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Real solutions for closing the very real racial wealth gap
The racial wealth gap is well-documented and undisputedly real. The median white family has 41 times more wealth than the median African-American family and 22 times more wealth than the median Latino family. And things are getting worse, not better: The proportion of black families with zero or negative wealth rose by 8.5 percent to…
2018 Ascend Fellow Action Plans
Kwame AnkuChairman and CEOBlack Star Fund Sacramento, CAMy Vision – The problem I am focusing on solving is breaking the economic disparity cycle afflicting people of the African diaspora. I call my bold vision 100X100. It is a vision of 100 Black investment managers who will each manage $100M innovation funds by 2025. I believe we…
Survey: Americans increasingly support two-generation programs for families
According to 2018 election eve survey research by Lake Research Partners, two-generation programs have seen increasing public support since 2012 across party lines. In the most recent survey, 86 percent of Americans believe that if we want to make sure children from families with low incomes are successful in their early learning, then we also…
Dreams Don’t Work Unless We Do
Ascend at the Aspen Institute and GOOD+ Foundation convened fathers, researchers, thought leaders, policymakers, and social service program leaders to explore the father factor – a critical link in building strong families and communities – at the end of November 2018. Reverend Dr. Raphael Gamaliel Warnock, Ascend Fellow, and senior pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church…
Place Matters: A 2Gen Approach to Housing
Place matters in the lives of families. Homes are the anchor for family life, and the quality of one’s housing is an important determinant of health and economic outcomes. With collectively more than 100 years of policy expertise and values-based leadership between us, Ascend and the Housing Opportunity and Services Together (HOST) initiative at the…
Q&A with Philanthropist and Author Carrie Morgridge
This summer, author Carrie Morgridge, Vice President and Chief Disruptor of the Morgridge Family Foundation, released her newest book, The Spirit of the Trail: A Journey to Fulfillment Along the Continental Divide, chronicling the 46-day, 2,774 mile-long bike trip of a lifetime that she and her husband, John, completed in the summer of 2016. It…