Gathering at the Lender Center in New York: Wealth Disparity Experts Convene with Insights
In the heart of New York City, the Lender Center for Social Justice at Syracuse University hosted a thought-provoking event focused on the wealth gap in America. The gathering brought together a diverse group of scholars and professionals, including Marcelle Haddix, Pablo Mitnik, dt ogilvie, Gregory Price, Blane Ruschak, Thomas M. Shapiro, Abigail Tick '22, Jonnell Robinson, Erasmo Giamboda, Karac Aral, Willie Reddic, Susan Albring, Arielle Newman, Corri Zoli, Kira Reed, Seyeon Lee, LaVerne Gray, Mauricio Mercados, and J Coley.
Kendall Phillips, Lender Center director and professor of communication and rhetorical studies, emphasized the importance of considering the issue from multiple perspectives. The event was the latest in a series of talks, symposia, and convenings on the topic organized by the Lender Center over the past three years.
The discussion covered various aspects of the wealth gap, with panels focusing on corporate systems, design perspectives for social equity, and the role of environmental risks in credit access. Pablo Mitnik, assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan’s Center for Inequality Dynamics, chaired the panel on "Corporate Systems." Seyeon Lee, former Lender Center Faculty Fellow, spoke about applying a design perspective to buildings and community spaces to impact social equity and access for individuals.
The initiative is supported by a $2.7 million grant from MetLife Foundation. The gathering involved sharing resources and building the knowledge base about the root causes of the wealth gap. Previous events have been held in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Syracuse, and Washington, D.C.
In addition to the Lender Center's efforts, other key thought leaders and organizations are addressing the racial wealth gap and economic inequality in the U.S. Open Horizon and iF, A Foundation for Radical Possibility, partnered with Let’s GO, DMV, a guaranteed income program for DC hospitality workers. Experts and organizations such as Nicole Elam (President and CEO of the National Bankers Association), Mac McComas (21st Century Cities Initiative at Johns Hopkins University), Jenny Schuetz (Arnold Ventures), and Nitzan Tzur-Ilan (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas) participate in discussions focused on credit access and the impact of disaster risk on lending.
Innovative ideas proposed to address wealth inequality include guaranteed income programs targeting excluded workers, analyses of how environmental risks affect credit access, and broader community engagement and resource sharing events aiming to educate and strategize around wealth gap causes and remedies.
The event at Syracuse University underscored the ongoing commitment of scholars and institutions to understand and address the wealth gap in America, fostering a collaborative environment for the exchange of ideas and the pursuit of lasting solutions.
- Participants at the event, including Marcelle Haddix and Abigail Tick '22, emphasized the importance of lifelong learning and education-and-self-development in narrowing the wealth gap.
- Seyeon Lee, a former Lender Center Faculty Fellow, suggested that personal-finance could be improved by applying a design perspective to buildings and community spaces, promoting social equity and access for individuals.
- The MetLife Foundation's $2.7 million grant supports the Lender Center's initiative, aiming to build a knowledge base about the root causes of the wealth gap and provide wealth-management strategies for addressing economic inequality in America.
