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This spring, governments and financial systems around the world are responding to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). While the fallout will have a long-term impact on smaller and mid-size financial institutions, it is also revealing deeper issues about how capital and banking systems work, or do not work, for founders of color. That is why Sunrise Banks joined the GroundBreak Coalition along with 40 other leaders from the private, public, and philanthropic sectors to make intentional systemic changes based on input from community leaders who shared the exact same pain-points as many of the founders of color who banked with SVB.

GroundBreak is at an exciting inflection point, and the months ahead will be pivotal for bringing its vision into reality. Three important developments show where we are now and where we are going.

During GroundBreak Coalition “design sprints,” work group members brainstormed innovative capital investment pathways that could close racial gaps in income and wealth for Black homeowners, renters, entrepreneurs, and commercial developers. The products that emerged from recent work group meetings will be a key foundation to the eventual capital prototypes.

GroundBreak believes the most effective way to ultimately improve outcomes for all residents, especially those from BIPOC communities that our systems typically exclude, is to concentrate our efforts on the aspirations of MSP residents who experience some of our region’s deepest and most persistent disparities and ensure that the outcomes of GroundBreak are realized on the ground in specific communities.

GroundBreak Coalition partners, including McKnight Foundation, US Bank, Bush Foundation, the Center for Economic Inclusion, and Hennepin County co-hosted a briefing on July 19, 2022 to provide an overview of GroundBreak and its goals, share more about who is involved and what’s next, and answer community questions.

The launch of GroundBreak Coalition on May 12 was an invitation to financial and corporate institutions, government, and philanthropic and nonprofit leaders to commit to unlocking the wealth potential of historically under-invested communities. The ultimate goal is to mobilize more than $2 billion over 10 years and deploy it to four areas: homeownership, rental housing, commercial development, and BIPOC entrepreneurship. Working together, we know we can position Minneapolis-Saint Paul to lead the nation in committing needed resources to achieve racial and economic justice.