African American Financial Capability Initiative
The Tacoma Urban League and the University of Washington Tacoma Center for the Study of Community and Society are engaged in a collaborative effort to conduct local community research as part of the Northwest Area Foundation's African American Financial Capability (AAFC) Initiative.
Funded by the Northwest Area Foundation, the new AAFC initiative works to advance the financial capability of communities in cities with the highest African-American populations within the Northwest Area Foundation’s region: Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota; Portland, Oregon; Seattle and Tacoma, Washington; and Des Moines, Iowa. The goal of the AAFC Initiative is to improve and protect the economic security of African Americans in the Northwest by strengthening asset-building services, sharpening policy advocacy strategies and growing leadership capacity.
Students from Instructor Alex Morrow’s undergraduate classes in African American History and Labor Studies classes are participating in what Morrow calls “A project that no one at UW had done, one that is unique to UWT.” This project compiles a Poverty Report based on detailed local community research. The goal of the Center is to replicate and publish the Poverty Report research each year. Morrow is the 2016 Acting Director for the UW Tacoma Center for the Study of Community and Society.
In partnering with the Tacoma Urban League, the Center will provide additional graduate student research efforts that link directly to the goals of the AAFC Initiative. Victoria Woodards, President of the Tacoma Urban League notes that, “Partnering with the UW Tacoma will provide us with important data and research that will be of considerable value as we embark on a multi-year project that will impact the local African American community in meaningful ways.” The Tacoma Urban League hosts the AAFC Initiative Community of Practice whose members include The Northwest Leadership Foundation, The Tacoma Ministerial Alliance, The Tacoma NAACP Chapter, and The United Way of Tacoma Pierce County.
To learn more about the this project please contact the Tacoma Urban League AAFC Initiative Project Manager William Towey via email at toweyw@uw.edu or by phone (253) 383-2007 at the Tacoma Urban League.