Household Wealth strategy is working to accomplish is increasing incomes. By releasing the Income Growth Solutions Open RFP, we want to make clear that income growth is a necessary element in our wealth-building equation. In the recent Financial Health Pulse 2022 Chicago report, Financial Health Network found that “just 40 percent of Black and 44 percent of Latinx Chicago residents with household incomes of $100,000 or more are considered Financially Healthy, compared with 69 percent of white residents in the same income bracket.” Facing such data, one might ask why investing in income growth is meaningful if, even after making a six-figure salary, just being financially healthy is elusive. Why not focus on asset building and debt reduction instead? To that question, the math teacher in me loves to respond, “We cannot skip steps in this room.” By treating income growth as a variable to skip or ignore or something we cannot explain, we make economic mobility feel unachievable. The good life shouldn’t feel out of reach for any of us. Instead of looking at that variable and feeling helpless, let’s unpack what prevents Black and Latinx Chicagoans from building wealth and feeling financially healthy at the rates of their white counterparts. 

First, I deeply believe in the value of education. But higher education in its current form has saddled generations with unmanageable debt burdens producing a system of predatory inclusion that reduces and eliminates the promised stability traditionally associated with a college degree. Second, being in the workforce or having a good job alone is not enough to drive income growth. Benefits beyond pay, such as health care, retirement accounts, and paid leave, are critical to building financial stability. Finally, financial stability is mostly a precondition and can be short-term. If income growth is to lead to building and maintaining wealth, routine positive cash flow and the ability to withstand financial shocks are needed.  

Income growth is about more than the dollars you make through your job. It is also about getting resources that ensure people can live comfortably and pass along some comfort and cushion to the next generation. We firmly believe that to make income growth a positive variable in the wealth-building equation, as a funder, we must support quality employment, quality education, and quality financial health opportunities. Everyone faces financial storms; the pandemic made that plain. Typically, how we’ve been able to bounce back has not been equal. We hope, through this RFP, we can start uplifting strategies that help people get to the quality of life they desire. The Income Growth Solutions RFP will fund new and existing projects, whether a program for college completion, helping folks navigate changing their job into a career, or being innovative about the types of support workers are provided beyond their wages. This work is personally important to me because my vision is a Chicago where regardless of your career, we all feel like the good life is within our grasp. To close the racial and ethnic wealth gap in Chicago, we must ensure income growth is seen as something all Chicagoans feel is achievable.