Office of Financial Empowerment

OFE Programs & Projects

CollegeBound Saint Paul

CollegeBound Saint Paul provides every baby living in the city of Saint Paul starting on January 1, 2020 a college savings account opened with $50. 

Contact: collegebound@ci.stpaul.mn.us or 651-266-8829. 

Visit collegeboundstp.com

Guaranteed Income

The City of Saint Paul launched the  People’s Prosperity Pilot in 2020 and CollegeBound Boost in 2022 to give randomly selected CollegeBound Saint Paul families with a $500 unrestricted monthly cash transfers for 18 and 24 months, respectively. The additional income helped families make ends meet and the dignity to have control over their decisions. Participating CollegeBound children also received additional deposits in their college savings accounts. This initiative is part of a larger national network called Mayors for a Guaranteed Income. 

Contact: Prosperity@ci.stpaul.mn.us or 651-266-8829. 

Learn more about guaranteed income

Fair Housing

Fair Housing goals include increasing housing access; decreasing housing displacement; and affirmatively furthering fair housing. 

Learn more about Fair Housing resources 

LOCAL Fund

To address the impacts of the pandemic on Saint Paul’s communities and small businesses, and as part of a Citywide strategy to build institutional commitment to community wealth building, the City of Saint Paul created the LOCAL Fund to use a shared ownership model to achieve healthy and sustainable neighborhoods through recovery of vacant and abandoned properties and to mitigate the enduring economic impacts of the pandemic on small businesses. The LOCAL Fund is a partnership with Nexus Community Partners.

Learn more about the LOCAL Fund

Saint Paul Financial Resource Hub 

The Financial Resource Hub is a centralized directory of financial programs and resources available to people in Saint Paul. This includes programs and resources for individuals, families, and business owners. We are in the process of collecting information for this new resource. If you have suggestions, please email financialhub@stpaul.gov. 

Explore the Financial Resource Hub

Medical Debt Reset Initiative

The City of Saint Paul is using American Rescue Plan funds to cancel an estimated $110 million in medical debt for Saint Paul residents. 

Learn more about the Medical Debt Reset Initiative

Returning Home Saint Paul: A Beyond Backgrounds Program

Returning Home Saint Paul increases housing access for residents returning to Saint Paul from incarceration. This is a partnership with Housing Link and Ujamaa Place. The program launched in November 2020. 

Learn more about Returning Home Saint Paul

Fraudulent Immigration Services Campaign

In partnership with the Immigrant and Refugee Program in the City Attorney’s Office, OFE is launching the Fraudulent Immigration Services Campaign, which will provide Saint Paul community members with information on immigration scams. This awareness campaign is financially supported by the Local Consumer Financial Protection Initiative at the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund.

Learn more about the Campaign

Financial Empowerment Community Council

The Financial Empowerment Community Council (FECC) is a 17-member advisory board appointed by the Mayor and approved by the City Council to review and advise on OFE activities, initiatives, partnerships and opportunities.

Learn more about the FECC

Meet the OFE Team

Marcus Owens, Director

“Financial empowerment is about creating stability and opportunity for families. When residents have access to tools that help them manage debt, build credit, and grow savings, it strengthens both households and our broader community.”

Marcus Owens is the Director of the Office of Financial Empowerment for the City of Saint Paul. In his role, Marcus leads the City’s efforts to expand financial stability by connecting residents to financial coaching, safe banking, credit-building tools, and debt reduction support. He also works across city departments and community partners to integrate financial empowerment strategies into programs that impact residents’ economic wellbeing.

Marcus brings more than two decades of experience in community development and economic systems change, with a focus on expanding access to capital and strengthening pathways to long-term financial stability.

Kasey Wiedrich, Financial Capability Manager

“Some of the things the City has been doing are really different relationships with residents than the City has played in the past outside of just taxes and fees. We have put money back into people’s pockets directly.”

Kasey Wiedrich (she/her) is the Financial Capability Manager with the City of Saint Paul’s Office of Financial Empowerment. In her role, she works to integrate wrap around services into the City’s children’s savings account program, CollegeBound Saint Paul. Prior to joining OFE in 2020, Kasey was the Director of Applied Research at Prosperity Now in Washington, DC, where she managed the Prosperity Now Scorecard—a state-by-state assessment of how families are faring and the strength of state policies—and conducted research on household financial security and effective practices to build financial capability and wealth. 

Faith Dietz, Fair Housing Coordinator

Faith Dietz (she/her) joined the City of Saint Paul in November 2022 as the Fair Housing Coordinator in the Office of Financial Empowerment.  In her role, she works to affirmatively further fair housing with a focus on decreasing housing displacement and increasing housing access. Faith brings her previous experience with corporate, non-profit, and community projects and change to her work with internal and external partners and stakeholders.  

Faith also sits on the Fair Housing Implementation Council (FHIC).

Mai C. Yang, Shared Ownership Coordinator

Mai C. Yang (she/her) is the Shared Ownership Coordinator with the Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE). In this role she manages the LOCAL Fund which utilizes community and worker ownership as strategies to generating wealth; improving the quality of life of workers; and promoting community and local economic development. Mai’s career has focused on social change efforts through grantmaking as well as implementing programs that affect the wellbeing of marginalized, underprivileged, and underserved populations. 

Kaz Hover, CollegeBound Program Manager

Kaz Hover (they/them) is the Program Manager of CollegeBound Saint Paul. Prior to joining OFE, Kaz worked at Prepare + Prosper as their Financial Inclusion Manager, overseeing the FAIR initiative which aims to provide low barrier banking to those who have traditionally been shut out of mainstream financial services. Previously, they spent years working in various direct service and advocacy roles.

Andrei Hahn, Data Management & Customer Service Coordinator

Andrei Hahn (he/him) coordinates the database management and customer service for CollegeBound Saint Paul. He has previous experience with data administration, program evaluation, planning and teaching. Andrei has a Master of Public Policy degree from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.