By Allison Bajracharya

By Allison Bajracharya

As my America Achieves colleagues and I close out the year, there is much to be grateful for and even more to be hopeful about. Recently, I read Heather McGhee’s The Sum of Us, and in it, she discusses the concept of a solidarity dividend, whereby gains in economic growth and generational wealth are made when communities come together across race, geographic boundaries and historical divides, and the outcomes benefit everyone.

By Jon Schnur

Following the launch of the White House Talent Pipeline Challenge this summer, President Biden announced today that America Achieves, the Families and Workers Fund, and the What Works Plus Collaborative will work together to secure more than $70 million in aligned philanthropic commitments to advance the goals of the Talent Pipeline Challenge.

By Allison Bajracharya

Last week, President Biden, joined by Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, announced nearly $1 billion in Phase II grants for 21 regions (out of 60 finalists) in the Economic Development Agency’s (EDA’s) Build Back Better Regional Challenge (BBBRC).

By Jon Schnur

Later this morning at the White House, 60 extraordinary, bipartisan regional coalitions (selected by the U.S. Department of Commerce from 529 applicants) will be honored by President Biden, Secretary Gina Raimondo and others for their work. 

By Don Edwards

Growing up as an African American in the segregated South of the early 1950s, it would be very easy to look at the world, still, through the binary racial filter of my childhood – “beware whites, trust negroes.” The problem is those childhood filters had been rendered less effective by my lived experience.

By Andrew Trueblood

In the previous two posts on the Catalyze Blog, Jon Schnur, CEO of America Achieves, wrote about the optimism generated by the 60 finalists for the Economic Development Administration (EDA) Build Back Better Regional Challenge, and how momentum is growing – thanks to an increase in federal investment and a movement of local, regional, and state leaders in coalitions across the country.

By Jon Schnur

Amidst much existential anxiety about the prospects for our economy and democracy, two recent trends and developments offer tangible progress and hope. If these two strands can be brought together by communities and states, they can advance – place-by-place – a healthy and inclusive economy, vibrant careers, and tangible economic progress and optimism that can fuel democracy.

By Jon Schnur

As our world navigates unprecedented economic change, the reverberations of a lingering pandemic, a renewed focus on racial justice, and the resurgence of a contest between democracy and tyranny, the United States needs to invest in every community across our country – now, arguably, more than ever.