August 2024 | Newsletter

Johany's Entrepreneurial?Journey

Johany's passion for beauty and self-care ignited in middle school -?in the makeup room at her modeling school.?This passion led her to eventually create Montes Esthetics, aimed at changing the way people feel about themselves through esthetics, beauty, self-care, and teaching. After working as an instructor for over seven years, an unexpected school closure forced her to decide whether to strike out on her own. Motivated by positive feedback, and the desire to provide for her two children, Johany took the leap into entrepreneurship.?

Joining the FSS+ program with Cambridge Housing Authority gave her the confidence and financial knowledge she needed. "The program has helped me understand how to organize my finances, which I’m now using as I build my business," she says. With the savings she built through the program, Johany has been able to handle unexpected emergencies, ensure transportation to work, and improve her credit score.

“I feel very lucky to have this opportunity to gain knowledge and resources. I look back and I don’t know where I would be right now. I wouldn’t be in this position to open a business without this level of support,” Johany reflects.?

Read more about Johany's journey here.

Compass welcomes new Chief Strategy & Impact Officer

We are excited to announce that?Christimara "Christy" Garcia?has joined Compass as our new Chief Strategy and Impact Officer. She will lead our technology,?financial services, and training and technical assistance teams, who together deliver scalable tools and services?that drive program effectiveness.

Christy comes with over two decades of experience driving business growth, enhancing innovation capabilities, and implementing high-impact projects.?Most recently, she served as?Director of Framingham State University's Entrepreneur?Innovation Center, and as a lecturer at MIT's Sloan School of Management mentoring graduate students through project-based learning and lab courses.

We look forward to Christy's leadership and expertise accelerating our work to?build the field of knowledge around FSS and other asset building opportunities for families with low incomes.?

The National FSS Conference

Registration is?open for our 7th National FSS Conference!?Join us in Washington, D.C. at the Omni Shoreham Hotel from October 21-22 to discover the latest best practices and?innovative strategies to deliver an effective FSS program.

Darrick Hamilton, the Founding Director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School, will be the?keynote speaker. Check out the most up to date?agenda?here.

In-person and virtual tickets are available for purchase.?Secure your tickets today!

News & Updates

• Compass has secured a $6 million investment from Ballmer Group, bringing us closer to raising the funds needed to achieve our ambitious?7-year strategic plan?to break down barriers to asset-building for families with low incomes.
• Through our?partnership with WinnCompanies, Compass has expanded services to support families in Virginia and New Jersey.?Additionally, we have deepened?our roots in Rhode Island, Maryland, and Massachusetts.
• Compass will support more families interested in higher education through a new partnership with?Duet, a non-profit college coaching organization that works exclusively with Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU)?to assist working adults pursuing degrees to advance their careers.
• Compass FSS graduate Dwayne Fair is back in the Philadelphia?news!?After spending the last two decades renovating other people’s homes, including his neighbors, Dwayne is delighted to spend the time investing in renovating his own.?
• Compass was featured in DRK’s Champions of Change series, airing on NBC during the Olympics.?The segment spotlighted our incredible client, Jenny, who achieved homeownership last year, alongside our CEO, Markita Morris-Louis.
• Compass clients Jenny Marcelin and Damali Omolade made front-page news in the?Boston Globe!?The article explored how Jenny and Damali leveraged the FSS Program, alongside additional area resources, to become homeowners.?
• Jimmy Stuart, Chief External Affairs Officer,?spoke on the?Urban Institute's?panel,?“Closing the Homeownership Gap: New Wealth-Building Tactics from across the Country.” Panelists discussed systemic barriers to homeownership and innovative approaches to overcome them through new financial products, enhanced support, and more equitable systems.
• We are?trying something different this summer!?Compass will be closed on all Fridays in August to support the health and overall wellbeing of our staff.?

What We're Reading

Gov. Healey signs Massachusetts affordable housing act

NBC Boston

"New legislation is being touted as a $5 billion investment in tackling the commonwealth’s housing issue. It’s called the Affordable Homes Act, and it’s the largest housing bill in Massachusetts history."

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To build housing, Boston gives away land Black and brown families once owned

WGBH

"...In 1992, the city of Boston notified her father, James Saucer, it?planned to take the two-lot property?because he owed nearly $5,000 in unpaid taxes and interest. Four years later, the city boarded up the buildings and then bulldozed them — and sent Saucer the bill — leaving the urban landscape abandoned for years."

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"'It is absolutely changing': Pew finds Philly is less affordable than it used to be"

WHYY

"New research shows Philadelphia?remains a city of homeowners?but is less affordable than it’s historically been — over the last few years but also over the past two decades — even as the number of homeowners remained virtually unchanged [...] The jump is part of a broader trend that has made Philadelphia?a tougher place to buy a home, particularly for people with low and moderate incomes."

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