Bloomberg Philanthropies’ New Research Tool Examines the Racial Wealth Gap

Bloomberg Philanthropies Greenwood Initiative has launched the Black Wealth Data Center. Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative is a national program focused on accelerating the pace of wealth accumulation for Black individuals and families and addressing systemic underinvestment in Black communities across the U.S.

The project aims to empower decision-makers – including practitioners, elected officials at all levels, and philanthropists – as well as journalists, working to improve and chronicle economic opportunity by making it easier for them to find and analyze a wide range of factors correlated to economic well-being and progress by race. This new effort will also build a network for leaders and organizations working to create economic progress for Black families and communities.

Visitors to the site can use the Racial Wealth Equity Database to interact with wealth data by topic (assets/debt, education, employment, homeownership, and business ownership), and compare wealth data by race, sex, age, education attainment, and geographic area (state, county or zip code).

“Leaders and organizations across the country have been challenged by the lack of accessible and high-quality data disaggregated by race – making it difficult to assess what’s working and not working in efforts to make America more equitable, what assets exist in Black communities, and what we need to do to effect change,” said Garnesha Ezediaro, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative. “With a commitment to continuously scan and integrate the best data into a comprehensive user-friendly source, the Black Wealth Data Center will be a resource for leaders who are working to ensure that data can be accessed more equitably, progress can be measured more precisely, and that change can come faster.”

A video about the new initiative may be viewed below.

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1 COMMENT

  1. I am doing dissertation research on this topic. This is very encouraging to know. Is there someone who would be willing to speak with me? Thanks!

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