Real-Time Takes: Collateral Sanctions and Banking- Gwen Awoyade
Real-Time Takes
A Policy Blogcast
Collateral Sanctions and Banking- Gwen Awoyade
This is a story of Gwen, a courageous woman who overcame the stigma and barriers faced by every justice involved person. She applies her experience with restoring her own access to banking by helping Towards Employment participants rebuild their finances.
November 4, 2024
Interview and article by Gabrielle Fortin
Gwen Awoyade, currently a financial coach at Towards Employment (TE), had years of experience in the banking industry before her own brush with the criminal justice system, which she courageously recounts during our interview. I sat down with her to discuss the difficulties she faced when rebuilding her finances, and to learn how she utilizes that experience when helping others in navigating the barriers to banking.
Gwen’s work is important on many levels. According to data from Prosperty Now, 12% of Cleveland households are unbanked (having neither a checking nor a savings account) compared to the national average of 5%. Outside of negatively affecting the economy, banking inequality hinders a person’s ability to: save and manage money, improve their credit score, find a loan for a car or a house and overall, diminishes their quality of life. Access to financial rights disproportionately harms individuals with criminal justice experience, making it harder for them to rebuild their life. Some banks categorically deny bank accounts to people with a record, just one example of the countless collateral sanctions harming returning citizens.
Gwen navigated collateral sanctions on her own, eventually paying for a private service to help her save her home. After TE hired her as a financial coach, she harnessed that experience to help others overcome the obstacles they faced. Gwen sits down with participants and provides one-to-one financial coaching - helping others by coming up with a plan to improve their credit scores, get out of debt, and with buying a car or house. She has also addressed the systematic challenges that returning citizens face by creating partnerships with local banks to allow TE participants to open accounts, regardless of their criminal justice experience.
Gwen shared a specific instance in which she helped someone with criminal justice experience go from spending a year in a shelter to closing on a house:
Gwen uses her experience, knowledge and drive to help countless individuals directly, while lowering barriers in a more systematic fashion for many more. Instead of giving up or settling, she used her own journey to change other people’s lives. We should be asking, however, why does society make it so difficult for individuals to rebuild their lives after serving their time? TE is dedicated to decreasing the barriers that hinder individuals with criminal justice experience from achieving economic empowerment and realizing their full potential. Securing employment, finding housing, opening a bank account and enjoying financial security are all factors that reduce recidivism, and help break the cycle of poverty and inequality.
About the Author
Gabrielle Fortin (she/her) is a TE Policy Associate, previously a Towards Employment’s Summer 2024 Cleveland Foundation Policy and Advocacy Intern. During her internship, she has been supporting TE’s 2022-2025 Policy Agenda with a focus on collateral sanctions. Some of her responsibilities include collaborating with community coalitions, tracking legislation (SB37, HB460, HB464) as well as researching and compiling data to advance TE policy initiatives.
Towards Employment
Policy & Advocacy
Towards Employment promotes economic mobility, focusing on those most impacted by systemic racism. We educate and advocate for a more equitable workforce system where racial income gaps have been eliminated and everyone has access to family sustaining wages and quality jobs.
