Common Wealth Charlotte is excited to announce the addition of four new members to the CWC Board of Directors!

Chris Jackson, the president and CEO at Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont Inc., remembers when what is now known as the “benefits cliff” first came to his attention.

Five years ago, while interviewing clients about the challenges they face finding jobs and advancing in those jobs, people mentioned the difficulty of declining a promotion because of an offsetting, larger loss of benefits for childcare, food or housing — or, worse, accepting the step up career-wise while taking a step backward economically.

Click “Read More” below for full article. Click here to see the article as originally published in Charlotte Business Journal.

Common Wealth Charlotte (CWC), a Charlotte-based nonprofit dedicated to helping clients achieve greater financial capability, is excited to announce its newly formed Generation2080™ Client Advisory Council.

For those living in financial insecurity, the path to financial freedom, savings, and generational wealth can seem overwhelming, and can be tangled with challenges and roadblocks. The desire for financial stability is always there, but the toughest part is often getting started, knowing how to maintain it, and receiving support along the way. Generation2080 (G2080) is CWC’s two-year launchpad program designed for clients to create a pathway to long-term wealth.

Barings, nonprofit Common Wealth Charlotte launch savings program for low-income homeowners

Written by Erik Spanberg – Managing Editor, Charlotte Business Journal

We are excited to welcome Caroline Miller as the newest member of our growing CWC team! Caroline came on board in August. 2022 as Marketing Manager. She brings an extensive history of working in Charlotte's nonprofit community, holding marketing and event operations positions first with the YMCA and then with SHARE Charlotte. She has B.S and M.B.A. degrees from East Carolina University. In her role at CWC, Caroline is responsible for presenting CWC to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community through media, advertising and events.

The Board of Directors of Common Wealth Charlotte is excited to welcome Raquishela Stewart to its membership. Raquishela is currently a Division Manager for the City of Charlotte, overseeing CharMeck 311.

Born and raised in Southern California, Raquishela holds degrees from University of Redlands (BS, Business), University of La Verne (MBA), University of La Verne (Ed.D, Organizational leadership).

She has held leadership roles with AT&T, United Health Care and currently sits on the advisory board of Care Ring’s Nurse Family Partnership Program. She has also served as an assistant Professor over the last 14 years for various colleges such as Colorado State and the University of Maryland.

“Having experienced the benefit of financial education, I was immediately drawn to the mission of CWC”, Stewart says. “Education is the best investment one can make as it has unlimited returns.”

It’s hard to believe, but we’re just days away from the start of a new school year.

In keeping with our mission to create a more financially sound community, we wanted to share this list of some local events that are giving away free school supplies and other resources to help students get ready to return to class. Most of these events have free food and fun activities, too.

In this Queen City Podcast, Charlotte personality and positive energy source Ohavia Phillips talks with beautiful people in The Queen City and beyond. Last week Amy Jacobs, Chief Opportunity of Common Wealth Charlotte, joined her friend Ohavia Phillips again in-studio for “part two” of their credit and predatory lending conversation, where they unpack predatory lending - what it is, who it targets and how to avoid it. Listen to this 25-minute follow-up episode from June’s podcast here.

Latinos are the fastest growing community in Mecklenburg County, representing about 12% of the population, or 170,000 people. While many aspects of the Latino community are thriving - entrepreneurship is at an all-time high and higher education is also on the rise - Latinos continue to face financial disparities for a variety of reasons.

In this Queen City Podcast, Charlotte personality and positive energy source Ohavia Phillips talks with beautiful people in The Queen City and beyond. Last week Ohavia caught up with her friend Amy Jacobs, Chief Opportunity of Common Wealth Charlotte, who shared “Five Things This Ex-Banker Didn’t Know About Credit”. Listen to this 25-minute episode (part one of a two-part series!) here.

In April Common Wealth Charlotte (CWC) hosted almost 100 guests - current and prospective volunteers, donors, grant-makers, nonprofit partners and community and civic leaders - at Community Matters Cafe for a rare opportunity to hear first-person perspectives on the realities of being economically vulnerable in Mecklenburg County, and the unique challenges and barriers that are associated with living paycheck to paycheck.