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Green Energy Board Candidate Search!

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New CEO and Community-Centered Proposed Board

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Green Energy Board Candidate Search! 〰️ New CEO and Community-Centered Proposed Board 〰️


 

Our purpose:

Building a Bank for the East Bay


We are actively looking for a green energy expert to join our proposed Bank Board. Read our position announcement.

For this and other progress (including a spiffy new public banking video) and an excellent public banking infographic, check out our recent activity page and our press release.


Public Bank East Bay hopes to open by 2025, as a transformative institution that keeps our money local, allowing local governments to divest from Wall Street and reinvest its profits back into our community. Public Bank East Bay’s initial loan policies will support affordable housing development, provide support for small businesses (especially for marginalized entrepreneurs), finance the renovation and electrification of existing buildings, and help cities and counties refinance their municipal debt.

 
 
 
Public Bank of East Bay keeps money local. The bank will focus on ethical banking, green banking. A socially responsible bank will promote sustainable values, partnering with community banks to make low interest loans.

Keeping our money local

The cities of Berkeley, Richmond and Oakland all have voted to divest from fossil fuel investment, private prisons, and the arms industry, yet no alternative exists for our cities and counties to deposit their funds outside of Wall Street banks. These banks invest our money wherever it is most profitable for the banks, charging the cities high fees for their services. In 2020 Oakland alone paid more than $60 million dollars in interest on its loans. We need a public bank to bring public funds under transparent local control and align how we spend our tax and fee dollars with the values and needs of our communities.

 
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Investing with care

 
Affordable housing solutions are essential to solve the housing crisis in America and locally.

support affordable housing

The East Bay is experiencing a housing crisis of extreme scale. In Alameda County, more than 50,000 households don’t have access to an affordable home and more than 8,000 people are homeless each night. The Public Bank East Bay will be instrumental in providing flexible and long-term financing for the pre-development and preservation of affordable housing as well as financing for community land trusts, accessory dwelling units and other innovative housing projects.

Promoting racial equity in small business lending will reduce income inequality and reduce the racial wealth gap. Ethical banks promote social justice and benefit all.

Create equity & ECONOMIC JUSTICE

Decades of redlining through governments and financial institutions have left the BIPOC community and other low-income marginalized groups without access to the capital they deserve and need. 44% of black households in California today are unbanked or underbanked and entrepreneurs of color are 15-25% more likely to get denied credit than comparable white business owners. We need a public bank that has equity as a core value and prioritizes lending to underserved communities to relieve some of the historical burden carried by communities of color.

Green banking is key to mitigating the climate crisis and keeping our localities livable. Eco-friendly banks will permit local governments to divest from fossil fuels. om fossil fuels

Address climate change

Municipalities cannot wait for a paralyzed federal government to come through. We must increase local funding for initiatives that will dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately. The cities and counties of the East Bay are already committed to large-scale building electrification and solar installation programs, but need financing to cover the up-front cost of these planet-saving projects.

 
 

Meet the Collaborators & Endorsers


Collaborators-in-action on historic transformations For East Bay Investments & Financing

 


Ready to Volunteer with the Friends of Public Bank East Bay?


 

We need your help!

Friends of the Public Bank East Bay is a completely volunteer-run, nonprofit organizing to create and build community support for the first public bank in California’s history! We can match your interests and skill set to our needs. If you’re committed to economic justice and interested in helping us build new financial systems by the people for the people, we look forward to having you join us!

Learn how a Public Bank works:

 

How we operate

 
 

The Friends of Public Bank East Bay host general organizing meetings every Wednesday at 6pm via zoom

If you’d like to join us, send us an email and one of our members will be in touch.

We can match your interests and skill set to our needs!

 
 
 
 

Volunteer Organizing Committees

 

Advocacy

builds relationships with community groups, financial institutions and city governments.


Communications

assists other committees with content creation and promotion.


Fundraising

develops our organization’s budget and raises funds for our business plan.


Academy

plans trainings for Board members and others.


 

Let us know when you’re ready to become a PBEB Organizer:

 

 Position Announcement

Candidate for the Founding Board of Directors

The opportunity

This is an exciting opportunity to shape the vision, character and direction of one of the first public banks in the US in 100 years. Board members will be responsible for overseeing the investment of public money transparently and for the benefit of all community stakeholders. The Board, in collaboration with the Bank’s senior staff, will set investment policies and have an important voice in ensuring that the activities of the bank align with mission and values in the Bank’s charter. Board members approved by state and federal regulators when the Public Bank opens will receive modest compensation for their role.

We propose a Board of 15 Directors: approximately 5 representatives of the founding cities and county, 5 community finance/banking experts and 5 community representatives with subject matter expertise in the lending areas of the Bank. The exact size and composition of the Board will evolve in further discussions with regulators, government stakeholders and with the development of the Bank’s business plan; however, we are committed to having a majority of Board members be voices for the community, and that not everyone has to have a banking or finance background. Our primary goal is to ensure a diverse Board whose members will represent and advocate for the underserved and under-represented people in our communities. 

Your background

  • You live or work in the East Bay or have strong affiliations with an East Bay-based organization.

  • You are passionate about creating economic justice and addressing unmet financial needs through innovative banking solutions.

  • You have a good understanding of the current landscape of green energy financing in the East Bay, including grants and loan programs for solar, residential & commercial building electrification, electric cars etc.

  • You understand the scale and scope of the existing demand for green energy financing in the East Bay (including electrification), who is currently financing green energy in the East Bay, where the financing gaps are, including the legal landscape.

  • You have access to a network of industry professionals in the green energy space.

The role

  • You will be part of the group of proposed founding board members that oversees the completion of the business plan, the submission of the charter application to the regulators and the startup of the bank operations (currently expected in 2025).

  • You will participate in board director trainings, public facing events promoting the Bank, meetings with public officials, regulators and other stakeholders.

  • You will support the development of lending programs and policies in your area of subject matter expertise, leveraging your network where needed.

  • You will undergo a rigorous vetting process by state regulators that includes the full disclosure of personal finances, background checks etc. Historical issues such as old bankruptcies may not be downchecks, but disguising anything that the regulators uncover, no matter how old or minor, will disqualify candidates. The regulators will also be looking for protection from unlawful insider transactions and apparent conflicts of interest. 

Time Commitment

  • In the current startup phase we expect a time commitment of at least 5h/month. This includes monthly board meetings and participation in at least one additional committee.

  • In the first year of bank operations we expect a higher time commitment of approx. 2h/week, which will reduce over time.

  • We expect members of the founding board to serve for at least 3 years from the time the bank begins operating.

Application

If you are interested, please complete this application form or send an email with your resume to publicbankeastbay@gmail.com.

Board candidates will be compensated with a stipend of $500/month during the startup period (paid quarterly) and we expect they will paid more once the bank is operating.

Note: The final composition of the Bank’s Board will be determined by the California State Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, following rigorous and thorough scrutiny of every applicant’s financial, legal and other background. We intend to include you in a qualified, diverse pool of prospective applicants, who will all be vetted in advance by the Friends of the Public Bank East Bay to minimize issues raised by the DFPI.