 Over the last two years, communities of color were disproportionately affected by the pandemic. For example, four in 10 black households lost their income or job with no financial safety net to catch them. This outcome isn't entirely an accident. It's the result of an unfair system designed in many ways to exclude minorities from building financial stability. So how do we get here? And how do we change the status quo? The wealth gap in America is like a rigged board game. Say the person on your left automatically gets to start the game with $3 million in ten properties and you have to start with nothing. It's safe to say the odds of winning that game aren't in your favor. Like a rigged board game, the racial wealth gap is the result of systemic inequity created by centuries of federal and state housing and lending policies deliberately preventing communities of color from equal access to jobs, homes, healthcare, and education. One of these systems is redlining. A phrase you may know when it comes to housing, but manifests in many different ways. Let's break it down. When new home ownership programs were created in the 1930s, neighborhoods were color-coded and ranked on a scale of riskiness with most risky being assigned to minority neighborhoods instantly devaluing their homes. Even today, black and Latinx families are routinely denied mortgage loans at far higher rates than their white counterparts because of the associated risk factor. When it isn't just home ownership that's affected by modern redlining, neighborhood value determines school funding. In fact, a recent study found that a majority of non-white school districts received $23 billion less funding than majority white school districts. Or take other resources like banks. In majority white counties, there are about 41 financial institutions for every 100,000 people versus only 27 in non-white communities. Not to mention that banks in minority neighborhoods often employ predatory tactics like requiring higher account balances to avoid service fees. The ripple effect of these systems has never been more prominent and knowledge of them has never been more relevant. Which is why VARO Bank, a mission-driven, all-digital bank, is setting out to fix the broken ladder of America's financial system and building a new financial reality for all. VARO has teamed up with basketball star and philanthropist Russell Westbrook to launch Russ and VARO Money Power, a custom financial literacy program designed to educate and empower youth on the causes and effects of the wealth gap so they can begin to create financial power for themselves and for generations to come. For Westbrook, financial literacy isn't just about power, it's personal. Before he was scoring big on the court, he was a kid who came from a neighborhood affected by systemic financial inequity, where money was usually the biggest barrier to success. Wanting to teach others what he didn't know as a young adult, Westbrook is devoted to bringing financial knowledge and access to communities like the one he grew up in through his Why Not Foundation. At no cost to high schoolers, Russ and VARO Money Power hits on everything they need to not only understand the historical barriers built into the financial system, but to navigate those systems with lessons on budgeting, careers, avoiding money traps, and starting a business. The seeds of wealth for a new generation have already been planted with Russ and VARO Money Power's launch in 2022. Westbrook and Russell Westbrook celebrated the first class of workshop graduates in LA late last year, and they look forward to expanding the reach of the program in 2022. It gave me a lot of inspiration, motivation, and confidence, and that's one thing that I've always locked in when it came to finances. To learn more about VARO, visit VAROMONEY.COM. For Uprocks, I'm Steve Vasquez.