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Supporting economic opportunity for diverse people & communities

At Bank of America, we have a long-standing commitment to support economic opportunity for diverse people and communities. It’s critical to how we drive Responsible Growth by delivering for our teammates, clients and shareholders and addressing society’s biggest challenges.

We have worked broadly in these areas for many years. Internally, this is core to being a great place to work, hiring and recruiting diverse talent to ensure strong representation in our workforce, and aligned policies and accountabilities. Externally, this is core to our client-driven approach, delivering products and services that meet the diverse needs of our clients, and investing our resources to support our communities and the issues affecting them.

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We invest equity in minority- and women-led funds which, in turn, invest in diverse entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and drive economic opportunity in their communities.

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2023 Neighborhood Builders Awardee Cheryl Crazy Bull

Our Neighborhood Builders® program is one of the largest investments into nonprofit leadership development in the nation, providing funding and leadership training to nonprofits that are advancing economic mobility and building up underserved neighborhoods.

Meet the Neighborhood Builders® making a difference
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A partner for progress

We’re focused on building financial security and wealth across diverse communities through a comprehensive approach that includes delivering products and services that meet the needs of all clients, and investing resources to support our communities and the issues that affect them. This includes our work to connect more individuals and families to affordable housing and home ownership, capital to start and grow small businesses, good jobs with living wages and better access to healthcare.

In order to drive real progress, we recognize that we share in the responsibility to do more. We also know we can’t solve these challenges alone, so we’re partnering with other corporations, local nonprofits and community leaders across the country who share our vision for creating meaningful change. We are invested in this work, just as we are invested in the communities we serve every day. We do this not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because it is critical to how we drive Responsible Growth.

The urgency we feel to address long-standing issues of inclusion and racial inequality has only increased. Across the public and private sectors, it is clear that we must do more – to take action, help others convene, and serve as a catalyst for a broad-based, collective response to the critical issues affecting our nation.
Brian Moynihan
Brian Moynihan  |  Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Construction Workers Looking Plan

Driving change for good

We know that as a bank, we can empower people in their personal and professional lives. We are focused on supporting economic opportunity in diverse communities. We are doing this by building upon our existing efforts and leveraging our strengths: creating more affordable housing and expanding home ownership, increasing lending and support to minority-owned small businesses, championing job training and career readiness and addressing health disparities like access to care.

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Jobs and career training

Access to a quality education and skills training are critical to competing for better jobs. As part of our commitment to supporting economic opportunity for diverse people and communities, we’ve invested $25 million to advance reskilling and upskilling of students through partnerships with employers and 21 historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions and community colleges. These partnerships ensure that coursework directly prepares students for specific hiring needs. By addressing skill gaps, these institutions will boost students of color toward higher-paying, family-sustaining jobs.

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Creating access to jobs

To help create jobs and fuel economic opportunity, we're partnering with local organizations and other companies to help people get the skills they need and build a growing pipeline of talent for jobs of the future.
Graduates at New Mexico University

More jobs for the Navajo Nation

With degree programs and internships, this New Mexico University is preparing indigenous students for careers.
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A Career In Tech, No Degree Required

Watch how skills training brought three young people into the tech job market - and learn about the organizations that helped them start on a path to financial security and career satisfaction.
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Expanding homeownership and affordable housing

Access to affordable housing and the ability to purchase a home are foundational to economic prosperity and the building of generational wealth. Our $15 billion Community Homeownership Commitment offers grants to help homebuyers make a down payment and pay closing costs on a home purchase. The program also provides low down payment, fixed-rate loans to new homebuyers. Through this work, we’ve helped over 30,000 individuals and families purchase a home through affordable loans. This is just a start, our goal is to enable 60,000 individuals and families to purchase a home by 2025.

We are also accelerating investments in affordable rental housing developments in communities of color, making early equity and debt investments of close to $5 billion per year to develop affordable housing units.

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Breaking new ground: the fight for affordable housing

Driven by a growing economy and strong stock market, home and rent prices have steadily increased for nearly 10 years straight. While this growth has been a boon for owners, renters are increasingly finding it harder to find stable, long-term housing.
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Why affordable housing is more crucial than ever

As housing affordability worsens, these nonprofits are providing stable homes in their communities
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More than a home

This affordable housing nonprofit in Boston's South End offers food, health, out-of-school programming and financial literacy to the city's Hispanic-Latino community.
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Business ownership

Decades of limited access to financial resources have left entrepreneurs across diverse communities with fewer opportunities to start a business. Addressing this gap requires significant change. That’s why we’re investing $350 million in funds that back minority- and women-led companies through capital investment by mission focused venture funds. These funds help owners establish and grow their businesses, create jobs and improve financial stability in local communities across the country. They also connect business owners to new groups of potential advisors and mentors, and new customers and investors, that ultimately help their businesses thrive. We expect our growing portfolio of funds to invest in 2,000+ minority- and women-led companies over the next five years.

The couple Tommy and Lisa Lau standing out of their Cypress, Texas coffee shop, wearing t-shirts that say “powered by coffee”

Asian American entrepreneurs: lessons in resilience and recovery

Why many Asian American business owners value the power of family — and the positive impact it has on communities.
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On course to empower women business owners

An expanding partnership with Cornell University is helping more women of diverse backgrounds flourish as entrepreneurs.
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Advancing economic opportunity for minority entrepreneurs

See how Bank of America’s partnership with Sweet Auburn Works is helping Revitalize Retail in the Sweet Auburn Historic District.
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Access to healthcare

When communities have greater access to healthcare, they also see lower unemployment rates and higher incomes. That’s why we’ve had a longstanding focus on basic needs addressing the economic and social conditions that influence an individual’s health. This includes local giving across more than 95 markets, a partnership with CVS Health to deliver free flu vaccine vouchers to underserved communities, work with Feeding America and local food banks, and supporting mental health initiatives for young people of color. Now, in collaboration with the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, the American Cancer Society and the University of Michigan School of Public Health, we’ve launched a new signature initiative to advance health and wellness for under-resourced communities.

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A collaborative model for improving community healthcare

San Francisco's largest public hospital has developed a ground-breaking interdisciplinary approach to help patients who deal with both homelessness and mental health issues.
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Job training for a healthier community

Faced with an aging population and a shortage of medical professionals, this Southern California nursing school is stepping up to help.
Photograph of a mother and child sitting in an exam room and speaking with a medical professional who is holding a computer tablet.

Advancing access to health care

Learn about our new $25 million, four-year initiative to advance health and wellness for under-resourced communities.
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Our impact

We are helping address society's challenges through partnerships that bring together leaders from business, government, and the nonprofit and academic worlds. Together, we can continue to drive progress and create more opportunity for diverse people and communities.

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Investments

Providing funding for equity funds and bonds focused on diverse people and communities and the environment

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Partnerships

Supporting organizations, colleges and universities focused on skills training and employer upskilling for diverse students

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Grants

Empowering individuals and local organizations to amplify their mission and impact

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$500 million

Committed to 150+ funds that will invest in more than 2,000 minority- and women-led companies over the next five years.

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$360 million

in philanthropic investments to drive economic mobility in the communities we serve, including workforce development and jobs, community development and affordable housing, and access to healthcare.

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$44 million

committed to 23 minority deposit institutions (MDI) and community development financial institutions (CDFI) banks supporting minority-owned businesses.

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21 partners

across higher education institutions focused on skills training and employer upskilling for Black and Hispanic students.

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30 years

of our formal Supplier Diversity & Responsible Sourcing Program, which supports diverse-owned suppliers — and we spend close to $2 billion with diverse suppliers each year.

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100,000+

women entrepreneurs (90% of whom identify as women of color) enrolled in Bank of America Institute for Women's Entrepreneurship at Cornell.

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$15 billion

commitment to help more than 60,000 individuals and families purchase affordable homes.

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$60 million

to increase access and career opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) affordable housing developers.

Exhibit Item 9 of 10
$10 million

grant to support the Center for Black Entrepreneurship, in partnership with Spelman and Morehouse colleges and the Black Economic Alliance.

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$2 billion

two Equality Progress Sustainability Bonds. The use of proceeds from these bond offerings are designed to advance racial and gender equality, economic opportunity and environmental sustainability.

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Delivering for Clients and Employees

We provide access to a wide range of products and services that are designed to meet the different needs of our diverse client base, including low-to-moderate income communities and clients looking to invest in responsible companies. As an employer, we continue to foster a diverse and inclusive environment for our associates and their families, and work constantly to expand our talent pool and work with diverse suppliers.

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Our ongoing commitment

We view this work as key to our role in society. It’s fundamental to how we run our company, support our teammates and deliver for clients. We firmly believe that as a financial institution it is our responsibility and part of our daily course of business to help to make financial lives better and improve the fabric of America.