If you work in asset building, chances are that you know Brian Stewart. For four years Neighborhood Partnerships has been fortunate to have Brian as our Board Chair and for 20 years Brian has been a leader in the Asset Building movement.
His contributions date back to 1996 when he participated in the American Dream Demonstration (ADD) project with Human Solutions in Portland, OR.
Brian has worked closely with Reach Community Development to help launch a Youth IDA program called Youth$ave. He participated as a “proposal reviewer” for Health & Human Services and their “Assets for Independence Act (AFIA)” in Washington, D.C. and he attended multiple IDA Learning Conferences including Oakland, Austin, Phoenix, Windsor, Canada, and Washington, D.C.
Brian helped champion a source of “matching funds” in the State of Oregon for the Oregon Individual Development Account (IDA) Initiative – still the largest state-funded IDA program.
Andrea Levere, President of CFED had this to say about Brian:
Brian Stewart stands out among his banking peers for the length and depth of his support for expanding opportunity and building assets for low-income families and individuals. He has been an extraordinary partner to CFED (Corporation for Enterprise Development) for over 20 years, helping to spread the early innovations such as Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) to our most recent work bridging the Racial Wealth Divide. He has advocated for effective state policies while promoting best practices among bankers and nonprofits to promote savings, expand financial capability and build wealth. He truly embodies corporate social responsibility at the highest levels, and our communities are better off because of him.
We’re grateful for Brian and his continued efforts to provide thoughtful leadership and funding to expand financial capabilities for families throughout the Northwest Region.