30 JUN 2020
SPECIAL CONTENT

NETFLIX TO DEVELOP ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR BLACK COMMUNITIES

Netflix is going to allocate two percent of its cash holdings - initially up to $100 million - into financial institutions and organizations that directly support Black communities in the United States.

Netflix is going to allocate two percent of its cash holdings - initially up to $100 million - into financial institutions and organizations that directly support Black communities in the United States, the company said in its latest blog note. The streaming giant assured that as part of its commitment to racial equity, it is “turning understanding into action”.

“We believe bringing more capital to these communities can make a meaningful difference for the people and businesses in them, helping more families buy their first home or save for college, and more small businesses get started or grow,” the company said. “We wanted to redirect some of our cash specifically toward these communities, and hope to inspire other large companies to do the same with their cash deposits,”  it added.

As the first step in this $100 million commitment, the streamer will be holding $35 million of cash in two vehicles – on one hand, $25 million will be moved to a newly established fund called the Black Economic Development Initiative, which will be managed by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a non-profit with a track record of developing underinvested communities.

On the other hand, $10 million will go to Hope Credit Union in the form of a Transformational Deposit to fuel economic opportunity in underserved communities across the Deep South. Bill Bynum, CEO of Hope, has spent the last three decades advancing economic mobility in distressed communities.

“This capital will fuel social mobility and opportunity in the low- and moderate-income communities these groups serve. We plan to redirect even more of our cash to Black-led and focused institutions as we grow, and we hope others will do the same. For example, if every company in the S&P 500 allocated a modest amount of their cash holdings into efforts like the Black Economic Development Initiative, each one percent of their cash would represent $20-$30 billion of new capital. And that would help build stronger communities, offering more Black families pathways to prosperity and a more equitable future,”  the statement concludes.

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