Dear friends,

It was a hopeful and complicated year. The economy mostly rebooted and reopened after COVID lockdowns, layoffs and shutdowns, but families were still squeezed by persistent supply chain issues and spiking consumer prices. There was pent up public demand and political posturing to get “back to normal” – even though the pre-pandemic normal was grossly unfair and built on a foundation of inequality, racism and redlining. We reconvened in person for the 2022 Just Economy Conference, but millions of vulnerable Americans still needed to take strict precautions and limit social contact to protect their health.

Past injustices explain but do not excuse the present day racial wealth divide. At NCRC, understanding history is critical context for the solutions we seek to build a better future for all.

Our north star remains both clear and elusive: make a Just Economy a national priority and a local reality.

We do this through a unique and powerful mix of research, investigations, investments, media, grant-making, capacity-building, training, advocacy, litigation, convening and facilitation to expand equitable and inclusive access to credit, capital, jobs, housing, health, financial security and personal well-being.

We are proud to share this overview of our 2022 impact on behalf of our members, the communities we serve and the values we all share.

Here are a few highlights, and you’ll find more details in the report:

• We facilitated negotiations for community benefits agreements with seven banks that committed, in aggregate, $205 billion to low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities across the nation, in collaboration with more than 150 member organizations. Since 2016 NCRC’s game-changing work to standardize and strengthen community benefits agreements has secured more than $600 billion in lending, investments and philanthropy for disinvested and underserved communities.
• GROWTH by NCRC, one of NCRC’s affiliated impact ventures, built or rehabbed 138 homes and expanded into its 20th market with new projects in Dallas.
• We directly distributed $4.7 million in grants for local capacity building and through NCRC Community Development Fund we made $4.64 million in low-interest loans for small business resilience and construction of affordable housing across dozens of member organizations and communities.
• Through live and online events and courses we trained more than 4,000 changemakers nationwide across a variety of best practices and tangible, technical skills.
• We conducted nearly 250 tests to probe for bias in financial services business practices.
• We won a federal court case that will protect housing market data from decaying at the expense of our movement’s work.
• Our published reports made waves around the country, including our continued analysis of bank branch closure trends and a first-of-its-kind investigation into appraisal bias and worrisome findings about potential redlining that prompted us to cut ties with a major bank.
• Our policy, legal and government affairs staff helped protect the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from industry attacks.
• Our expertise and innovation shaped prominent coverage in the New York Times, the BBC, NPR, Bloomberg and Fast Company – and 4,700 mentions across all media for a potential reach of more than eight billion news consumers.
• Prompted by advocacy work by NCRC, our members and allies, federal policymakers took some long-overdue steps to expand access to credit, capital and housing, including introduction of a new draft rule to improve compliance and enforcement of the Community Reinvestment Act.
• Our coalition grew to more than 700 member organizations, a new milestone!

Our 2022 impact was dramatic and meaningful. The glaring gaps in how our economy works – and fails – were both frustrating and motivating. NCRC’s momentum going into 2023 is crucial. The historic overhaul of Community Reinvestment Act regulations will be finalized early in the year, along with key rules on small business lending, fair housing and other priorities.

We’re grateful for the tireless work of our members on the ground in their communities, and for the continued collaboration and support from our partners, donors and allies who make our impact possible. We’ve got more to do and we can’t do it alone.