Our Approach
JBI focuses on community narratives and perspectives to better engage academia, policymakers, and financial institutions in researching and developing financial products and policies that meet consumers' evolving needs — while leading to increased financial security and wealth for all.
Embodying Julian Bond's commitment to economic justice, JBI places communities who will make up a majority of the future financial marketplace in the driver's seat — creating a platform for research and collaboration that reflects the lived experiences and needs of consumers across the country.
JBI integrates both qualitative and quantitative analysis in all of our research. Quantitative methods allow us to identify patterns at scale — to map disparities in lending rates, measure the compounding effects of the wealth gap, and model the economic impact of regulatory changes. Qualitative research gives our work truth. Through in-depth interviews, focus groups, oral histories, and participatory research design, we surface the human experiences behind the statistics.
Together, these two approaches produce research that is both credible and compelling — both data-driven and deeply human.
This is research done with communities, not simply about them. The people most affected by financial inequity are not just subjects of our research — they are essential partners in producing it. Community-engaged research is not a supplementary approach for us. It is foundational.
Our research process is built on partnership at every stage.
We start by working directly with community partners to shape our research agenda, making sure we focus on what matters most to the people living these realities. We then gather data through secondary big data and nontraditional data, as well as primary data collections using surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Our analysis combines the numbers with people’s lived experiences. The data shows us the scale of the problem, while personal stories reveal the deeper reasons behind it. Together, they give us the full picture.
We turn these findings into clear, accessible formats, then share them with policymakers, financial institutions, community advocates, and the public through publications, digital media, and direct engagement.
Every JBI research project is designed around these four commitments.
Empowering communities
By deeply involving community members in all phases of research and policy development, JBI gives communities the knowledge, resources, relationships, and confidence to actively engage financial institutions, governments, and fellow community members — increasing financial resilience for themselves and their families.
Achieving financial equity
Relying on evidence-based analysis, JBI champions policies and practices that expand and accelerate financial security and opportunity for marginalized people and communities. Our research is designed not just to document where things stand, but to provide the evidence base that drives change.
Collaborative research
Following Julian Bond's "plain truth" that ordinary people have the common sense and ability to control their lives given the knowledge and means — JBI makes research a partnership between the Institute, community members, community organizations, academic fellows, and financial institutions. We are firmly committed to grounding our work in community members.
Amplifying diverse voices
Policymaking works best when the people most affected by policies have a say in their development. By drawing fellows from diverse specialties and backgrounds, including those at Hispanic-serving institutions, HBCUs, and AANHPI-serving institutions, JBI raises the profile of a more diverse set of experts on financial policy — and ensures those perspectives reach the people with the power to act on them.
Four Principles that Guide Our Work
By focusing on closing the racial wealth gap through engagement in the design and development of collaborative research projects, JBI builds community-informed policy solutions that achieve financial equity across seven key areas.
Managing everyday expenses
Paying for higher education
Housing affordability & ownership
Expanding small business capital & credit
Inclusive clean energy transition
Using technology to expand financial inclusion
Retirement, wealth & estate planning
Seven Measures of Financial Equity
The work of building an inclusive financial market will not be accomplished by any single organization. It requires policymakers willing to listen, institutions willing to change, researchers willing to follow the truth wherever it leads — and communities willing to share their stories.
JBI actively partners with:
- Community organizations
- Academic researchers & fellows
- Policymakers & regulators
- Financial institutions
- Faith communities
- Worker centers
- Advocacy organizations
- Hispanic-serving institutions
- HBCUs
- AANHPI-serving institutions
