JPMorgan Chase & Co.: AdvancingCities

AdvancingCities is a five-year initiative that will invest in solutions to bolster the long-term vitality of cities and the communities within them that have not benefited from economic growth. A component of AdvancingCities is the AdvancingCities Challenge, an annual competition to advance lasting solutions that will lead to more people connected to jobs with a career pathway and living with financial security, more small business owners growing and hiring, and economically vibrant neighborhoods. The AdvancingCities Challenge aims to:

• Accelerate the progress of cities that have a shared understanding of the biggest challenges facing their communities
• Drive collaboration between public, private, and nonprofit actors to advance big ideas that tackle persistent challenges to inclusive growth
• Surface innovative solutions to address these persistent challenges, particularly those challenges that underlie persistent racial and economic inequities

The AdvancingCities Challenge seeks to invest in solutions that better connect, align, and integrate opportunity systems to reduce economic inequality and drive more inclusive growth in cities. The AdvancingCities Challenge recognizes that:

• Local leaders are best positioned to identify and articulate the core challenges facing their city. For this reason, the AdvancingCities Challenge is purposefully open to give leaders the space to not only define the nature of these challenges, but propose solutions that will help “move the needle” against these problems in new and innovative ways.
• Strong leadership and collaboration within and across sectors is necessary to drive sustainable change at scale. The AdvancingCities Challenge requires applicants to identify and convene a table of cross-sector actors with the resources and authority to create systems change.
• Bold, innovative approaches are needed to change the trajectory of communities being left behind. The AdvancingCities Challenge will support solutions that are evidence-based, depart from “business as usual” approaches, and move beyond short-term outcomes to transform and better integrate systems to drive more inclusive growth in cities.

The AdvancingCities Challenge will support projects that: 1) build upon and strengthen the vision and leadership of an established coalition working across sectors to address major systemic challenges; and 2) seek to implement solutions that incorporate at least two systems within JPMorgan Chase’s (JPMC’s) philanthropic focus areas (jobs and skills, small business expansion, financial health, and neighborhood revitalization) and may include other mission-critical systems such as health, education, transportation, criminal justice, and economic development.

Overall, the AdvancingCities Challenge is seeking proposals that address macro-level challenges and opportunities including:

• Persistent income and wealth inequality, particularly by race and gender
• Growing financial and employment insecurity of vulnerable populations
• Increasing physical and spatial disconnection from systems and services vital for well-being (health care, clean and safe environment, etc.) and economic opportunity (employment, education, child care, etc.)
• Economic trends – whether it is rapid growth or stagnation – that exacerbate financial and economic disparities

Amount: AdvancingCities is a $500,000,000, five-year initiative. Through the 2018 competition, three-year grants of up to $3,000,000 will be awarded. Selected proposals will also be eligible for a wide array of JPMC resources—including data and employee expertise, global connections, among others.

Eligibility:

• Lead organization must be a nonprofit organization exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and classified as a public charity under Code Sections 509(a)(1) or 509(a)(2).
• Lead organization will demonstrate expertise in the community, and oversight that corresponds with the intended geography and systems.
• Strong organizational leadership and management.
• Commitment to diversity and inclusion for the project, and within the organization, particularly at senior staff and board level.
• Strong preference for projects that overlap with JPMC’s geographic business footprint and resources. For a listing of states within JPMC’s geographic footprint see: https://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/Corporate-Responsibility/global-philanthropy-markets.htm. (Note that New Mexico is not within JPMC’s geographic footprint.)
• Activities must be geographically focused on a single city, town, or region.
• Engagement of a multi-sector coalition of actors (government, nonprofit, business, community, foundation, etc.) to design and implement the initiative.
• Ability to achieve all deliverables within a three-year time frame.
• Lead organization must be available for meetings on progress every 3 months.

Link: https://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/Corporate-Responsibility/advancingcities.htm

Note: Informational calls will be held on September 17 and September 25, 2018 (see solicitation to RSVP).

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