NYS Community Equity Agenda

About the Community Equity Agenda
The NYS Community Equity Agenda calls for policies and actions that transform our fundamentally unjust social, political and economic systems. It puts racial and economic justice front and center and addresses long-standing inequities that play out at neighborhood and regional levels. It requires decision-making led by people and communities typically left out of, and harmed by, status quo economic development.
Tackling our most existential crises – from climate devastation to persistent wealth inequality – requires transformational change. In the face of federal attacks on low-income people, immigrants, women, and people of color, the need for bold, local action has never been greater.
The Agenda is driven by a broad-based coalition of community, labor, civil rights, and legal services groups, cooperative organizations, and community development financial institutions. It sets forth an affirmative, solutions-oriented platform to transform how New York approaches economic development policy, by putting people before profit and communities before corporations.
2021 Community Wealth-Building Priorities
Our priorities for 2021 include concrete legislative and regulatory changes that New York can and should make right now to build community wealth and advance racial, economic, gender, and environmental justice.
1. Support Community-Controlled Finance, by funding the NYS Community Development Financial Institutions Fund and supporting mission-driven, neighborhood-based credit unions and loan funds.
2. Promote Workplace Democracy, by creating a NYS Worker-Ownership Center and providing other needed support for worker cooperatives.
3. Make Public Money Work for the Public Good, by divesting from Wall Street and making it easier for New York counties and municipalities to establish public banks.
4. End Wealth Extraction, by cracking down on persistent redlining, fringe financial services, and predatory lending.
Click here for highlights from 2019 NYS legislative session.
Click here for highlights from 2018 NYS legislative session.
Members*
Action For A Better Community
Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA)
Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association
Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union
CAMBA Legal Services
Center for Family Life
Chhaya CDC
City Roots Community Land Trust
Center for NYC Neighborhoods
Citizen Action of NY
Consumer Reports Advocacy
Cooperation Buffalo
Cooperative Federal Credit Union
DC-37
Empire Justice Center
Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island
Fruit Belt Community Land Trust
Genesee Co-op Federal Credit Union
Green Worker Cooperatives
Inclusiv
Latino Justice PRLDEF
The Legal Aid Society
Legal Services Staff Association, LSSA 2320, UAW/NOLSW 2320
Long Island Housing Services
Long Island Progressive Coalition
Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union
Mobilization for Justice
New Economy Project
NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives
New Yorkers for Responsible Lending
OWN Rochester
PathStone Enterprise Center
Pan-African Community Development Initiative
RWDSU
Take Root Justice
The Black Institute
US Federation of Worker Cooperatives
Western New York Law Center
Westminster Economic Development Initiative
WESPAC Foundation
*list in formation
Join the NYS
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Latest News & Updates
- Equity Agenda Statement in Solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives
- Equity Agenda Statement on Governor Cuomo’s “State of the State” Proposal to Expand Access to Financial Services
- How Financial Co-ops Are Helping Puerto Rico Rebuild — and Why It Matters for New York
- City Limits: NY Can Reduce Redlining’s Residue by Backing Credit Unions
- Action Alert: Stop Predatory Financial Services Bill, June 19, 2019
- Albany Drops the Ball on Community Development
- Buffalo News: Advocates Urge State Officials to Help Close Gap in Access to Capital
Resources
Video
CDFI Profile – Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union Learn about what makes Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union different from most other financial institutions. |
New York State Equity Agenda – Caucus Weekend 2019 Hear from members of the Equity Agenda coalition and elected officials on the need for a new approach to economic development in New York. |