Rise Economy (formerly known as the California Reinvestment Coalition ¹) is a membership-based left-of-center community investment organization that advocates for redistribution of wealth into racial minority communities. Rise Economy advances the notion that racial economic inequality in the United States comes from redlining, systemic racism, and white supremacy. It states that the United States uses an extraction economy that “has created the growing racial wealth gap…and the housing crisis.” ² Rise Economy advocates for taxpayer-funded banks, upholding the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), and ending the use of oil and gas power because “BIPOC communities […] are disproportionally affected by climate change.” ^{3 4}

Campaigns

Climate Action

Rise Economy agrees with the theory that using oil and gas as energy sources accelerates climate change and suggests that racial minority communities “are disproportionately affected by climate change.” ³

It has specifically criticized the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) for financing oil and gas energy and states that RBC has given nearly “$68 billion […] to eight companies that are among the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in California.” ³ Rise Economy wants the Royal Bank of Canada to invest in climate resiliency, such as replacing oil and gas energy sources with wind and solar sources and paying to cap oil and gas wells in California. ⁵

Community Reinvestment Act

Rise Economy supports the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. The CRA is a federal law that “requires the Federal Reserve and other federal banking regulators to encourage financial institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they do business.” ⁶

Rise Economy wants California to create a state-level CRA that would require organizations such as financial technology companies, state-chartered banks, and credit unions to invest in affordable housing programs, weather-dependent energy technologies, and efforts to “narrow the racial wealth gap.” ⁷

Rise Economy testified against the Capital One-Discover merger and has publicly criticized bank lobbyists for trying to “undermine the purpose of the CRA.” ⁸ Rise Economy’s CEO, Paulina Gonzalez-Brito, stated that the organization would continue to defend the CRA and ensure that it continues to help low-income and racial minority communities in California. ⁸

Public Banking

Rise Economy supports and continues to push for the creation of more public banks in California. It publicly supports the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank) which uses state and federal funding to sell bonds to small businesses, public transportation facilities, and businesses looking to build affordable housing. ⁹ Rise Economy suggests this will give citizens more control over their finances even though IBank is funded by taxpayers, owned by the state, and has a CEO appointed by the governor. ¹⁰

Rise Economy also expresses support for the California Banking Act of 2019, which allows local communities to create public banks to address infrastructure and housing issues through the use of tax-exempt state bonds. ¹¹

Rise Economy also supports the Public Banking Option Act of 2021 which offers all Californians a state-owned banking option which offers zero-fee and zero-penalty debit accounts, direct deposit from employers and public benefits agencies, and a means to build credit. ¹² Rise Economy suggests that by establishing these state-owned public banks, low-income Californians will achieve “greater financial inclusion [and] economic justice.” ¹³

Racial Justice Cohort

Rise Economy’s Racial Justice Cohort is a training program that works to “disrupt anti-Blackness, dismantling white supremacy, and working toward a future where capital centers the needs of BIPOC communities.” ¹⁴

The program has four scheduled workshops per year with multiple optional workshops available. These workshops focused on topics including, decolonizing community engagement practices, creating antiracist workspaces, developing an institutional compass for racial equity, and sustaining investment in ending structural racism. Rise Economy created these training programs to “right the wrongs of institutional disenfranchisement.” ¹⁵

Funders

Funders of Rise Economy include American Online Giving Foundation, Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, California Community Foundation, California Emerging Technology Fund, Center for Responsible Lending, Consumer Federation of America, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment, San Francisco Foundation, and

Silicon Valley Community Foundation. ¹⁶

1. Rise Economy, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2023, Part III Line 4a https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/943153815/202403109349302090/IRS990
2. “California Reinvestment Coalition Strategic Plan.” Calreinvest.org, 2020. https://calreinvest.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/CRC_StrategicPlan-R10B.pdf.
3. “Campaign Against Climate Change.” California Reinvestment Coalition. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://rise-economy.org/campaign-against-climate-change/.
4. “About.” California Reinvestment Coalition. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://rise-economy.org/about/.
5. “Sign on To Rise Economy Climate Campaign Against Royal Bank of Canada and City National Bank.” Rise Economy. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1PxB0pRj9jSr08uOrL6SRT5eEPlhEvT67PEZrNf6TItA/viewform?edit_requested=true.
6. “Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).” Federal Reserve Board. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerscommunities/cra_about.htm.
7. “Rise Economy State CRA.” California Reinvestment Coalition. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://rise-economy.org/californiacra/.
8. “Celebrate the CRA.” California Reinvestment Coalition. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://rise-economy.org/celebrate-the-cra/.
9. “Bond Financing Program.” Ibank.ca.gov, April 26, 2024. https://ibank.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Bonds-Fact-Sheet-1.pdf.
10.  “Scott Wu – IBank CEO/Executive Director.” Ibank.ca.gov. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://www.ibank.ca.gov/about/ibank-executive-director/#.
11. “AB-857 Public Banks.” California Legislative Information. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB857&showamends=false.
12. “AB-1177 California Public Banking Option Act.” California Legislative Information. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1177.
13. “Public Banking.” California Reinvestment Coalition. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://rise-economy.org/public-banking/.
14. “Addressing Structural Crisis.” California Reinvestment Coalition, February 24, 2022. https://calreinvest.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Racial-and-Economic-Justice-Cohort_-A-Year-at-a-Glance-r3-no-graphs.pdf.
15. “Racial and Economic Justice Cohort.” California Reinvestment Coalition. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://rise-economy.org/racial-economic-justice-cohort/.
16. “Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?form%5B%5D=IRS990ScheduleI&q=%22california%2Breinvestment%2Bcoalition%22&sort=name&submit=Apply.