AEI Regional Initiatives

Broad-based, diverse coalitions are formed in over nine markets nationwide. The AEI coalitions are comprised of: financial institutions, community-based organizations, researchers, employers, faith-based organizations, state and local governmental agencies, federal bank regulators, and bank trade associations.

Community Affairs staff in the FDIC's eight regional and area offices are continuing to identify local partners, convening meetings in each of the markets, and facilitating an open discussion of local financial service needs. Each independent regional coalition has formed Working Groups to identify barriers and opportunities, and develop products and marketing strategies to reach the underserved populations identified.

Information on each Regional AEI initiative follows:

Atlanta Region
FDIC Community Affairs staff in the Atlanta Region are working in the Black Belt area of Alabama with the two adjoining Gulf Coast hurricane-impacted counties of Mobile and Baldwin. The effort joined with the Alabama Asset Building Coalition (AABC) to form the base for the AEI coalition. The AEI rollout event was launched in April 2007 and has over 50 members.

For additional information on AEI initiatives in the FDIC's Atlanta region, please contact:

Thomas Stokes, Community Affairs Officer
Atlanta Regional Office
10 Tenth Street, N.E.
Suite 800
Atlanta, GA 30309-3906
Phone:(678) 916-2249 (direct)
Phone:(800) 765-3342 (toll-free)
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia

Boston Area Office
FDIC Community Affairs staff in Boston are focusing on the Greater Boston and Worcester areas. The formal rollout of the Greater Boston initiative took place in June 2007 and the BAEI currently has 130 members. The Worcester AEI was launched in June 2007 and has over 45 members. Each project operates as a committee-of-the-whole, supported by temporary sub-committees focused on various topic areas such as financial education and products and services. Each AEI also organizes periodic general forums featuring relevant speakers and information-sharing.

For additional information on AEI initiatives in the FDIC's Boston area, please contact:

Timothy DeLessio, Community Affairs Officer
Boston Area Office
15 Braintree Hill Office Park
Braintree, MA 02184-8701
Phone:(781) 794-5632 (direct)
Phone:(866) 728-9953 (toll-free)
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont

Chicago Region
FDIC Community Affairs staff in the Chicago Region are focusing on three communities in the Chicago metropolitan area: the Westside community of Austin, the Southside communities of Englewood/Auburn-Gresham, and the immigrant market. The coalition was formed in October 2006 with an AEI rollout event launched in March 2007. The AEI coalition consists of over 75 members. Working Groups formed include: Austin/Westside Community, Southside Subcommittee (with three subgroups) and the Immigrant Subcommittee.

For additional information on AEI initiatives in the FDIC's Chicago region, please contact:

Glenn E. Brewer, Acting Community Affairs Officer
Chicago Regional Office
500 West Monroe Street
Suite 3300
Chicago, IL 60661-3697
Phone:(312) 382-7505 (direct)
Phone:(800) 944-5343 (toll-free)
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin

Dallas Region
FDIC Community Affairs staff in the Dallas Region are focusing on South Texas, including the cities of Houston, Austin and San Antonio. The South Texas AEI was launched in March 2007 and consists of over 250 member organizations. Subcommittees include Financial Products and Services, Asset Building and Financial Education, Regulatory Issues, and Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention.

For additional information on AEI initiatives in the FDIC's Dallas region, please contact:

Eloy A. Villafranca, Community Affairs Officer
Dallas Regional Office
1601 Bryan Street
Dallas, TX 75201-4586
Phone:(972) 761-8010 (direct)
Phone:(800) 568-9161 (toll-free)
Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas

Kansas City Region
FDIC Community Affairs staff in the Kansas City Region are focusing on the Kansas City metropolitan area. The AEI effort is building on the efforts of several local initiatives on the unbanked. The AEI rollout event was launched in June 2007 and consists of over 35 members. Subcommittees include Financial Services & Products and Financial Education.

For additional information on AEI initiatives in the FDIC's Kansas City region, please contact:

Cathy K. Davis, Acting Community Affairs Officer
Kansas City Regional Office
2345 Grand Boulevard
Suite 1200
Kansas City, MO 64108-2638
Phone:(816) 234-8084 (direct)
Phone:(800) 209-7459 (toll-free)
Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota

Memphis Area Office
FDIC Community Affairs staff in the Memphis Area continue to focus on hurricane recovery initiatives and other gaps in the South Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast Regions. The Louisiana Gulf Coast AEI, which was organized in October 2007, consists of a coalition of 70 financial institutions, nonprofit financial service providers and government officials. Three AEI Subcommittees have been formed, which are the:

• Alternative Mortgage Pool Development (AMPD) Committee focused on the creation of an alternative mortgage program which goes beyond credit score underwriting and can be used for hurricane-damage housing rehab, refinance of predatory mortgages or maturing high-interest rate ARMS, and foreclosure prevention.
• Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Sites & Individual Development Account (IDA) Administrators Coordination Committee focused on increasing the awareness and usage of the free VITA service and linking more low to moderate income taxpayers to the IDA Savings Account Match Programs in Louisiana.
• Small & Micro Business Development (SMBD) seeks to develop strategies to help small businesses recover from the affects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita through the development of special loan pools, technical assistance services and neighborhood small business information fairs.

For additional information on AEI initiatives in the FDIC's Memphis area, please contact:

Clinton Vaughn, Community Affairs Officer
Memphis Area Office
5100 Poplar Avenue
Suite 1900
Memphis, TN 38137-5900
Phone:(901) 818-5706 (direct)
Phone:(800) 210-6354 (toll-free)
Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee

New York Region
FDIC Community Affairs staff in the New York Region are focusing on three targeted geographic markets: Baltimore, MD; Wilmington, DE; and Rochester, NY.

Baltimore, MD
The Baltimore AEI was launched on May 1, 2007, and currently has over 40 members. Committees include the Asset Building Financial Products and Services Working Group, and the Research and Data Collection Working Group. The Committees are actively working on creating a collaborative small dollar loan program in Baltimore. The Committees also participate in the efforts led by the Baltimore Homeownership Preservation Coalition in homeownership preservation and foreclosure prevention outreach.

Wilmington, DE
The Wilmington AEI was launched on May 16, 2007, and currently has over 60 members. Committees include the Asset Building Products and Services Working Group and the Marketing, Promotion, and Program Assessment Working Group.

The FDIC, in collaboration with AEI – members United Way of Delaware and Nehemiah Gateway CDC, hosted The Economic Justice Symposium on May 20, 2008 on the Wilmington Campus of the University of Delaware for a diverse audience of more than 200 attendees representing financial institutions, community and faith-based organizations, academia and government. The focus of the event was on economic disparities in Delaware: addressing poverty and wealth-building issues impacted by the achievement gap with demographic information and best practices presented by experts in the field. The event included a gubernatorial candidate dialogue on economic policy issues.

FDIC, in collaboration with United Way of Delaware and AEI-member YWCA of Delaware also collaborated to plan a wealth-building summit for a target audience of approximately 100 community stakeholders to take place at the Goodstay Center on the Wilmington Campus of the University of Delaware on October 1, 2008.

FDIC, in Partnership with the Delaware State Treasurer’s Financial Literacy Institute helped launch the First State Saves Campaign in Wilmington, Delaware (New Castle County) in February 2008. As of the first week of May, more than 600 people had signed-up as savers. Launches are planned for Sussex and Kent County as well.

FDIC has collaborated with a number of other AEI members in planning a Money Fair targeted to the Hispanic/Latino community - “Money Without Borders ”Dinero Sin Fronteras” that will take place on October 11, 2008 in Wilmington, Delaware.

Under a Worker Small Dollar Loan program resulting from collaboration between AEI members - Westend Neighborhood House, Inc. and Wilmington Trust, 124 loans were made totaling $53,550 to offset the negative effect of “traditional” payday loans, by end of first quarter 2008. Application approval average was 79%.

Rochester, NY
The Rochester AEI was launched on May 15, 2008, and the Rochester AEI charter membership is currently in formation. Committees include the Asset Building Products and Services Working Group and the Marketing, Promotion, and Program Assessment Working Group.

Each working group will establish its own objectives and action plan in accordance with the AEI mission, and in consideration of the needs of the working group membership. The working groups will operate both independently and in tandem with each other, on an as needed basis. The structure of the Rochester AEI and its strategies will be periodically re-assessed for effectiveness, making changes as deemed appropriate.

For additional information on AEI initiatives in the FDIC's New York region, please contact:

Valerie J. Williams, Community Affairs Officer
New York Regional Office
20 Exchange Place
New York, NY 10005-3270
Phone:(917) 320-2621 (direct)
Phone:(800) 334-9593 (toll-free)
Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands

San Francisco Region
FDIC Community Affairs staff in the San Francisco Region are building on the efforts of several local initiatives in the City of Los Angeles. The AEI was unofficially introduced September 2006, with an official launch in June 2007. The AEI-Los Angeles Steering committee was formed in March 2007, with three working groups focusing on youth and financial education, affordable banking products targeted to unbanked and underbanked Angelinos, and a home preservation/foreclosure solutions coalition. The Steering Committee is comprised of 75 participants representing financial institutions, community-based organizations and local and federal municipal entities. A campaign, “Everybody Wins!” is underway by 16 banks and credit unions to count the number of new account opened in the city of Los Angeles between July 2007 and December 2008. The first goal of 10,000 new account openings has been achieved and the initiative is working to reach the second goal of 20,000 new accounts opened over 18 months. The AEI-Los Angeles banking initiative will be a component of the soon-to-be announced Bank on California campaign led by California Governor Schwarzenegger.

For additional information on AEI initiatives in the FDIC's San Francisco region, please contact:

Linda D.Ortega, Community Affairs Officer
San Francisco Regional Office
25 Jessie Street at Ecker Square
Suite 902
San Francisco,CA 94105-2780
Phone:(415) 808-8115 (direct)
Phone:(800) 756-3558 (toll-free)
Alaska, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming