Building Avenues to Prosperity

America’s life insurers believe everyone deserves an equal shot at building long-term financial security.

Unfortunately, inequities in employment and educational opportunities have impeded many Americans from accessing traditional paths to financial certainty.

The American Council of Life Insurers and its member companies are taking concrete steps that will break down barriers and build more avenues to prosperity for financially underserved communities across the nation.

For example, USAA recently committed $20 million to nearly 50 nonprofit organizations as part of its three-year, $50 million commitment made in late 2020 to advance diversity, equity and inclusion.

USAA’s commitment focuses on advancing economic mobility by closing gaps across education, employment and entrepreneurship. The funding from USAA is focused on:

• Education-Focused Nonprofits
  • 5,000 internships or fellowship opportunities for underrepresented student populations and veterans through the 2022-2023 school year.
  • 2,000 scholarships to underrepresented student populations in high-demand STEM fields for at least two semesters through the 2022-2023 school year.
  • Professional development, tutoring and mentoring programs aimed at improving academics and attendance for 60,000 Black and Hispanic students through the 2022-2023 school year.
• Employment-Focused Nonprofits
  • More than 1,500 military/veteran and spouse career readiness mentors by December 2023.
  • Knowledge and expertise for 3,000 underrepresented and veteran-owned small businesses through technical assistance and mentorship by the end of 2023.
  • Support for 10,000 historically underrepresented civilians and veterans who enroll in upskill or reskill programs and complete at least a post-secondary credential in STEM fields by December 2023.
• Entrepreneurship-Focused Nonprofits
  • Support for 110,000 one-on-one financial counseling or coaching sessions for veterans and others from underserved communities by December 2023.

In 2020, USAA joined the CEO Action for Racial Equity (CEOARE). As part of this effort, CEOARE developed several economic empowerment strategies focused on identifying, developing, and promoting scalable and sustainable policy and corporate engagement strategies to close the wealth gap. One strategy led to the creation of the Business Diversity Ecosystem which is designed to expand supplier diversity.

During the first two years of its philanthropic initiative, USAA has already supported nearly 70 nonprofit organizations and positively impacted more than 400,000 lives.

Some of the nonprofit organization recipients include:

• Alamo Colleges (San Antonio): In 2020, USAA’s funding provided 1,010 scholarships to AlamoPROMISE students, totaling nearly $1.6 million.
• GreenPath Financial Wellness (National Financial Health Equity Initiative): The initiative has reached more than 158,000 individuals across the country and provided Black, Hispanic and Indigenous military families and veterans with financial counseling and coaching sessions.
• LiftFund: Focused on support to transitioning service members, veterans and their spouses, USAA’s funding has focused on access to capital, technical assistance and financial education, allowing LiftFund to deploy $7 million in low-cost capital to hundreds of veteran-owned small businesses.

Through programs like this, America’s life insurers are building strong foundations for life-changing economic empowerment and wealth building in communities from coast-to-coast. Moving forward, these meaningful initiatives will enhance prosperity and financial security across generations.