The City of Columbus is one of seven municipalities to be awarded a $20,000 CityStart grant from the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund to create financial empowerment strategies for women and families.
Each city will receive $20,000 for planning and an intensive six to nine-month “technical assistance engagement partnership” with the fund. The application was submitted by the city, along with the Columbus Women’s Commission, the mayor’s office and Columbus City Council President Pro Tem Elizabeth Brown.
“Women experience financial instability at a greater rate than men for a number of reasons,” said Mayor Andrew Ginther. “I formed the Columbus Women’s Commission with First Lady Shannon Ginther in my first year as Mayor of Columbus to advance the economic well-being of women in our community. The CityStart grant will help us in this important work.”
The goal of the CityStart initiative is to gain insight into the financial instability of local families and communities, as well as the impact on local government budgets. The program and fund will help the city create strategies to improve families’ lives financially, based on the needs of residents, city priorities, and partnership opportunities, such as with JPMorgan Chase, a financial supporter of the CFE Fund.
“Basing our strategy on the lived experiences of the people who are most affected amplifies the impact of our financial empowerment efforts,” said President Pro Tem Brown. “Providing women with the resources they need to improve their financial security not only helps them support themselves and their families, but it also improves our entire community. I am excited to work with our local partners and CFE Fund to make a positive difference for Columbus women.”
The first class of cities to receive the CityStart grant did so in 2018. Since then, those cities have created blueprints outlining their administration’s vision for implementing financial empowerment efforts within their government infrastructures.
For more information on the CFE Fund, visit www.cfefund.org.