2026 Policy Priorities and Solutions - Flipbook - Page 9
Lifetime Financial Security
To address the challenges many individuals face in saving for a financially secure future, the Institute supports
public policy changes and private-sector solutions that advance financial security across the life course,
beginning at birth and continuing through retirement. The Institute is focused on fostering access to financial
education and building financial knowledge, inspiring early savings and investment, expanding access to
retirement plans while developing new retirement products and services, and encouraging long-term financial
planning. In support of these aims, the Institute published The Economic Impact of Invest America Accounts, a
report that examines a proposal to create an account for every newborn American, capitalized with an initial
$1,000 government grant and invested in a broad equity index fund of US companies. The report compares this
approach to prior early-wealth-building proposals, while simulating the potential impact on account holders’
wealth, and was instrumental in building support for Invest America accounts, which officially became US law on
July 4, 2025.
Inclusive Capitalism
The mission of the Inclusive Capitalism Program is to open doors in the asset management industry and
create a more inclusive financial services sector. Core activities of our Inclusive Capitalism Executive Council
and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Strategic Initiative and Fellowship Program include
improving access to capital and financial inclusion, with an emphasis on underserved markets, through policies
that leverage minority depository institutions (MDIs) and community development financing institutions (CDFIs);
promote policies that improve access to capital and job creation, particularly for businesses owned by socially
and economically disadvantaged individuals; and improve access to capital for emerging asset managers.
Small Business, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Growth
Small businesses and start-ups generate half of our economic output, employ half of private-sector workers,
and create most new jobs. They drive innovation that boosts productivity and raises living standards. In crises,
they adapt to help meet national or community needs. Despite their outsized role in the economy, there’s no
comprehensive measure of their activity, and many struggle with access to capital. Our Small Business Policy
Initiative promotes policies and solutions that level the playing field to help small businesses launch, survive,
and thrive.
Community Economic Development and Capital Deployment
Through our 10,000 Communities Initiative and Initiative for Inclusive Entrepreneurship, we focus on scaling up
technical assistance and capital support to underserved rural, urban, and tribal communities, businesses, and
asset managers in the US, seeking to build resilient local economies. Access to capital is crucial in promoting
economic growth in overlooked communities and enhancing the economic mobility of individuals residing
within them. Through our efforts, the Milken Institute empowers capital allocators—from traditional financial
institutions to private equity firms, to CDFIs and MDIs—to invest in people and places that have traditionally
lacked access to the capital required to grow businesses and improve communities. We work on policies that
expand access to capital for underinvested communities and businesses owned by socially and economically
disadvantaged individuals, and leverage important programs like Resilience Zones, Opportunity Zones, the State
Small Business Credit Initiative, and other place-based programs that expand predevelopment funding and
incentivize more effective economic growth and resiliency.
MILKEN INSTITUTE
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