The T. Rowe Price Foundation is opening a new space, the Bmore CoLab, under an ambitious partnership with the CASH Campaign of Maryland (CASH) and other nonprofits, to provide a variety of community services focused on empowering entrepreneurship and financial well-being in Baltimore.
Local nonprofits who are developing, launching, and implementing financial well-being initiatives as a free or low-cost public service will use the space to collaborate with community members and each other on solving local financial challenges, learning from one another, and innovating new approaches to common community financial challenges.
CASH promotes economic advancement for low- to moderate-income individuals and families in Baltimore and across Maryland. Additional organizations that will partner in the Bmore CoLab and serve community members include KIVA Baltimore, Innovation Works, and Mission Launch. All four nonprofits are existing grantees of the T. Rowe Price Foundation.
Located at the corner of Lombard and Calvert Streets, the space for the Bmore CoLab was donated and renovated by the T. Rowe Price Foundation, providing a prime Inner Harbor location for financial well-being services. In order to serve community members with children, the space includes a children’s room that was designed in collaboration with Junior Achievement. Additionally, the Bmore CoLab has a classroom, which will be used by nonprofits to host training and technical assistance workshops for local small businesses and entrepreneurs.
The Bmore CoLab will begin serving community members in February 2020, after the nonprofits move into the space. The space will not be open to the general public but through appointments with the Bmore CoLab nonprofit partners.
Nonprofit partners were selected based on a mix of services they provide, their potential for impact, and capacity to fully use the space immediately and over a dedicated three-year period. The grant to open the Bmore CoLab will be funded through the T. Rowe Price Foundation’s Impact Grants, which were announced earlier this year and aim to address some of Baltimore’s most critical needs, including strengthening financial capabilities of Baltimore households.
QUOTES
John Brothers, president of the T. Rowe Price Foundation
“We are fortunate to partner with amazing local financial empowerment organizations who have the expertise to make a big impact and just need additional resources and infrastructure to expand their services to our innovative small businesses and entrepreneurs in the Baltimore
community. We know that a strong local economy and financially stable households benefit the entire community.”
Robin McKinney, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the CASH Campaign of Maryland
"The CASH Campaign of Maryland is proud to be a lead nonprofit partner of the new Bmore CoLab. We're grateful to the T. Rowe Price Foundation for this excellent opportunity to provide more help and services designed to improve the lives of Baltimore's working families. With so many people, nowadays, working in the gig economy or starting 'side hustles,’ the Bmore CoLab will provide the CASH Campaign of Maryland with one more way to help aspiring entrepreneurs create assets, savings, and hope."
ABOUT T. ROWE PRICE
Founded in 1937, Baltimore-based T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. ( troweprice.com), is a global investment management organization with $1.18 trillion in assets under management as of November 30, 2019. The organization provides a broad array of mutual funds, subadvisory services, and separate account management for individual and institutional investors, retirement plans, and financial intermediaries. The company also offers a variety of sophisticated investment planning and guidance tools. T. Rowe Price's disciplined, risk-aware investment approach focuses on diversification, style consistency, and fundamental research. For more information, visittroweprice.com or our Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook sites.
ABOUT THE CASH (Creating Assets, Savings and Hope) CAMPAIGN OF MARYLAND
The nonprofit CASH Campaign of Maryland works with its partners across the state to promote programs, products, and policies that increase the financial security of low-to moderate-income individuals and families across the state. Most services are available at no cost or on a sliding scale, including tax preparation, financial education classes, and financial coaching. For more information, contact Robin McKinney, Co-Founder & C.E.O., CASH Campaign of Maryland,
robin@cashmd.org or
