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JPMorgan Chase Launches AdvancingCities, a $500 Million Initiative to Create Economic Opportunity in Cities

JPM | September 12, 2018

JPMorgan Chase Launches AdvancingCities, a $500 Million Initiative to Create Economic Opportunity in Cities

AdvancingCities, a first-of-its-kind corporate effort, will create a new investment fund to finance critical projects, help more people benefit from economic growth and leverage outside capital to invest a total of $1.5 billion in cities

The AdvancingCities Challenge will encourage the development of creative solutions to drive inclusive growth through collaboration between civic, business and community leaders

JPMorgan Chase today announced the creation of AdvancingCities, a new $500 million, five-year initiative to drive inclusive growth and create greater economic opportunity in cities across the world. AdvancingCities applies insights from JPMorgan Chase’s proven model for impact in Detroit, Chicago and Washington, D.C., and combines the firm’s lending capital, philanthropic capital and expertise to make investments in cities.

Based on the firm’s previous experience, JPMorgan Chase expects its AdvancingCities investment to attract an additional $1 billion in outside capital, resulting in a total of $1.5 billion directed to efforts that will increase inclusive growth in cities. The firm will invest in cities where conditions exist to help those who have not benefited from economic growth. This includes demonstrated, strong collaboration across the public and private sectors on solutions that create opportunity for people at risk of being left out of economic growth. Specifically, AdvancingCities will deploy investments and encourage creative, forward-looking solutions that create more widely shared prosperity in two ways:

AdvancingCities Challenge: JPMorgan Chase will launch a challenge to source and seed innovative solutions that help drive inclusive growth in up to 30 communities. The AdvancingCities Challenge will make investments in select cities to support collaborative and sustainable solutions that address cross-cutting challenges and help more people benefit from a growing economy. Successful proposals will support existing local coalitions of elected, business and nonprofit leaders working together to address major social and economic challenges such as employment barriers, financial insecurity, and neighborhood disinvestment. Proposals must incorporate at least two areas of focus within JPMorgan Chase’s Model for Impact. Cities interested in applying for the AdvancingCities Challenge should visit www.jpmorganchase.com/advancingcities. The RFP goes live today, September 12, and closes on November 30, 2018. Winners will be announced in the spring of 2019.
Targeted City Investments: In addition to the AdvancingCities Challenge, JPMorgan Chase intends to make large-scale investments in cities where the conditions are right for success and broader, deeper investments are needed to drive inclusive growth around the world. This fall, the firm will take this model for impact abroad and announce a new large-scale investment in a global city where the benefits of economic growth are not reaching everyone.

“Opportunity is not shared equally across neighborhoods,” said Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase. “Businesses can and must step up to help change the status quo by creating a better future for all, no matter where they live. It is in our best interest and the right thing to do.”

Investment Model for Impact

JPMorgan Chase’s investments will continue to focus on four strategic drivers of inclusive growth, around which the firm has developed several global initiatives over the last five years. These initiatives are specifically focused on equipping workers with 21^st century job skills, providing the capital and expertise that women and minority entrepreneurs need to grow their businesses, investing in locally-driven solutions to revitalize distressed neighborhoods and helping families build strong financial futures.

Half of the $500 million will consist of philanthropic investments and up to $250 million will be low-cost, long-term capital deployed by the new AdvancingCities Investment Fund. This capital will be used to fund sustainable projects in critical sectors of underserved neighborhoods that frequently lack access to traditional financing, such as affordable housing, commercial real estate and small businesses.

The firm expects its investment to leverage an additional $1 billion in outside capital. This estimate is based on the firm’s experience in Detroit, where $50 million in loan funds supporting Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) have leveraged over $233 million from outside investors (4:1 ratio) and its national PRO Neighborhoods initiative, which has enabled CDFIs to leverage an additional $549 million in capital (a 11.4:1 ratio) for neighborhood revitalization projects.

The firm will also leverage the expertise of its employees through its Service Corps and use data from the JPMorgan Chase Institute to maximize the strategic impact of these investments.

Criteria for AdvancingCities Investments

To help more people benefit from economic growth in cities, the firm takes an integrated and sustainable approach to its investments. Deep engagement and meaningful collaboration among city leaders, businesses and nonprofits is required to drive change at the scale and pace needed to tackle the complex challenges facing communities. Working with local civic, community and business leaders, the firm’s investments will:

Connect more people to jobs with a pathway to a career and greater financial security;
Provide small businesses with critical resources they need to grow, create jobs and fuel economic growth in underserved communities;
Revitalize economically distressed neighborhoods by preserving affordable housing and boosting opportunity.

Solutions will help break down silos between local programs, strengthen underlying systems and advance holistic solutions to create more widely-shared prosperity. Based on learnings from past investments, AdvancingCities will make investments in cities that demonstrate the following:

Commitment to tackling barriers to economic opportunity and upward mobility;
Innovative strategies that make measurable progress to solve challenges related to inclusive growth;
Presence of high-capacity nonprofits and government entities and strong engagement from the business community working together to implement solutions;
Alignment between the future challenges and opportunities in the city and JPMorgan Chase’s four philanthropic areas of focus, which include jobs and skills training, neighborhood revitalization, small business growth and consumer financial health;
Overlap with the firm’s geographical business footprint and resources; and
Opportunities to use the firm’s data, employee expertise and business lending capital to create sustainable solutions.

“We have seen a lot of mayors stepping up and partnering with business and community leaders to do what’s right for their cities,” said Peter Scher, Head of Corporate Responsibility, JPMorgan Chase. “We are excited to take learnings and best practices from investments in Detroit, Chicago and Washington, D.C. to more cities and test solutions that can help more people share in the rewards of a growing economy.”

“Like many cities, Detroit’s growth remains dependent on cooperation to help solve our biggest challenges,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. “JPMorgan Chase has been at the table with us for a long time and their investment has been critical to ensuring the city’s recovery benefits everyone. I’m hopeful experiences and lessons from their investment in Detroit will be valuable to mayors in other cities.”

Sharing Insights and Expertise

As AdvancingCities works to drive inclusive growth solutions, practical insights and lessons will be shared with policymakers, community leaders and the private sector by:

Ensuring data and analysis can be put to use by practitioners and a wide range of policymakers. JPMorgan Chase will also support peer learning to share best practices, enhance field building, and strengthen the capacity of the firm’s partners.
Creating partnerships with other investments to scale efforts and layer investments where there are complementary strategies.
Leveraging the firm’s insights and expertise of internal and external advisors to proactively engage policymakers and leaders to better inform solutions at the local, state and federal level.

JPMorgan Chase has also established an External Advisory Council, which will offer unique expertise and substantive input that informs AdvancingCities’ approach to driving inclusive growth in communities.

The Council consists of the following civic and business leaders, as well as community development and inclusive growth experts who will help inform the work of AdvancingCities:

Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder in Residence, PolicyLink
Ashley Swearengin, former Mayor of Fresno and current President and CEO of the Central Valley Community Foundation
Gerard Mestrallet, Chairman, Engie (Paris, France)
Freeman Hrabowski, President, University of Maryland, Baltimore
Janet Murguia, President and CEO, UnidosUS
Marc Morial, President, National Urban League
Michael Nutter, former Mayor of Philadelphia and David N. Dinkins Professor of Professional Practice in Urban and Public Affairs
Rip Rapson, President and CEO, The Kresge Foundation

“Mayors can get a lot done, but they can’t do everything,” said Michael Nutter, former Philadelphia Mayor and current David N. Dinkins Professor of Professional Practice in Urban and Public Affairs at Columbia University. “You need leadership from community organizations and business leaders too in order to attract additional investment and build support for solutions. JPMorgan Chase’s AdvancingCities effort is designed to do just this by laying out clear goals, encouraging partnerships and future investments that help more people share in economic growth.”

For more information, visit www.jpmorganchase.com/advancingcities

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.6 trillion and operations worldwide. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.