Program Provides $400,000 in Flexible Funding and Leadership Skills Development Training to Advance Economic Mobility in Greater Boston

BOSTON – The Asian American Civic Association and La Colaborativa, formerly known as the Chelsea Collaborative, have been named as the 2020 Bank of America Neighborhood Builders® awardees for Greater Boston. The nonprofits were selected for their work in Massachusetts to address issues fundamental to economic mobility, specifically improving the social and economic health of minority communities.

As an awardee, each organization receives a $200,000 grant, a year of leadership training for the executive director and an emerging leader, a network of peer organizations across the U.S., and the opportunity to access capital to expand their impact. Since 2004, Bank of America has invested over $260 million in 50 communities through Neighborhood Builders, partnering with more than 1,300 nonprofits and helping more than 2,600 nonprofit leaders strengthen their leadership skills.

The Asian American Civic Association is a social service organization providing education, occupational training and other services to limited English-speaking people from low to moderate income neighborhoods. La Colaborativa is a grassroots nonprofit empowering Latinx immigrants to overcome social and economic barriers.

“As we consider many of the challenges that our community is facing – from the health and humanitarian crisis brought on by the coronavirus to the need for progress on racial equality and economic opportunity – the Neighborhood Builders program is a relevant and timely initiative to support the communities we serve,” said Miceal Chamberlain, Market President, Bank of America in Massachusetts. “This program enables partners like the Asian American Civic Association and the Chelsea Collaborative to plan strategically for growth and long-term sustainability, and we look forward to seeing how this investment helps them make even greater strides to address their mission.”

The Neighborhood Builders program is an opportunity to provide relevant skills development and topics to help nonprofit leaders address current and future community challenges. Each year, Bank of America refines the Neighborhood Builders Leadership Program to include topics ranging from strategic storytelling to human capital management, and highlights themes that are critical to moving the nonprofit sector forward within broader societal and economic context.

“It’s an incredible honor to be recognized by Bank of America with a Neighborhood Builder award for the work that we are doing to uplift Latinx immigrants in Massachusetts. Our Intergenerational Workforce Development Pipeline is fueling economic and social progress by connecting historically marginalized workers to the education, training, work, and leadership opportunities that will position them to achieve economic stability in their families,” said Gladys Vega, Executive Director of La Colaborativa. “It is hard work overcoming the many systemic barriers that have excluded Latinx immigrants from economic opportunity for so long. It’s an honor to be able to lead this work and to celebrate the growth and success of our members.”

Added Mary Chin, CEO of the Asian American Civic Association: “We have been fortunate to have Bank of America as a dedicated employer partner of our Careers in Banking and Finance (CBF) job training program for many years. Now, with this significant grant, BofA is enabling AACA to great increase our tech capacity and remote learning capabilities. This will empower AACA to reach even more at-risk immigrants and economically challenged individuals, not just through CBF, but through our other job training programs for diesel techs, heavy equipment operators, and building maintenance technicians, as well as through our educational and social support services. This is especially important during these challenging times.”

Since 2004, through its Neighborhood Builders program, Bank of America has partnered with 34 nonprofits in Greater Boston, investing $6.8 million to provide capacity building opportunities within the Boston area. The invitation-only program is highly competitive, and leading members of the community participated in a collaborative selection process to identify this year’s awardees. Examples of the leadership training topics include human capital management, increasing financial sustainability, and storytelling. Neighborhood Builders is just one example of how Bank of America deploys capital in communities, builds cross-sector partnerships, and promotes socioeconomic progress as part of its approach to responsible growth.

Recent Bank of America announcements focused on advancing economic mobility include:

• Bank of America Announces Seven Completed Equity Investments in Minority Depository Institutions and Community Development Financial Institution Banks
• $2 billion Equality Progress Sustainability Bond.
• Universal ESG Reporting; International Business Council of World Economic Forum.
• Top Global Bank on Fortune Change the World List.
• Bank of America Directs $300 Million of Its $1 Billion, Four-Year Commitment to Advance Racial Equality and Economic Opportunity.
• Expanding support of Boys & Girls Clubs of America with $1 million grant to support educational programs.
• $1 billion, four-year commitment to support economic opportunity initiatives.
• Committing $250 million in capital and $10 million in philanthropic grants to CDFIs.

Bank of America
At Bank of America, we’re guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. We’re delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. It’s demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Learn more at about.bankofamerica.com, and connect with us on Twitter (@BofA_News).

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