2020: A Year in Review
As we mourn the losses of 2020, I'm taking time to reflect on our hard-fought accomplishments that will uplift communities for years to come.
We’re almost at the end of what was — by all accounts — a very, very challenging year. A year with ramifications that will impact us for the next decade, at least.
Despite the deep sorrows and tragedies of 2020, I also feel enormous gratitude and pride for the people who have demanded change at a time when change was critically, urgently needed. They have grounded me in a year that has felt unmoored, and, even amidst unprecedented loss and endless isolation, we have taken important steps toward a more just future.
This past tax season, the combined Federal and California Earned Income Tax Credit returned over $3 billion to more than 3.5 million low-income households.
CalEITC is one of the most effective anti-poverty measures available to working Californians, and Golden State Opportunity has gone the extra mile with CalEITC4Me to ensure hardworking families receive every penny of the tax refund they earned.
GSO’s wins don’t stop there: after years of organizing and advocacy from immigrant rights groups and the CalEITC Coalition, AB 1876 was signed into California law this past September, extending EITC eligibility to people with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). Low-income undocumented workers make up a huge part of our frontline workforce and have borne a disproportionate brunt of this pandemic— AB1876 couldn’t have passed at a more critical time.
Meanwhile, at Working Hero, our team endorsed and supported a slate of outstanding candidates for office, from County Supervisor to Senate. While not all won their races, every single candidate ran on a platform of change and breathed new life into our political process at a time when it was needed most. These Working Hero victories wouldn’t have been possible without the help of some of our courageous partners, including LA Voice Action, Community Coalition Action Fund, A New Way of Life Reentry Project, SEIU 99 and SEIU 2015, and the California Donor Table.
In 2020, the call for humane, logical, and progressive policy shifted into high-gear. I was humbled and inspired this summer to join a conversation at Netroots Nation on our country’s road to recovery from the pandemic with movement leaders I admire, including Zephyr Teachout, Rep. Ro Khanna, Rhiana Gunn-Wright, and Supv. Holly Mitchell.
At Aspiration, our user base is growing steadily: we’re at over 2.5 million customers and counting. That’s 2.5 million fewer people allowing big banks to invest their money in the fossil fuel industry and the prison industrial complex. Since the launch of the Plant Your Change campaign, we’ve planted more than 3.5 million trees— and we’re just getting started.
And through our Dimes Worth of Difference policy of donating 10% of every dollar earned from customer tips, we were able to support the essential work of social justice organizations like Accion U.S. Network.
I’m proud of that collaboration— and I’m excited about how much further we can go. After all, Aspiration was designed to be a fundamentally ethical financial institution (no longer an oxymoron!) that uplifts humanity. After the brutal realities of the broken social safety net that were revealed this year, we are committed to growing Aspiration’s giving programs in 2021.
In 2021, I am doubling down on my effort to end poverty. In the richest country in the history of the world, no American should struggle to survive. I am personally committed to doing whatever it takes to transform the US into a nation where everyone can thrive, not just the privileged few.
That starts in my own backyard— from supporting local candidates who champion humane policy like Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon and Councilwoman Nithya Raman, to volunteering with mutual aid groups like Streetwatch LA that help those in need.
I am grateful to the inspiring community leaders, big thinkers, and progressive fighters who did good this year, despite the odds. Yes, it has been difficult — a year of loss, of grief, of despair. We can only hope that brighter times are ahead for us all.
Let us continue to press ahead for change, ever together.