Finances FYI Presented by JPMorgan Chase
By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Black History Month is a time to reflect on the contributions that Black people have made not only to America, but to humanity as a whole. While we reflect and honor Black trailblazers in many fields, including W.E.B. Dubois, Madame CJ Walker, Jesse Owens, Oprah Winfrey, Thurgood Marshall, The Tuskegee Airmen and others, it also is a time to celebrate the strength, wisdom, innovation and perseverance of Black people.
“I love Black history,” says Shelia Winston, a Senior Business Consultant with Chase. “If we look over the years at all the different things that Black people have had to overcome, the challenges they’ve had to face, it is really, really good that we get a chance to celebrate it.”
For Winston, Black History Month is also a time to cherish Chase’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, which is an important part of the company’s culture. While advancing racial equity has been part of Chase’s corporate philosophy for some time, it is their $30 billion commitment towards racial equity in the areas of affordable housing, small business, financial health, and in unbanked and underbanked communities that is setting the tone for the way the company plans on doing business in the future.
“I’ve worked for a lot of banks, and I can say that JP Morgan Chase has definitely, by far, exceeded them all when it comes to understanding what is going on in the communities and putting forth programs,” says Winston.
“Diversity, equity and inclusion has always been a part of the JP Morgan theme,” added Winston. “They have put a lot of emphasis on it. I know there has been a lot of things that have happened over the years, but I can say that we have all had meetings and training on addressing those subjects. In October of 2020, Chase made a $30 billion commitment to actually do things to advance the racial equity gaps.”
According to Winston, Chase has opened 14 Community Center branches across the country and that are locally inspired and built with extra space to host free community events and financial health workshops, and they have hired nearly 150 community managers as a part of their commitment. In the Puget Sound area, Chase has hired two certified Senior Business Consultants, who provide free one-on-one coaching and advice to local Black, Hispanic, Latino and underbanked small business owners on everything from boosting creditworthiness to managing cash flow to effective marketing.
“Our focus at Chase is to primarily provide one-on-one coaching to individuals and small business owners across the Puget Sound, Seattle and Tacoma and we talk to mostly to Black, Hispanic and Latinos because they are mostly considered under-banked,” says Winston. “And in doing that, we teach them how to scale their businesses and how to manage cash flow, marketing, credit, business development, all the tools that their businesses will need to help them grow and scale.”
Through its investments towards racial equity, Chase is making a commitment to underserved and underbanked communities in Seattle and the surrounding areas that positively impact these communities and hopefully create personal legacies that we will cherish, reflect upon and highlight in the future.
As Black History Month is well underway, Black professionals such as Shelia Winston, exalt in the moment of celebration of the countless contributions Black people have made in the name of humanity. Winston herself continues her work with JP Morgan Chase in educating and guiding communities of all backgrounds in the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, financial literacy, wealth building, homeownership and entrepreneurship – which are all aspects of building legacy and creating a history of your own.
“I love the fact that we can celebrate for one month and so we can think out what happened and what we have been through,” says Winston. “So, it’s a time for me to express myself personally and professionally and recognize what myself, as a Black American, and what I’ve had to overcome and the challenges I’ve faced; and our history, legacy, contributions and all the stuff that we have been through in society and go. It is a time to recognize that we too have history and to be proud as a Black Americans,” says Winston.
Finances FYI is presented by JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase is making a $30 billion commitment over the next five years to address some of the largest drivers of the racial wealth divide.
