Ornstein-Schuler Donates $25,000 to National Black Bank Foundation to Help Erase US Racial Wealth Gap

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The National Black Bank Foundation announced Tuesday it had received a $25,000 grant from Ornstein-Schuler Investments to accelerate the financial inclusion of disadvantaged communities of color.

"If all of corporate America got it like Ornstein-Schuler, the country's widening racial wealth gap would be a thing of the past," National Black Bank Foundation general counsel said. "OSI's support is helping to reverse decades of acute economic backsliding in Black and brown neighborhoods by nurturing community banks with a history of extending capital to borrowers of color."

In communities of color, Black banks are often the only source for non-predatory lending. Unfortunately, the Black bank sector has sharply contracted by more than 70 percent since the Civil Rights Movement, falling from more than 50 banks in 1976 to just 18 today. That retrenchment has forced many poor households in bank branch deserts to rely on costly alternatives like check-cashing schemes and payday loans.

Revitalizing Black banks ensures equitable access to capital for underserved communities of color and will help close America's racial wealth gap.

Forty-nine percent of Black households were underbanked or completely unbanked in 2019, compared to just 15 percent of white households, according to the Federal Reserve. The US Census Bureau's Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs found that Black families are rejected for credit at twice the rate for white applicants.

"Ornstein-Schuler is committed to supporting greater inclusion, diversity, and equity in the communities where we do business and nationwide," Frank Schuler, Co-Chief Executive Officer of The Ornstein Schuler Group of Companies, said. "Our company is proud to support the National Black Bank Foundation's critical efforts and mission. We hope that today's donation will help build Black banks and Black wealth, and we are thankful for NBBF's important, much-needed, and long-overdue work on this issue."

ABOUT THE NATIONAL BLACK BANK FOUNDATION

The NBBF provides nonprofit support to Black-owned banks through legal, regulatory, strategic, and technical advice and assistance. It provides concierge services to philanthropic foundations, corporations, family offices, and private individuals who wish to support the mission of Black-owned banks through capital investment and depository transactions. Last year, the NBBF facilitated a historic $35 million transaction between the Atlanta Hawks and a syndicate of 11 Black-owned banks.

Learn more at NBBFoundation.org.