Standing on the shoulders of giants – revitalising the narrative on racial equity in finance and investment
“Any social justice effort stands on the shoulders of giants. We want to recount and pay tribute to all those that have come before us.”
– Bonnie Chiu, Pathway Co-founder
Pathway Co-founder, Bonnie Chiu, describes the questions that we’re asked, as an organisation. Why they justify what we do. And why we’re standing on the shoulders of giants – continuing the legacy of those Black and Ethnic Minoritised leaders who dared to change the investment space, some 70 years’ ago.
Over the past two years’ of Pathway Fund’s existence, we have been asked two key questions, the most frequently:
● does the UK need a Pathway Fund style organisation or investment model?; and
● why has it taken so long for Pathway Fund to come to the fore and embed itself in the social investment space?
The first of these questions suggests there to be a lack of awareness as to the importance of addressing racial equity within finance and investment.
The second is one we’re asked by allies and supporters – and we’re being asked it, a lot. It’s reflective of those allies’ and supporters’ excitement – as well as relief – about the fact that this agenda is finally being prioritised. To their minds, the structural shift represented by Pathway’s approach, policy recommendations, and funding models, is long overdue.
These questions have caused us to realise that Pathway is trailblazing; forging its own narrative on racial equity, in the context of community wealth building, in the financial-investment sectors.
What exactly is that narrative?
That we, as Black and Ethnically minoritised communities, can bring about the systemic, structural, financial changes, necessary for our enterprises – and in turn, our communities – to flourish. That we can and will do this, for ourselves.
It’s an exciting narrative – and one many think to be in need of us forging – but it’s a narrative that hasn’t yet been mainstreamed, it hasn’t yet been full heard or understood, within the corridors of the UK’s major financial, investment, philanthropic, and governmental institutions.
The narrative’s one that needs to be embedded within those realms, one that must reverberate, loudly, in those corridors. It must be understood, by those holding the key to the unlocking of the social investment sector, that we, as Black and Ethnically Minoritised leaders, can change the system, ultimately rediverting funds to those places that they so greatly need to be. To the places that they need to be, if the government and private sector, alike, are truly committed to unlocking the potential of Black and Ethnically minoritised communities… and in turn, maximising UK’s economic output, over the long-term…
However, when we bring ourselves back to the two questions we see posited to us, above, there’s one final thing that both show.
Whilst the first evidences a lack of understanding as to the need to promote racial equity in our financial systems – and the second shows the need for us to fill the space with a Black and Ethnically Minoritised wholesaler – both, together, show that, perhaps, people don’t realise that we, at Pathway, are doing one thing, which shouldn’t go unnoticed.
Standing on the shoulders of giants.
Yes, we are trailblazing. Yes, we are writing our own narratives. Yes, we are the UK’s first Black and Ethnically Minoritised wholesaler.
But, in reality, our work, that narrative, at its very core, when we reflect that this narrative, whilst being exciting, whilst to be still in need of embedding, is, in fact, not actually that new…
Those narratives began many years’ ago, by those who had a vision for Black and Ethnically Minoritised-led finance. They were thought-up because of the market-led demand presented itself and their conceivers hoped to inspire the unbounded potential within those communities.
They help define that which Pathway today, is – and is working to achieve. They have provided the foundation upon which we can build this initiative and will continue to inspire as, as we see it grow ever-larger.
Our credit unions are a good example of all of this.
Credit unions are now part of the mainstream financial system, crucial to tackling financial inclusion and channeling investment into underserved parts of the country and communities.
Little known, however, is the fact the first ever British credit union[1] was founded by 10 Caribbean migrants – members of the same Baptist church – who could not obtain bank credit, but were familiar with credit unions, given that they were being used in Jamaica, at the time. Named the Hornsey Co-operative Credit Union[2], it began as a savings club in 1962 and was officially registered two years’ later.
One academic paper[3] said that in 1998, one in every 100 Britons invested in a credit union; the same stat for those people of Caribbean descent sees that number rise to 38 per cent. Today, credit unions play a hugely important role in our financial system.
According to the Bank of England's Credit Union Quarterly Statistics[4] for Q2 2022, there are now around 250 credit unions operating in England, Scotland, and Wales. These credit unions have over 1.4 million members, with total assets of £2.4 billion, total loans of £1.2 billion, and total deposits of £2.1 billion.
They, all those years’ ago, forged the narratives that we fundamentally continue. It’s their steer that we follow.
Another example is Pardner Hand – a community-based savings scheme brought to the UK by members of the Windrush Generation.
When the Windrush Generation arrived in the UK from the Caribbean in the late 1940s, many people faced barriers to accessing basic British financial services such as bank accounts. So the Pardner Hand became an important lifeline.
The Bank of England’s Museum[5] has highlighted how Pardner Hand “helped the Windrush Generation overcome financial exclusion to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams”.
The scheme is one of community togetherness, a pooling of resources for the enrichment of all. It enables people to save as a group, with everyone putting in a set amount and each person, taking it in turns to have the pot. One person is appointed as the banker to hold the pot until it’s ready to give out.
Finally – and even closer to home – many families connected to the Pathway mission, noticed the financial exclusion we’ve been discussing – in the communities we’ve been analysing. They’ve experienced it, first-hand. One of our Fund Manager Incubator participants, said this:
“My step-father, Ajani-Bandele Mason, ran Timbuktu Books in Brixton from the early 1990s to the early 2000s. More than a bookshop, it was a community hub, convening well-known figures from across the black activism and liberation movements.
Part of his work and that of the bookshop sought to link economic empowerment to the overall tapestry of black liberation in the UK.
Looking through his old documents, I found mention of credit unions, investment clubs and a whole range if initiatives which looked to harness the ‘black pound’”.
- Gosbert Chagula MBE, Head of Programme, Startup Discovery School
Gosbert’s step-father, like Pardner, and the Hornsey Co-operative, all paved the way for Pathway to exist. And has given the opportunity for us to deliver real change, to those who can bring material benefit to our economy.
To that point, the McGregor-Smith Review[6], stated, in 2017, that the UK economy would receive a £24 billion boost to GDP if Black and Minoritised backgrounds were properly represented, across that economy. Racial equity has always been deeply intertwined with the economy and commerce. All communities yearn to contribute, but structural barriers have often stifled these ambitions.
Going back to those two questions, then, I find it surprising, for this history to be so little known – and surprising that our communities are often seen as less financially literate or entrepreneurial, than others. It seems difficult to understand, when you see all that they’ve achieved, over the past 70 years’.
But it provides yet another justification for the Pathway mission; it shows just how important it is, that we do what we do, to ensure that the giants that we’re so inspired by, see their legacies honoured, their work, live on, and ultimately, impact delivered, thanks to the decisions they made.
I think it’s fair to say, therefore, that when we think about Gosbert’s stepfather, Ajani-Bandele Mason, that we, at Pathway, are standing on the shoulders of giants. Giants who worked to turn the screw, to restructure the system. Giants who had a vision. Giants, whose vision we want to pay tribute to – and will see through.
It’s time that we elevate these little-known histories – and use them as inspiration and guidance, as we make the case for racial equity and inclusive growth, across the UK, over the long-term.
[1] https://www.ft.com/content/7de2eea4-f030-11e9-bfa4-b25f11f42901
[2] https://www.thenews.coop/exploring-the-caribbean-roots-of-the-british-credit-union-sector/
[3] https://www.ft.com/content/7de2eea4-f030-11e9-bfa4-b25f11f42901
[4] https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics/credit-union/2022/2022-q2
[5] https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum/online-collections/blog/the-pardner-hand-and-black-entrepreneurship-in-the-uk
[6]https://www.gov.uk/government/news/increase-in-bme-workplace-progression-could-give-uk-economy-a-24bn-boost-baroness-mcgregor-smith-review-finds#:~:text=Press%20release-,Increase%20in%20BME%20workplace%20progression%20could%20give%20UK%20economy%20a,Baroness%20McGregor%2DSmith%20Review%20finds&text=The%20UK%20economy%20could%20benefit,government%2Dbacked%20review%20has%20found.