ECONOMICS ARKANSAS NAMED BANK OF AMERICA'S 2023 NEIGHBORHOOD CHAMPION

Receives $50,000 Grant

Bank of America senior vice president Magen Tune (left) and Arkansas president Heather Jones (right) present the 2023 Neighborhood Champions award to Economics Arkansas project support specialist Ginsie Higgs and executive director Kathleen Lawson (center).

December 18, 2023

LITTLE ROCK— At its annual holiday celebration last week, Bank of America announced Economics Arkansas as its 2023 Neighborhood Champions Grant Recipient. The educational nonprofit organization serving Arkansas PreK-12 educators will receive $50,000 in flexible funding over two years.

The Neighborhood Champions program aims to build “thriving communities by addressing issues fundamental to economic mobility, including workforce development and education, community development and basic needs.” The highly competitive award, in addition to operations funds, includes leadership training for the executive director and an emerging leader, and the opportunity to participate in peer-to-peer coaching with organizations across the U.S.

Economics Arkansas executive director Kathleen Lawson remarked that “this gift in particular will help us strengthen our infrastructure as an organization to do our work more efficiently, ultimately allowing us to grow as an organization.”

Economics Arkansas provides teachers with professional development and classroom resources for incorporating economic and financial principles into their existing curriculum.

“Neighborhood Champions is an example of Bank of America’s commitment to responsible growth as we work to advance economic mobility in Arkansas, with a particular focus on low- and moderate-income communities,” said Heather Jones, Bank of America president.

“This year, Economics Arkansas is our Neighborhood Champion because of their work to remove barriers related to economic mobility by providing students with the knowledge and tools they need to make wise financial choices and effectively participate in our economy.”

Lawson added, “Bank of America’s commitment to fostering positive change in our community is an inspiration, and we are honored to stand beside you in the pursuit of a brighter, more economically literate future.”

Economics Arkansas is a private, non-profit, non-partisan educational organization founded in 1962 by Dr. Arch Ford and led by Dr. Bessie B. Moore to promote economic literacy in Arkansas. Its mission is to equip PreK-12 schools with training and resources to teach economics and personal finance using practical, innovative and inspiring methods so that Arkansas students may become economically and financially literate, allowing them to achieve their own American dream and thrive in a free-market economy.

Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. 

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