Arkansas Coalition of Housing & Neighborhood Growth for Empowerment (ACHANGE)
ACHANGE is coalition of community development corporations and other housing providers that organized to provide professional development training and advocate for policy change to support affordable housing activities.

The Arkansas Assets Coalition
The Arkansas Assets Coalition is a diverse group of stakeholders including IDA providers, financial institutions, members of the religious community, government employees, and other supporters. The AAC’s primary mission is to advocate for federal and state policy change primarily to support IDA program implementation and expansion, but it now engages in a broader asset building agenda.
www.arassetpolicy.org

Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending
Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending is a coalition of Arkansas organizations that is dedicated to ending abusive payday lending practices. Payday loan borrowers in Arkansas typically pay fees equivalent to annual interest rates ranging from 372 percent to 869 percent, despite the Arkansas Constitution’s cap of 17 percent annual interest on consumer loans. See our Public Policy Successes page for current developments in this important effort.
www.StopPaydayPredators.org

The Arkansas Career Pathways Initiative
The Arkansas Career Pathways Initiative is a multi-partner collaboration with partners including the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges, the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, SGFF, the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services, and the Arkansas Department of Workforce Education. Career Pathways is designed to move low-income adults up the career ladder. Career Pathways uses a series of connected educational programs that enable students to combine school and work and advance to better jobs and higher levels of education and training. In 2007 the Initiative, which initially was implemented at 11 of the state’s two-year colleges, was expanded to all 22 colleges and three state technical institutes.
www.arpathways.com

Arkansas Energy Network (AEN)
Arkansas Energy Network is a coalition of energy providers working together to offer utility assistance grants through a state-wide fuel fund. Entergy-Arkansas is working to recruit additional utilities to join The Power to Care, Entergy’s low income assistance grant fund which is administered by SGFF. AEN is working to secure grant funding to seed the state wide program. Anticipated launch date for the network is October 2008.

CFED
CFED (Corporation for Enterprise Development) expands economic opportunity by helping Americans start and grow businesses, go to college, own a home, and save for their children's and their own economic futures. CFED identifies promising ideas, tests and refines them in communities to find out what works, crafts policies and products to help good ideas reach scale, and develops partnerships to promote lasting change. CFED brings together community practice, public policy and private markets in new and effective ways to achieve greater economic impact. SGFF and CFED collaborated on the SEED practice component and continue to partner on the policy aspect of the initiative as well as on the Assets and Opportunity Scorecard:

• Saving for Entrepreneurship, Education and Downpayment (SEED) Policy & Practice Initiative
  SEED Policy & Practice Initiative was a multi-year national initiative to develop, test, and implement matched savings accounts and financial education for children and youth. The initiative’s purpose was to set the stage for universal, progressive American policy for asset building by bringing together national and community partners to design, administer, and document specific aspects of children's savings programs. Seventy-five pre-schoolers in Phillips County, Arkansas, participated in this national initiative to test how matched savings accounts will help them save for a college education and for their future. SGFF was one of 12 organizations across the country that tested the SEED program, administered by CFED.
  
  Visit our Aspiring Scholars page for more information about history with SEED and our current activities.

• Assets and Opportunity Scorecard
  CFED’s Assets and Opportunity Scorecard ranks the 50 states and the District of Columbia on their performance in 69 outcome and policy measures. The state-level data highlight areas where individuals and families are excelling or lagging in securing a sound financial foundation. The Scorecard also describes what each state government is or is not doing to further foster opportunities for its citizens to own and keep assets. The Assets and Opportunity Scorecard continues CFED's far-reaching examination of asset accumulation and asset policy. SGFF is one of nine organizations across the country that partners with CFED to bring state-specific focus to the Scorecard.
  
  

  Visit our Public Policy Reports page to see our Arkansas version the scorecard and other asset-specific reports.
  

www.cfed.org

Crossroads Coalition
The Crossroads Coalition (CRC) is a comprehensive group of partnering organizations and individuals, all of whom are actively seeking to enhance the broad-based development (economic, community, education, leadership) of the ten counties that define the Crossroads region, including the following ten counties in Eastern Arkansas: Crittenden, Cross, Jackson , Lee , Mississippi , Monroe,  Phillips, Poinsett, St. Francis, and Woodruff.
http://uaedi.cast.uark.edu/five_core/Regional_Partnerships/Crossroads/Crossroads_Coalition.htm

Mid South Delta Initiative (MSDI)
Mid South Delta Initiative was a partnership among Delta communities; regionally focused organizations including SGFF; Delta residents engaged in leading change at all levels; the W.K. Kellogg Foundation; and many other foundations, public agencies, and investors. MSDI was based on a shared vision of people and communities with the capacity to create their own social and economic opportunities.
http://www.wkkf.org/default.aspx?tabid=75&CID=160&NID=61&LanguageID=0

Pine Bluff 20/20
Mayor Carl A. Redus challenged the local community and surrounding areas to create "a vision of what can be," a successful future for Pine Bluff. Pine Bluff 20/20 represents a spirited and committed collaborative of local government officials, business people, non-profit organizations, and most importantly, local citizens who are actively engaged in projects to advance the community. Area residents are encouraged to visit the link below to see how you can join this positive effort.
www.cityofpinebluff.com/2020

Pine Bluff Entrepreneurship Collaborative (PBEC)
The Pine Bluff Entrepreneurship Collaborative was founded on June 27, 2006, by 47 members representing the private, public, and non-profit sectors, as well as aspiring and existing entrepreneurs in the city of Pine Bluff. The purpose of the PBEC is to drive economic development in Pine Bluff through four strategies: encouraging start-up businesses; growing existing businesses; attracting small businesses to relocate to Pine Bluff; and positioning Pine Bluff as an “entrepreneur friendly city.”

Rural People, Rural Policy (RPRP)
Rural People, Rural Policy, an initiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, energizes and equips organizations and networks to shape policy that improves the lives of rural people and the vitality of rural communities. RPRP, a multi-year national initiative, is based on the premise that rural America has abundant assets and that the brightest potential for rural America emerges when a critical mass of rural people are stronger and more organized.
www.wkkf.org

The Working Poor Families Project
The Working Poor Families Project is a national initiative that partners with existing state nonprofit organizations including SGFF to identify and strengthen state policies that help working families achieve success in the labor market. The project focuses on state workforce development polices in the areas of: education and skills training for adults; economic development; and income and work supports.
www.workingpoorfamilies.org