Social Justice
What is Beneficial State doing to advance social justice? We think banks should not only create social impact, but reverse the harms done by the industry and use the levers we have to foster social justice. Banks have played a key role in creating deep racial wealth gaps and continue to perpetuate inequitable access to financial services. We must design strategies that enable inclusion, advocate for change, and invest in borrowers and projects that support a more socially just world.
DATA AT A GLANCE
* data as of December 31, 2021
$74
million
in loans to organizations building a more just economic system
$28
million
in loans to organizations explicitly working to advance social justice
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT
Social justice is defined as interventions, advocacy, and changes made to benefit individuals and groups who have been historically alienated and excluded from traditional financial systems in some way. Social justice should involve issues at the intersection of politics and the economy. Banks have the responsibility to account for the disproportionate lack of opportunity that some individuals or groups face when attempting to meet fundamental human needs. We have leverage as a bank to support and promote social justice.
OUR APPROACH AND IMPACT
We researched and referenced many sources such as the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights, Rawlsian theory, and The Movement for Black Lives, to develop a starting list of what people need to live a quality life, and to help us determine where the bank can be most helpful. From this research, we identified that all people should at minimum have access to:
- A Just Economic System with (1) income/good jobs, (2) leisure time, and (3) financial security.
- Housing that is available and affordable.
- Health and Safety in the form of (1) healthy food, (2) healthy environment, and (3) health care.
- Quality Education
- A Community that promotes and fosters cultural expression and community building with respect and non-discrimination.
- A Just Legal & Criminal Justice System
- A Just Political System
As a bank, we have multiple levers for change that we can apply when reviewing, planning and implementing the bank’s Commercial and Consumer products and the foundation’s Systems Change activities. Some of which are:
- Risk Management – underwriting standards, guarantees, credit worthiness
- Administration – pricing and fee structures, origination, servicing
- Protocol and Procedures – customer ID, organization ID, documents
- Engagement, Outreach Delivery – co-creation, marketing, community events
- Wrap-Around Services – financial education/health, referrals, collaborative partnerships
- Systems Change – education, policy advocacy, standard-setting
OUR IMPACT
Through our commercial lending, we have funded over $28 million in loans to entities that are explicitly working to advance social justice. Meanwhile, our mission-driven consumer lending team has provided over $165 million in auto loans with better pricing and terms for low-income and credit-challenged individuals.
Examples of the ways in which we use our levers as a bank to advance social justice.
A Just Economic System
Commercial Lending:
- $74 million in loans to organizations building a just economic system
Consumer Lending:
- $165 million in auto loans with ethical and transparent financing options, loan terms, and interest rates.
- Our team has worked to develop and require standards for auto dealers to prevent car buyers, particularly credit-challenged buyers, from getting overcharged by dealers.
Systems Change:
- We have endorsed public policy and funding to oppose payday and high-interest lending and consumer deregulation, and in support of policies and/or funding for savings programs for low income individuals, public banks, consumer protection agencies, and investments in low income neighborhoods through the CDFI program. We joined 130 banks to become a founding signatory of the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRBs). PRBs present a unique opportunity for triple-bottom-line banks like Beneficial State Bank to collaborate with mainstream banks to achieve shared sustainability goals.
- As a member of the California Reinvestment Coalition #HereToStay campaign, we advocate for financial inclusion, contributing research to inform public policy and better banking practices to increase economic opportunities for immigrants. See examples of how we have worked to defend the human rights and financial security of immigrant communities.
- We are a member of the California Public Banking Alliance to support the creation of public banks that are governed in the public interest to provide better liquidity, capital strength, and diversification.
Financial Information and Empowerment:
- We provide financial education through the Money Smart Program to enhance financial skills and create positive banking relationships. Financial education serves to get people the tools and capacity to manage their money, empowering them to plan for their own future.
Meet Our Clients:
They are doing the work to ensure that all people have just and equitable access to resources to empower themselves to reach and maintain financial sustainability. They inspire children and adults to continue education, gain job skills, pursue college, and embark on careers.
Housing
Commercial Lending:
- $286 million in loans to organizations that support the development and preservation of dedicated affordable housing as defined in our Definitions and Methodology page.
- Visit our Affordable Housing page to learn more about our commitment to providing available and affordable housing to everyone.
Systems Change:
- We have endorsed public policy and funding for affordable housing bonds and levies in Oregon and Washington and called for repealing Costa Hawkins to allow for local governance of rent control in California. Most recently we endorsed the Portland Metro’s HereTogether anti-homelessness measure, addressing chronic homelessness with a “housing first” approach. Visit our Corporate Activism page for more information on our endorsements and our values in action.
Meet Our Clients:
They are doing the work to build and revitalize communities by providing affordable housing, improving economic conditions, and giving people the tools and resources they need to build better lives.
John Stewart Company | Housing Hope | Hacienda CDC
Health and Safety
Commercial Lending:
- $190 million in loans to organizations that support health equity, food self-sufficiency, and environmental justice.
Consumer Lending:
- $22 million in grants to 4,417 low income Californians to purchase hybrid and electric vehicles through our Clean Vehicle Assistance Program.
- 854 disadvantaged community (DAC) grantees
Systems Change:
- We endorsed Fresno Measure P to support safe, clean, and accessible parks, particularly for neighborhoods without good access to parks. In Portland and Oregon, we endorsed measures supporting additional pollution fees and big retail tax that would go towards initiatives to address climate change, reduce pollution, and support green jobs particularly for underserved communities. Visit our Corporate Activism page for more information on our endorsements and our values in action.
- Stop the Money Pipeline: Along with the movement, we demand that banks, asset managers, insurance companies, and institutional investors stop funding, insuring, and investing in climate destruction.
- Move your Money: If fossil funders like Chase, Blackrock and Liberty Mutual won’t move their money, we will! Take action with your deposits and move them away from fossil fuel funders.
- We work with fossil fuel divestment campaigns that focus on indigenous land rights and multiracial coalition building.
Meet Our Clients:
They are dedicated to supporting health equity, through programs like addiction recovery services, sustainable urban farms that promote community food self-sufficiency, and community-led social justice movements to implement innovative solutions to poverty, environmental degradation, and climate change.
Grist | Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) | Options Recovery Services
Quality Education
Commercial Lending:
- $57 million in loans to organizations working to achieve equitable and quality education for all, including the distribution of resources needed to do so.
Systems Change:
- We supported California’s Student Borrower Bill of Rights to provide protections for student borrowers from abuses by student loan servicers.
Meet Our Clients:
They offer dedicated after-school programming that guides youth to explore their interests and passions, as well as to develop their voices and grow as students and individuals. Our clients saw the importance of equipping future leaders with the emotional skill set vital to expressing themselves peacefully and powerfully in a world determined to silence their voices.
Oakland Leaf | Green Plate Special
and Community Building
Cultural Expression and Community Building
Commercial Lending:
- $68 million in loans to organizations committed to building a community characterized by respect, diversity, and cultural expression.
Systems Change:
- We endorsed public policy and statements in support of reproductive rights, inclusivity, and sanctuary states.
Meet Our Clients:
They offer platforms for community members to gather for cultural celebrations as well as speak up on social justice and other critical issues. We also have clients that are strategic research groups with a focus on forecasting (future-forward thinking) so that they can bring people together to build a more sustainable, equitable, and just future. Other organizations are committed to supporting immigrants and communities of color to achieve social justice by using collective strengths to advance equity.
Lavender Rights Project | Council on American-Islamic Relations Washington | Brown Hope/Black Resilience Fund | APANO
Justice System
(Just) Legal and Criminal Justice System
Commercial Lending:
- $9 million in loans to organizations that are reforming the criminal justice system’s abusive practices, minimal evidence of rehabilitation, and failure to adequately address racial discrimination, as well as organizations that take proactive steps to employ formerly incarcerated people and provide re-entry services to formerly incarcerated people.
Systems Change:
- We support grassroots efforts to move money out of prisons and back into low-income communities that have suffered from divestment.
- Real Money Moves Campaign/ Break Up with your Bank private prison divestment campaign
- We use our platform to uplift police divestment movements and push financial institutions to stop funding weapons, stop funding the prison industry and immigration detention centers, and stop funding extractive practices.
Meet Our Clients:
Our clients are working towards eliminating the racial and ethnic disparity and addressing the unequal treatment of youth of color within the juvenile justice system. Other clients are fighting for justice by providing free legal services to their poorest and most vulnerable residents. They are showing what a more just economy looks like.
Inner City Law Center | Sexual Violence Law Center | New Breath Foundation
(Just) Political System
Commercial Lending:
- $4 million in loans to organizations working to empower, organize, and advocate within our communities for a new political system that is fair and just. By organizing community members, working with local policymakers, and advocating for civic engagement, a grassroots client of ours continues to work towards a just and equitable world where people of color are fully engaged in the social, economic, and political issues that affect us all.
Meet Our Clients:
Dolores Huerta Foundation (HDF)
MOVING FORWARD
In 2020, we embarked on a project with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition to help us identify, implement, and share promising Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices for the banking industry. The results of that effort can be found here. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee is currently working to set these goals and better integrate equity into all areas of Beneficial State internally and externally. We will share our process and progress as this initiative develops.
As the bank grows, we are also looking for opportunities to grow our business lines, scaling our existing services while also developing new products that serve specific, justice-driven goals–such as products designed to meet the needs of low-income people or people with low or no credit. You can learn more about the progress of our efforts in our annual Impact Report.
Featured Research & Innovations
Civicorps
Civicorps believe in supporting resilient youth to overcome barriers, cultivate their talents, and unleash their potential.
Oakland Leaf
Oakland leaf believes in cultivating community transformation through creative education for youth and families.
Inner City Law Center
ICLC fights for justice by providing free legal services to Los Angeles' poorest and most vulnerable residents.