25 years in and looking ahead

25 Years In and Looking Ahead

As we begin a new year, Commonwealth is also marking a major milestone: 25 years of work to expand financial security and opportunity for all.

This moment has us reflecting not just on how far the field has come, but on what the next chapter demands. Families living on low-to-moderate incomes continue to face volatility, financial anxiety, and widening inequities, even as new tools, technologies, and approaches emerge.

Despite progress, tens of millions of families living on low-to-moderate incomes continue to navigate financial instability, stress, and limited wealth. At the same time, evidence shows what’s possible when systems are designed with people in mind from workplace benefits to inclusive investing to financial AI.

In a new blog, our co-founder and CEO Timothy Flacke shares the lessons that have shaped Commonwealth’s work over the past quarter-century and how they’re guiding our Vision 2027 goals, including a renewed focus on experimentation, evidence, partnership, and ingenuity at scale.

We’re also using this anniversary to listen. We’re inviting partners across sectors to share what financial security challenges facing working families feel most urgent right now and where collective action is most needed. What challenges demand the most collective attention right now? We welcome you all to add your voice after reading this blog.

Read Tim's Blog

Welcome to Our New Board Members

We’re excited to welcome Lilicia Bailey and Brian Dixon to the Commonwealth Board of Directors.

With more than 20 years of human capital leadership experience, Lilicia Bailey brings significant experience in elevating organizational effectiveness measures that enhance people practices in support of businesses and their missions to her role at CommonSpirit Health. As CommonSpirit’s Chief People Officer, she develops effective, sustainable, and transformative human capital strategies to enable growth and invigorate efforts to solidify the ministry’s culture of engagement, innovation, and accountability. Prior to joining CommonSpirit in 2023, she served as the Chief People Officer at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta. She has also held human resources leadership positions at Wake Forest Baptist Health, Belk, and Cox Enterprises. Bailey holds an MBA and PhD in Global Leadership & Change from Pepperdine University, and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Spelman College.

Brian Dixon is one of the first and youngest African-American Partners at a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. He is committed to making sure entrepreneurs of all backgrounds have access to advice and capital in order to make their businesses succeed. For the past ten years, he has worked his way up from intern to Partner at Kapor Capital. Brian is a Kauffman Fellow, Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) Fellow, and two-time tech startup founder. Brian has an MBA from F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Science from Northeastern University.

To date, Brian has shared his investment experience on over 50 stages, including TechCrunch Disrupt, SXSW, and SOCAP. He has also been featured on NPR and has earned several recognitions, including being named one of Business Insider’s 46 Most Important African Americans in Technology.

We’re honored to have Brian and Lilicia join the Board and look forward to the leadership and insight they will bring to Commonwealth.