Beneficial State Foundation

08/28/2026

Francis Janes, our Senior Industry Relations Director, will join the Just Future Summit 2026, hosted by The Greenlining Institute, October 8–9 in San Francisco.

Francis will moderate a panel on how communities can leverage Community Benefits Agreements to advance fair development and lasting benefits for communities. He’ll be joined by Bulbul Guptal, President and CEO of Pacific Community Ventures - PCV; Kevin Stein, Chief of Legal and Strategy at Rise Economy; and Kirin Kumar, Vice President of Policy at The Greenlining Institute.

Community Benefits Agreements help ensure communities have a meaningful voice in decisions that shape their neighborhoods and futures, and that development reflects their needs and priorities.

Learn more and register: https://bit.ly/4gBZrZB

08/21/2026

Beneficial State Foundation’s Senior Manager of Equitable Bank Standards, Maria Sennett, will lead a session at the 2026 Bank On Washington Economic Justice Forum, hosted by Financial Empowerment Network, along with Evelin Martinez from Washington Homeownership Resource Center and David Puszczewicz from WSECU.

Their session, “Rewriting the Rules of Credit: Advancing Housing Stability Through Equity-Centered Underwriting,” will explore how financial institutions can rethink underwriting practices that create barriers to credit, expand opportunity, and support housing stability.

📅 September 2, 12–1 p.m.

Learn more and register: https://www.fenwa.org/bowa-forum-faq

08/18/2026

New research from the Urban Institute explores Beneficial State Foundation’s Underwriting for Racial Justice (URJ) program and what lenders learned during a 2-year pilot as they put more inclusive underwriting practices into action.

The report highlights practical ways lenders can advance racial equity in underwriting, including rethinking how risk is assessed, testing new underwriting approaches, providing trauma-informed support, and exploring responsible uses of AI.

A more just financial system is only possible when we rethink the practices that have historically limited access to credit. We’re proud to see the lessons from URJ contributing to a larger conversation about how financial institutions can build fairer pathways to credit and wealth-building.

Read the Urban Institute report: https://urbn.is/4hFYRfF

To address the systemic underwriting challenges that undermine financial inclusion and wealth building for historically disadvantaged communities, Beneficial…

06/19/2026

Rodney A. Brooks explains how the collapse of Freedman’s Savings Bank connects to the racial wealth gap we see today.

full webinar 🔗 in comments
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Angelique Rose, Industry Relations and Partnerships Manager at Beneficial State Foundation, interviewed historian and author Rodney A. Brooks to explore one of the most important, overlooked chapters in American financial history.

Together, they examine how Freedman’s Savings Bank was created to serve African Americans after the Civil War, how the bank collapsed nine years later, and what that collapse meant for generations of Black families who had placed their trust and savings inside it.

They also reflect on what this history reveals about ongoing financial exclusion, and what accountability and repair must look like today.

06/19/2026

Angelique Rose and Rodney A. Brooks discuss how the collapse of Freedman’s Savings Bank eroded many Americans’ trust in financial and federal institutions.

full webinar 🔗 in comments
—
Angelique Rose, Industry Relations and Partnerships Manager at Beneficial State Foundation, interviewed historian and author Rodney A. Brooks to explore one of the most important, overlooked chapters in American financial history.

Together, they examine how Freedman’s Savings Bank was created to serve African Americans after the Civil War, how the bank collapsed nine years later, and what that collapse meant for generations of Black families who had placed their trust and savings inside it.

They also reflect on what this history reveals about ongoing financial exclusion, and what accountability and repair must look like today.

06/18/2026

W. E. B. Du Bois commented on the collapse of Freedman’s Savings Bank in his seminal work of literature, The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches (1903). Rodney expands on the severity of the impact.

🔗 in comments
—
Angelique Rose, Industry Relations and Partnerships Manager at Beneficial State Foundation, interviewed historian and author Rodney A. Brooks to explore one of the most important and overlooked chapters in American financial history.

Together, they examine how Freedman’s Savings Bank was created to serve African Americans after the Civil War, how the bank collapsed nine years later, and what that collapse meant for generations of Black families who had placed their trust and savings inside it.

They also reflect on what this history reveals about ongoing financial exclusion, and what accountability and repair must look like today.

06/18/2026

Freedman’s Savings Bank was initially successful, but corruption and negligence in its governance ultimately caused its demise (e.g., toxic asset swapping, systemic looting, predatory practices)

🔗 in comments
—
Angelique Rose, Industry Relations and Partnerships Manager at Beneficial State Foundation, interviewed historian and author Rodney A. Brooks to explore one of the most important and overlooked chapters in American financial history.

Together, they examine how Freedman’s Savings Bank was created to serve African Americans after the Civil War, how the bank collapsed nine years later, and what that collapse meant for generations of Black families who had placed their trust and savings inside it.

They also reflect on what this history reveals about ongoing financial exclusion, and what accountability and repair must look like today.

06/17/2026

Angelique Rose asks Rodney A. Brooks what Freedman’s Savings Bank meant to the African Americans who trusted it with their assets and investments. Rodney also shares insight on the demographics of the depositors and the bank’s reach at its peak.

Full webinar 🔗 in comments
—
Angelique Rose, Industry Relations and Partnerships Manager at Beneficial State Foundation, interviewed historian and author Rodney A. Brooks to explore one of the most important and overlooked chapters in American financial history.

Together, they examine how Freedman’s Savings Bank was created to serve African Americans after the Civil War, how the bank collapsed nine years later, and what that collapse meant for generations of Black families who had placed their trust and savings inside it.

They also reflect on what this history reveals about ongoing financial exclusion, and what accountability and repair must look like today.

06/17/2026

In our webinar, “Banking on Freedom: Freedman’s Savings Bank and the Future of Financial Wellbeing,” Angelique Rose interviews historian Rodney A. Brooks to explore one of the most important and overlooked chapters in American financial history.

🔗 in comments
—
Angelique Rose, Industry Relations and Partnerships Manager at Beneficial State Foundation, interviewed historian and author Rodney A. Brooks to explore one of the most important and overlooked chapters in American financial history.

Together, they examine how Freedman’s Savings Bank was created to serve African Americans after the Civil War, how the bank collapsed nine years later, and what that collapse meant for generations of Black families who had placed their trust and savings inside it.

They also reflect on what this history reveals about ongoing financial exclusion, and what accountability and repair must look like today.

06/17/2026

In March 1865, Congress chartered Freedman’s Savings Bank for African American soldiers and recently emancipated survivors of slavery. The bank collapsed in 1874, and its history leaves us lessons about trust, accountability, and repair today.

What can the rise and fall of Freedman’s Savings Bank teach us about trust, accountability, and justice today?

🔗 in comments
—
Angelique Rose, Industry Relations and Partnerships Manager at Beneficial State Foundation, interviewed historian and author Rodney A. Brooks to explore one of the most important and overlooked chapters in American financial history.

Together, they examine how Freedman’s Savings Bank was created to serve African Americans after the Civil War, how the bank collapsed nine years later, and what that collapse meant for generations of Black families who had placed their trust and savings inside it.

They also reflect on what this history reveals about ongoing financial exclusion, and what accountability and repair must look like today.