Beneficial State Foundation

05/27/2026

Our Industry Relations & Partnerships Manager, Angelique Cooper, recently attended Financial Health Network's conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

The convening challenged leaders across fintech, banking, and community advocacy to transition from passive inclusion to active, measurable empowerment. As the financial industry navigates systemic shifts, a clear theme emerged: committing to trust-based strategies is critical to ensuring that innovation expands opportunity rather than deepens inequities.

Conference highlights included deep dives into responsible innovation—specifically how to build consumer-centric guardrails for AI and apply practical financial health metrics that protect everyday families, while expanding long-term economic opportunity.

Let's keep working with banking leaders to apply these insights to our shared practices!

05/15/2026

We’re excited to share that four lenders—Beneficial State Bank, BetterFi, New Orleans Firemen's Federal Credit Union, and Working Solutions CDFI—are continuing their work in our Underwriting for Racial Justice Lender Pilot Program for another year as part of our partnership with Stratyfy.

“By refining the underwriting process, these institutions are not just promoting equity, they are strengthening their own practices and driving broader economic growth.” —Erin Kilmer Neel, Executive Director, Beneficial State Foundation

Here’s to the next phase of learning and impact.

Read more:
🔗 https://beneficialstate.org/perspectives/beneficial-state-foundation-and-stratyfy-announce-next-phase-of-groundbreaking-underwriting-for-racial-justice-lender-pilot-program/

Following a successful two-year pilot, a select group of lenders will continue to innovate their underwriting practices and expand access to credit through the Underwriting for Racial Justice Lender Pilot Program.

05/01/2026

Traditional credit underwriting was not built to serve everyone—and the communities left out are not accidental.

Our Executive Director Erin Kilmer Neel moderated a panel on our Underwriting for Racial Justice two-year pilot program, joined by Shannan Herbert, CEO of Washington Area Community Investment Fund, Inc. (Wacif); Spike Hosch, Executive Director of BetterFi; and James Hunter, Chief Advocacy and Culture Officer at New Orleans Firemen's Federal Credit Union at the Just Economy Conference in Washington, D.C. hosted by NCRC.

Together they explored what the pilot revealed: that lenders can better understand borrower context, challenge long-standing assumptions about financial risk, and expand access to credit for communities historically locked out of the financial system—without increasing risk to the institution.
Fairness in lending is not neutrality. It is repair, accountability, and opportunity.

04/24/2026

AI is already making millions of credit decisions every day. The question is: whose values are embedded in those decisions?

Our colleague and Beneficial State Bank board member Surjit Chana joined the American Banker Podcast to discuss a moral architecture for AI in banking.

The problem runs deeper than most institutions recognize. The data that informs credit decisions—income, wealth, collateral, credit history—reflects decades of structural inequality. When AI is trained on that data without interrogating it, the result is a system that automates the exclusions of the past at a speed and scale no human loan officer ever could.

But when institutions are intentional about it, the results speak for themselves. When Verity Credit Union applied AI underwriting with fairness built in, approvals for African American borrowers increased by 177% and by 271% for borrowers over 62—with no increase in risk.

The financial system helped construct inequality. Now, we must consider how to use AI tools to lessen it, rather than make things worse.

Listen to the full conversation: https://bit.ly/4cJAvx8

Surjit Chana, a board member of Beneficial State Bank, a Harvard Fellow and a tech committee member of the Global Alliance for Banking Values, explains why there's a need for what he calls a moral architecture for AI

04/23/2026

The biggest banks made $47 billion in profits last quarter while cutting 15,000 jobs. AI is being credited for both. That is a choice, not an inevitability.

AI can also amplify worker voices, support more dignified jobs, and help today’s workers become tomorrow’s job creators. But only if we are intentional about how it is designed and used.

Our Executive Director Erin Kilmer Neel is ready to bring this conversation to , alongside Sachi Shenoy of Pacific Community Ventures - PCV and Roger Perez of GitLab Foundation. Their proposed session, Using AI to Boost Worker Dignity and Resilience, is now up for community voting.

Voting closes April 26. Cast your vote:
https://socapglobal.com/session-idea/using-ai-to-boost-worker-dignity-and-resilience/

AI displacing jobs is a real fear, but less obvious is AI’s potential to bolster human dignity in tomorrow’s jobs. If channeled correctly, AI can amplify worker voices, involve workers in co-creating new jobs, upskill workers to adapt to climate and societal shifts, and help today’s workers co...

04/22/2026

Every banking leader has the power to drive change from within. And every person with a bank account has the power to choose where their money goes.

This Earth Day, Terra Neilson and Francis Janes joined B Corp leaders at Champions Retreat who are proving that the shift from extractive to regenerative industries is not only necessary—it is already underway.

04/21/2026

In 2021, Fifth Third Bank launched the Fifth Third Neighborhood Program—a place-based initiative designed to support economic mobility in historically disinvested communities through lending, investment, and philanthropic resources. Beginning with a $180 million commitment across nine neighborhoods in seven states, the program has since mobilized over $610 million in total investments through partnerships with Enterprise Community Partners, LISC, and local organizations.

Outcomes include new and preserved affordable housing, expanded small business access, and stronger community infrastructure. This is what it looks like when a bank aligns its investment with community-led priorities.

Real, lasting change requires more than capital. It requires partnership, accountability, and community leadership.

Explore our full video profile and case study: https://beneficialstate.org/casestudies/fifththirdbank

04/20/2026

What does it look like when a bank aligns its lending and investments with people and the planet?

Beneficial State Bank is a triple-bottom-line CDFI founded on the belief that banking can and should serve communities, not extract from them. In 2025, over 80% of its lending benefited people and the planet, and 100% upheld its community development mandate. A majority of its financing reached low- and moderate-income communities, and it originated over $343 million in mission-driven loans supporting affordable housing, small businesses, nonprofits, and renewable energy. As a certified CDFI, Beneficial State Bank is federally required to actively invest in communities and avoid harm. -proof that community impact and strong financial performance can go hand in hand.

The financial system helped construct inequality. We believe it must help dismantle it.

Explore our full video profile and case study: https://beneficialstate.org/casestudies/beneficialstatebank/

04/17/2026

What does more than a century of community-rooted banking look like?

Texas National Bank has grown alongside the Rio Grande Valley since 1920—serving one of the nation's most underbanked regions. In a community shaped by agriculture, immigration, and resilience, the bank has long understood that access to capital is more than a financial issue. It is a justice issue.

From bilingual, bicultural services and 100% home financing options, to Via CDC's work building affordable homes priced below the regional average, to investments in education and small business support—Texas National Bank offers a compelling example of how financial institutions can align products, partnerships, and investment with community priorities.

Explore our full video profile and case study: https://beneficialstate.org/casestudies/texasnationalbank/

04/16/2026

New Orleans Firemen's Federal Credit Union (NOFFCU) is a mission-driven CDFI that set out to address a persistent gap in fair and flexible mortgage lending for underserved borrowers. Traditional underwriting too often excludes small business owners, entrepreneurs, and borrowers of color—even when their income and payment history are strong. That exclusion widens the racial wealth gap.

Through our Underwriting for Racial Justice Lender Pilot Program, NOFFCU designed a more flexible, relationship-based mortgage product that reduces upfront barriers and expands access to homeownership for borrowers excluded by conventional underwriting.

Homeownership is a foundation for wealth and stability. Everyone deserves a fair chance at it.

Explore our full video profile and case study: https://beneficialstate.org/casestudies/noffcu/