We had the good fortune of connecting with Jasmin Shupper and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jasmin, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The impetus for starting Greenline grew out of a burden, and the experiences in my personal and professional life are what helped me to see that burden clearly. I was born on the South Side of Chicago. My paternal grandmother purchased a house in the 1960’s that she willed to my father upon her death, and that was the house I was born into. The equity from that house is what helped my parents to purchase every house I lived in throughout my childhood, and the reality of homeownership is what facilitated my access to quality education, healthcare, and many other benefits that are often tied to “place”. I learned early the benefits of generational property-ownership.

I attended college at Pepperdine University where I studied International Business and learned the fundamentals of finance, as well as the myriad factors that lead to wealth creation and growth. Upon graduating from college I worked as a surety bond underwriter, extensively analyzing the financial statements and company profiles of contractors, developers and Fortune 500 companies to determine credit-worthiness. Then, a few years after my daughter was born, I went back to work part-time at Fellowship Church, my home church, in the accounting department. Not only did I learn the ins and outs of nonprofit management, but I also learned the about the Gospel imperative to pursue justice.

As a real estate agent, I learned that it wasn’t until 1968 that it became illegal everywhere to discriminate on the basis of race in the sale, rental and financing of property. It is a well-known fact that one of the biggest passages of wealth from generation to generation occurs through real estate, and I began to connect the dots and understand the level of impairment that people of color and, specifically, Black people have when it comes to economic legacies. Thus, Greenline Housing Foundation was born out of the culmination of all these experiences. I’m blessed and fortunate to be able to actively participate in helping to repair a system that is so broken, and to help dismantle one of the pillars of systemic injustice. But that’s not unique to me. Each of us has the ability to use who we are, what we have and where we’re at, to affect change in some area, in some way. All we have to do is start.

What should our readers know about your business?
Greenline Housing Foundation is a nonprofit organization that is closing the racial wealth gap and reversing the affects of systemic racism in housing by giving down payment and home maintenance grants to qualified people of color. Redlining was the practice by which banks and insurance companies denied loans and refused to insure on the basis of the racial characteristics of a particular area. This practice became so deeply ingrained in the housing system, that even after it became illegal, the effects remained and were widely pervasive. Many of the redlined areas in cities retain the same racial makeup as they did over 50 years ago. As a result, millions of people of color were excluded from accessing homeownership, one of the biggest wealth accumulators, at a time when the government was providing low-cost loans and facilitating ease of access. In fact, of the $120 billion of goverment-insured loans that were made from 1934 to 1962, less than 2% went to non-white people.  So that, combined with zoning laws, restrictive covenants, and other discriminatory practices, access to homeownership was preserved and furthered for some, while completely eliminated for others. According to the National Association of Realtors, as of 2020, the homeownership rate for Black and Hispanic Americans was 43%, and 51%, respectively, compared to 72% for White Americans, and the rate for Black Americans has decreased over the past 10 years.

Greenline exists because of this history and how that history informs our current reality. We are restoring the lost opportunity to access homeownership and its economic and generational benefits. What we do is about more than just a down payment. It’s about justice. It’s about equity. It’s about repair.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
LA is such a wonderful city and one of the things I love most about it, is that there’s something for everyone, every mood and every situation. As a self-proclaimed foodie, I would definitely show them some good eats. For Asian food, the San Gabriel Valley is unparalleled. One of our favorite places is Ding Tai Fung. The juicy pork dumplings there will change your life. That would be our first meal.

Malibu is one of my favorite places in the world, so we would spend a day there. It would be a tragedy to be in Malibu and not eat at Malibu Seafood, so we would pick up food from there and head to Point Dume for a picnic. If there was no parking (as is typical), we would head to Westward Beach. Then we would head to the Malibu Farm for live music, good drinks and an amazing vibe.

Hiking is also a must while in LA, and I love Runyon Canyon because it’s a great mix of city and nature. After a hike and a smoothie, we would head to Griffith Park Observatory later that evening to catch the sunset and finish the night off with a meal at Bestia in Downtown.

I love the Farmer’s Markets in LA and the one in Studio City on Sundays is one of my favorites.

There are so many ways to stay entertained, occupied and well-fed in LA, and these are just a few of my faves!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

There are so many people that I have to thank, it feels unreasonable to have to narrow it down! First and foremost the prompting that I received to start Greenline Housing Foundation was a call from God. It was so specific, profound and audacious, I’m certain that I could not have conceived it on my own. So I have to thank God first.

Secondly, my husband deserves a huge shout out because of his unwavering support of this organization, and also of my ability to bring this audacious vision to bear. Not to mention he’s the creative engine behind this and also the person that I “bounce” ideas off of at all hours of the day and night.

In addition to God and my husband, my friends and family provide the most consistent and unwavering support. They field phone calls, watch the kids so that I can work, send encouraging texts messages, articles and even give of their time and money to this organization.

I have also had a number of mentors that have and continue to provide support and encouragement. Fellowship Church in Monrovia helped me to see clearly the Gospel imperative to pursue justice, and Albert Tate, the lead pastor there, gives such profound teaching about what it looks like to love others in practice.

Also, my Board of Directors. I can’t understate the importance of having a board that is supportive of not only the vision, but also of the person leading the vision. They are willing to deal with the time it takes to start and develop an organization, and one of our board membrers actually sprearheaded an initiative that was a foundational component of Greenline being where it is today. I’m incredibly thankful for all of them.

Lastly, the book The Color of Law painted such a clear picture of the history of housing injustice in our country, that I was equipped with facts and data to support the work I’m trying to do. I have so many wonderful people in my corner.

The kind of change that Greenline is seeking to make really does take a village, and I’m so blessed by mine. 

Website: www.greenlinehousing.org

Instagram: @greenline_housing

Facebook: Greenline Housing Foundation

Image Credits
Photos: Yemi Kuku – @yemididit Branding: Reverie Lane – @reverielane

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