Matthew Lee

2000

Matthew Lee

Inner City Public Interest Law/Fair Finance Watch

http://www.innercitypress.org/icpilc.html

Bronx, New York, United States

Community Improvement & Economic Development, Legal Advocacy

The Bold Idea:

Many low-income families across the U.S. are denied banking and financial resources, an injustice that restricts them from expanding their communities, starting businesses and even buying homes.

The Inner City Public Interest Law Center advocates and provides legal representation on issues affecting these underserved and low- to moderate-income communities, holding banks accountable to the U.S. Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977, which prohibits banks from refusing to lend to poorer communities. Since 1994, the total number of secured commitments leveraged by The Inner City Public Interest Law Center have totaled over $10 billion. The Center has trained and mobilized numerous community groups to research critical lending data in their communities and to hold banks accountable. The effectiveness of the organization's strategy has been recognized by bank representatives, regulators and community activists from around the nation who call on The Center for financial comments and assistance.

Biography:

Matthew Lee is a public interest lawyer who got his start in community-controlled housing battles in the South Bronx of New York City in 1987. He has published analysis pieces in several publications, including New York Newsday, American Banker, and City Limits. He has been involved in seeking accountability from banks and other corporations since the early 1990s, and now does this work globally through the Fair Finance Watch and its Human Rights Enforcement project. He was awarded an Ashoka Fellowship in 2001.