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‘Closing the Racial Equity Gap: A Call to Action’

The report, “Closing the Racial Equity Gap: A Call to Action,” is a result of a series of Homeownership Solutions Summits held in Arizona, California, and Nevada in 2022 and 2023. More than 150 housing advocates, member institutions, and other stakeholders gathered to develop evidence-based ways to boost access to mortgage financing and sustainable homeownership for people of color.

Published

2 years ago

November 4, 2023

Oakland Post

Teresa Bryce Bazemore is the CEO for FHLBank San Francisco.

Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco Recommends Ways to Close Racial Homeownership and Wealth Gaps in US

By Mary Long, Special to The Post

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBank San Francisco) released a package of recommendations to close the racial wealth gap in the United States.

The report, “Closing the Racial Equity Gap: A Call to Action,” is a result of a series of Homeownership Solutions Summits held in Arizona, California, and Nevada in 2022 and 2023.

More than 150 housing advocates, member institutions, and other stakeholders gathered to develop evidence-based ways to boost access to mortgage financing and sustainable homeownership for people of color.

Among the recommendations:

Expand mandatory financial education and begin teaching the basics in grade school.
Broaden the reach of down-payment assistance programs to include buyers who earn more than 80% of area median income.
Encourage the widespread adoption of novel or modern building practices that can bring down costs without sacrificing safety or comfort.
Provide support to elected officials in favor of higher-density zoning and less-restrictive land-use ordinances.
Modernize credit scoring to bring more creditworthy borrowers into the housing finance system.

According to the Urban Institute, in 1960, the gap between Black and white homeowners was less than 27 percentage points.

By 2019, it was nearly 30 points, the widest spread ever. Today, only 45.3% of Black households own a home, compared to 72.2% of whites and nearly 66% of the U.S. population.

The Federal Reserve acknowledges that the average Black family owned about 24 cents for every $1 of white family wealth as of the first quarter of 2023, while the average Hispanic family owned about 23 cents for every $1.

“The inequities entrenched in the homebuying process cannot be eradicated by a single entity or a single solution. To make meaningful change in the industry, we must bring all stakeholders together to consider the options and formulate approaches that make the most of the expertise at hand,” said FHLBank San Francisco CEO Teresa Bryce Bazemore.

“Our Homeownership Solutions Summits provided an opportunity for discussion and collaboration, and we now have pages of practical and sustainable action items that, together, can help people of color gain equal access to homeownership and wealth-building,” Bazemore said.

The Homeownership Solutions Summit series, the first of its kind among Federal Home Loan Banks, is a continuation of FHLBank San Francisco’s equity approach, which includes a two-year, $1.5 million partnership between the FHLBank of San Francisco and the Urban Institute.

Their Racial Equity Accelerator for Homeownership collaboration has produced groundbreaking research on the effectiveness of alternative underwriting methods, the impact of student debt on Black homeownership, the use of mortgage reserve products to help sustain homeownership, and coming soon, how best to harness the power of artificial intelligence for equity in mortgage financing.

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

1 week ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.