In 2020, BankBlackUSA has an opportunity to expand upon the work that we had began with Dr. Terri Friedline to demonstrate the need and impact that Black banks have in communities across the US. She connected the group with Poverty Solutions for technical assistance on our new mapping project.
We partnered with Trevor Bechtel at University of Michigan and Poverty Solutions to create a new interactive map making it easier for people to identify Black-owned banks and credit unions across the country in an effort to leverage Black economic power and overcome the racial wealth gap.
Christian Hunter, a second-year master’s student studying urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan, helped develop the map through his role as a research assistant with Poverty Solutions. Hunter spent the summer of 2020 developing the map, which shows branch and ATM locations of Black-owned banks and credit unions.
This project was the catalyst to our expanding relationship with University of Michigan School of Information and Poverty Solution on student led work.
Dr. Terri Friedline
Professor
Dr. Friedline's research focuses on financial system reform and consumer protections to ensure that people and communities have access to safe and affordable financial products and services. Dr. Friedline conducts research to envision, redefine, and move financial and economic justice—particularly with people and communities that have been historically excluded from and marginalized by the financial system.
Trevor Bechtel
Project Manager
Trevor Bechtel works at Poverty Solutions and has served as project advisor and a point of contact for all the collaborative projects between BankBlackUSA, Poverty Solutions and the University of Michigan School of Information.
Christian Hunter
Graduate Research Assistant
Christian Hunter, a then second-year master’s student studying urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan, helped develop a #BankBlack interactive map through his role as a research assistant with Poverty Solutions. His work served as the foundation to the relationship we enjoy with University of Michigan now.
2020 – 2021 BankBlackUSA Dashboard Team
This was our first student led project. From Fall 2020 to Spring 2021 Ian Mulhern, Dominique Roitman, Kallen Cohane, and Kristofer Siimar worked on the BankBlackUSA Minority Owned Bank Dashboard for their senior year capstone project. The main objective wass to provide people with easily digestible and accessible information about MDIs and CDFIs and, further, why using them can benefit individuals and communities. Due to the lack of awareness, lack of knowledge, and negative biases, these banks are often underutilized and can be hard to find information about. The inequities that still exist for Black, brown and lower-income white communities with regards to financial services are systemic structural factors that lead to financial exclusion and intergenerational poverty.
The primary goal of the project is to bridge the information gaps and tell a story to the user that educates and convinces them that their money can be equally or better served by switching to a Black owned financial institution. By giving the users of BankBlackUSA the means to find discernible information about the location and success of these banks, the long term benefit would include increasing the volume of customers that MDIs and CDFIs have. Because of their great work on this project, the team won the 2021 UMSI Community Engagement Award.
Dominique Roitman
Dominique Roitman was a part of the 2020 University of Michigan School of Information SI 485 Information Analysis Team that created the BankBlackUSA Minority Owned Bank Dashboard. The team's work was awarded University of Michigan School of Information 2021 Community Engagement Award.
Ian Mulhern
Ian Mulhern was a part of the 2020 University of Michigan School of Information SI 485 Information Analysis Team that created the BankBlackUSA Minority Owned Bank Dashboard. The team's work was awarded University of Michigan School of Information 2021 Community Engagement Award.
Kallen Cohane
Kallen Cohane was a part of the 2020 University of Michigan School of Information SI 485 Information Analysis Team that created the BankBlackUSA Minority Owned Bank Dashboard. The team's work was awarded University of Michigan School of Information 2021 Community Engagement Award.
Kristofer Siimar
Kristofer Siimar was a part of the 2020 University of Michigan School of Information SI 485 Information Analysis Team that created the BankBlackUSA Minority Owned Bank Dashboard. The team's work was awarded University of Michigan School of Information 2021 Community Engagement Award.
2021 – 2022 BankBlackUSA Credit Union Data Collection Team
Over the course of Fall 2021 and Spring 2022, the BBUSA Credit Union team of Nathan Tran, Nikolas Palafox, Noah Martin, Tara Moore, Shahbab Ahmed compiled a comprehensive dataset of Black-owned credit unions in the United States through a meticulous verification process. The goal of the project was to effectively communicate the impact that these Black-owned credit unions have on their communities.
The final deliverable takes the form of a Tableau dashboard, shows valuable metrics such as the home and auto loans that these financial institutions originate to spur growth in their communities. Ultimately, these visualizations will allow BankBlackUSA to continue on its mission to be an accurate and unbiased hub of information on Black-owned banks and credit unions. Nate Tran and Nik Palafox joined the team as paid interns after graduation.
Nate Tran
Nate Tran was a part of the 2021 University of Michigan School of Information BSI 405 and 485 IA team that worked on the BankBlackUSA Black Credit Union Data Collection project. Nate graduated from the BSI program with a minor in Applied Statistics.
He is originally from the Chicago suburbs. He wants to work in the sports analytics field one day and did a program with the NBA. He was interested in working with BankBlackUSA because of how BankBlackUSA's work highlights important social issues in our country. He is passionate about using numbers and data to help others.
Nik Palafox
Nik Palafox was a part of the 2021 University of Michigan School of Information BSI 405 and 485 IA team that worked on the BankBlackUSA Black Credit Union Data Collection project. Nik graduated from the BSI program with a minor in Applied Statistics minoring in Entrepreneurship.
Nik has interned at Quicken Loans and Kabbage. He was excited to work with BankBlackUSA because of the organization's impact on communities and wanted to help continue the positive impact. He is a huge soccer fan and supporter of Arsenal FC.
Noah Martin
Noah Martin was a part of the 2021 University of Michigan School of Information BSI 405 and 485 IA team that worked on the BankBlackUSA Black Credit Union Data Collection project. Noah graduated from the BSI program with a minor Real Estate.
Noah is from Los Angeles. In an urban development class through his minor, his professor taught the class about inequities within the US housing system, so he thought that working with BankBlackUSA on his senior capstone project would be a great way to make a difference by improving access to capital within the affected communities.
Tara Moore
Tara Moore was a part of the 2021 University of Michigan School of Information BSI 405 and 485 IA team that worked on the BankBlackUSA Black Credit Union Data Collection project. Tara graduated from the BSI program with a minor in Business.
Tara has interned at a FinTech Startup called AeroPay and American Express. She was really excited to help further BankBlackUSA's mission and leave an impact on the community.
Shahbab Ahmed
Shahbab Ahmed was a part of the 2021 University of Michigan School of Information BSI 405 and 485 IA team that worked on the BankBlackUSA Black Credit Union Data Collection project. Shahbab graduated from the BSI program.
Shahbab is interested in pursuing a career in data analytics in finance. He was really excited to work with BankBlackUSA because of BankBlackUSA's impact in communities across the country. He was drawn to the Black Credit Union project because it introduces a unique perspective to important social issues that he, and many others, are passionate about.
2021 – 2022 BankBlackUSA UX Design Team
Over the course Fall 2021 and Spring 2022, the BBUSA UX Team of Joshua Mollison, Angela Young, Summer Nguyen, and Elijah Ecanow was tasked with rethinking the user experience of the Black Banking Map feature located on the website. To do this, they conducted a comprehensive research phase to understand user behaviors toward the pre-existing map and used these key insights to inform their new design that they iterated through their design phase. The intention of this redesign was to enhance accessibility and functionality and to educate stakeholders about where to find Black-owned banks thus encouraging the reinvestment of wealth back into Black communities.
Because of their work the team was awarded the 2022 UMSI Office of DEI Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award.
Joshua Mollison
Joshua Mollison was a part of the 2021 University of Michigan School of Information SI 407 BSI UX team that worked on the BankBlackUSA Map redesign. Joshua graduated from the BSI program studying User Experience Design with a minor in Digital Studies. The team's work was awarded University of Michigan School of Information 2022 Office of DEI Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award.
Joshua was drawn to UX because he is passionate about creating immersive visual experiences, storytelling, and finding creative solutions to difficult problems. He was excited about BankBlackUSA project because he saw it as a unique opportunity to be part of a project that can immediately benefit and uplift the Black community. He also recognized it as a personal learning experience that can educate him about fintech while sharpening his design skills.
Angela Young
Angela Young was a part of the 2021 University of Michigan School of Information SI 407 BSI UX team that worked on the BankBlackUSA Map redesign. Angela graduated from the BSI Program studying User Experience Design and Computer Science. She is from Cleveland, OH. The team's work was awarded University of Michigan School of Information 2022 Office of DEI Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award.
Angela has a passion for design and technology and finding a way to create meaningful change in the world through these tools. She is very excited about the project because she feels very strongly about BankBlackUSA's mission to empower individuals with the knowledge of Black-owned banks and credit unions.
Summer Nguyen
Summer Nguyen was a part of the 2021 University of Michigan School of Information SI 407 BSI UX team that worked on the BankBlackUSA Map redesign. Summer graduated from the BSI Program studying User Experience Design with a minor in Asian Studies. The team's work was awarded University of Michigan School of Information 2022 Office of DEI Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award.
Summer is interested in design for justice work, particularly to combat racial inequality in technology. She was excited to join the BankBlackUSA team to uplift Black communities and provide banking and financial resources needed to financially thrive. She has experience working in fintech at LendingTree.
Elijah Ecanow
Elijah Ecanow was a part of the 2021 University of Michigan School of Information SI 407 BSI UX team that worked on the BankBlackUSA Map redesign. Elijah graduated from the BSI Program studying User Experience Design. The team's work was awarded University of Michigan School of Information 2022 Office of DEI Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award.
Elijah is passionate about UX Design because he loves the intersection between creativity and set design principles that can come together to illicit individual experiences for different users. He was excited to work on the BankBlackUSA project because he is interested in the field of fintech and deeply believes in the mission of BankBlackUSA to help support Black-owned banks and therefore support the Black community.
2022 BankBlackUSA State of Black Banks Report Research Team
Currently this BBUSA research team that consists of our BankBlackUSA intern Yasmin Abdulhadi and the Community Corp team of Saad Monem, Brillie Phan, and Dwayne McFarland are completing the analysis for our State of Black Banks report. This report focuses on analyzing the state of Black banks in the US primarily through the lens of home mortgage loans. For each of the banks that we have data for, we breakdown demographic statistics of applicants, financial statistics of the loans, and perform a comparison with non-minority regional competitors to assess the advantages and areas of improvement for Black banks.
