With a heart of service, Dominique Ellis is invested in serving the underinvested and building inclusive communities. As Senior Program Officer of the LISC Atlanta office, she is responsible for managing wealth building programs and expanding two new initiatives: state and local policy engagement and place-based community development. The wealth-building program includes managing Atlanta’s network of financial opportunity centers, employer partnerships and other tools to help people build credit, savings, and assets.
Prior to joining LISC, Ellis was a part of the leadership team at HOPE Atlanta, a nonprofit organization fighting homelessness. She is a graduate of Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis with a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice. She also holds certificates in nonprofit organizational management, nonprofit human resources, and change management.
She took time to speak with rolling out publisher and CEO Munson Steed about their work to eliminate the wealth gap. Here’s their chat:
What should the community know that it means when you say “wealth building”?
When we’re looking at wealth building, we’re not just looking at gaining income versus wealth building. It’s very important to look at programs that offer the opportunity to work on financial coaching, also work on access to employment and job-training opportunities, but access to wealth-building such as homeownership.
With us, we have our financial opportunity centers. One local center here in Atlanta, the Atlanta Center for Self-Sufficiency, is working with the Rocket Wealth Accelerator to provide opportunities of one-on-one financial coaching, working to build credit, build savings match, income supports while building that savings, to start that conversation, to lead to homeownership and really working with community members to access those long-term goals of homeownership, which in itself is wealth.
When you think of that, the role of both mentorship and coaching is so key to achieving your goals and dreams. Obviously, a wealth dream without a coach could be something that costs people. They might be watching YouTube, and they say, “Send me a thousand dollars for me to coach you on how to buy a house.” How do you approach that? And, what do you think the value principles are that people can gain when they check in with LISC, with this beautiful Wealth Accelerator program, and have a coach who believes in you?
The program is really focused on providing enhanced financial support to really accelerate wealth through asset building and savings for the under-resourced communities. With the financial opportunity centers — we call them FOCs — they provide an integrated approach. There are three main components to the model, which are employment services, financial coaching, and connection to public benefits and income support.
The FOCs are working with these community members to address the employment gap, additional income support services that will help increase overall income, doing one-on-one financial coaching and education, and providing access to financial products that not only help build credit but also build savings and asset safety. This isn’t just a quick program where we tell you a couple of things in a workshop. This is really working one-on-one with individuals to create a plan, create a budget, to discuss your spending habits. Let’s take a look at your credit report and pool that. Let’s start addressing these areas that, sometimes, other programs don’t address because they’re kind of quick and fly-by. This is really an intentional program that is working with individuals to make an impact and to make a change.
When you think about the importance of savings and budgeting, and you’re learning these skills, what comes out of that?
If we look at it as a whole, we can look at the Rocket Wealth Accelerator program, which really aims to address the racial wealth gap in communities and improve their ability to meet emergency needs, build credit, and grow generational wealth. For instance, many individuals, like those at the Atlanta Center for Self-Sufficiency, work with underserved and unhoused individuals. Often, they’re coming in thinking, “I need a job, I need somewhere to stay.” At that time, they’re not thinking about long-term savings goals, but having programs like the financial opportunity centers, supported by the Rocket Wealth Accelerator, helps them meet those immediate needs and follow the participant so they can start creating long-term goals, creating short-term as well, but looking at long-term. In communities, that’s often not the conversation. It’s usually about meeting immediate needs, and the conversation stops there. It’s important to change the narrative, show people this is an opportunity, and this is the way to start saving, building wealth, and acquiring that wealth for generations to come. Providing opportunities for a sustainable program that leads to increased financial stability is important.
Financial stability is so key. The value proposition of homeownership and the confidence of a family who goes from renting to owning a home: What is your experience as you see the smiles on their faces as they’re able to achieve this dream?
The biggest key is being able to achieve a dream. Many people have accepted the fact that they may not achieve homeownership, or they feel that it’s not a reality. Working with programs that not only show them but give them the tools and continue to educate them on how these goals and dreams can be a reality within our community is vital. Many community members are used to living in apartments as a generational norm, but having these resources come into the community to talk about homeownership and how to achieve it instills a sense of pride. Especially for someone who goes from being unhoused to facing life challenges, seeing homeownership as a future reality is exciting. They get excited about saving, building habits leading to homeownership, and going through first-time homeownership classes. Families are proud to share this information with their children, building generational wealth and showing their community that it’s possible to achieve these goals with the right resources, commitment, and support.
The beauty of that is obvious, but for some, they may not know why you teach how to protect the assets. Why teach asset protection? What are we doing when we say, “Hey, you need to know how to protect your asset”?
It’s interesting. I’ve been doing some work with some heirs’ property, and we see developers taking advantage of properties through tax or heirs’ properties. People may acquire a house but are unsure how to protect it. Having programs in place to guide them on maintaining it long term is crucial. Understanding taxes, community changes, and their impact is vital to protecting assets. Predatory practices often target underserved communities; so, educating them on asset protection is essential.
Thank you for that. Why have you been so dedicated to providing service, insight, and support to communities that are often challenged? Why choose to serve?
For me, it’s a passion. I’ve been in the nonprofit and human service field for over 15 years, working with the criminal justice system, veterans, and the unhoused. I believe it’s important for our community to be educated and have opportunities. Growing up, we saw things a certain way and felt that defined our future. Having people show you something different is important. If I can be part of the solution, help a program, be a community thinker, a thought leader, and a voice for change, that’s why I’m here. It’s a passion for me, and I love working in the community and seeing change.
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