CENTER FOR ECONOMIC INCLUSION

The Center for Economic Inclusion is a nonprofit, Black woman–founded organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, focused on closing racial gaps in employment, income, business ownership and wealth. It works with employers, governments, philanthropic partners, and community organizations to institutionalize racially equitable policies, procurement, hiring, and investment practices. The Center produces data and policy tools (including the Indicators for an Inclusive Regional Economy), operates the Vanguard Accelerator & Fund to invest in Black, Indigenous and Latina-owned businesses, and provides racial-equity consulting and employer-focused programs designed to create jobs and build generational wealth. In the past 2–3 years the organization expanded its job-creation and capital access programs into multiple U.S. regions and deployed substantial forgivable loans and investments targeted to Black and Latina women business owners. The Center partners with philanthropic and corporate funders and mission-driven lenders to scale capital and technical assistance for undercapitalized entrepreneurs and to support employer and public-sector reforms that drive more inclusive regional economies.