Newly announced Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative seeks to raise a quarter-of-a-billion dollars to address inequities and boost opportunity in Charlotte Mecklenburg

Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative

Committed to an equitable Charlotte, the Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative seeksto set the standard as an American city for achieving racial equity, social justice, economic opportunity and upward mobility through transformational public-private partnerships.

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The Agent of Change for Opportunity in Charlotte

WSOC TV • Kevin Campbell - June 10, 2019

“Our child and family stability strategies need to ensure that parents who are coming into a housing challenge of figuring out where they’re going to live have immediate access to resources,” Cooper-Lewter said. Among the many Cooper-Lewter has connected is a group of community organizations that have been champions for change, including, A Child’s Place, Community Link, Charlotte Works, Goodwill, Crisis Assistance Ministry, For Charlotte, Northside Baptist Church and more.

GreenLight Fund Invests $1 Million in Early Childhood Initiative

Queen City Nerve • Ryan Pitkin - May 29, 2019

“This investment connects directly to our early care and education strategies,” [Leading on Opportunity Executive Director] Cooper-Lewter continued. “It aligns and fills a gap where early care recommendations were not being addressed and says, ‘This is something that we can do differently as a community.’”

As Employment Rises, African American Transplants Ride Job Wave to the South

NPR • Daniella Cheslow - May 23, 2019

Don Thomas is on the front lines of that change. In Chicago, he and his wife Monica worked with children in the juvenile justice system until funding for their jobs ended. In Charlotte, he is the community impact director at Leading on Opportunity, an organization devoted to improving economic mobility in the city.

Taking the Lead: Leading on Opportunity Advances the Call for Economic Mobility

Foundation For The Carolinas • March 27, 2019

Launched in 2017, the Leading on Opportunity Council is already reshaping the way the community looks at economic mobility, from improving access to preschool to increasing funds for affordable housing.

How Charlotte Has Changed After Two Years of Focus on Economic Mobility

Charlotte Business Journal • Erik Spanburg - March 27, 2019

Affordable housing, economic mobility and more educational and training opportunities are all part of public-private efforts started two years ago with the release of a 73-page task force report. On Tuesday, CEOs, political leaders and nonprofit executives pledged to keep pushing for investments to improve the standard of living for people in need.

Boosting Economic Mobility Could Take a Generation, Leaders Are Told

WFAE • David Boraks - March 26, 2019

It's been two years since a task force of Charlotte leaders published the Leading on Opportunity report. It outlined 21 strategies to improve economic mobility after a national study ranked Charlotte last out of 50 cities. Hundreds of business and civic leaders gathered uptown Tuesday to review the effort so far.

Celebrating Our 50 Inaugural Opportunity Champions

Leading on Opportunity • Stephanie Cooper-Lewter - March 26, 2019

It's going to take all of us to move Charlotte from 50 out of 50 in economic mobility. So we set a goal to build an Opportunity Movement that celebrates everyone's contributions.

Leading on Opportunity Launches Community Impact Alliance

March 2019 Convening and Opportunity Cafe

Nearly 70 Opportunity Ambassadors from around the region came together throughout the afternoon with a common goal of improving economic mobility in Charlotte, while gathered at the International House on Central Avenue.

$70 Million for Affordable Housing in Charlotte

Charlotte Observer • Eli Portillo - January 15, 2019

Three major financial institutions are pledging more than $70 million to fund low-income housing developments in Charlotte, giving a boost to the city’s efforts to keep up with the fast-rising costs of renting or buying a home. Bank of America, Ally Financial and Barings said they will invest a combined $70.75 million through a series of initiatives. The bulk of it, $50 million, will be in the form of low-interest loans to private developers building income-restricted housing.