Jose Cisneros

José Cisneros was elected Treasurer for the City and County of San Francisco in November 2005, following his appointment by Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2004. As Treasurer, he serves as the City's banker and chief investment officer, managing tax and revenue collections for San Francisco. José believes that the Treasurer’s Office has a large role in promoting financial literacy.  In January 2005, he led the implementation of the Working Families Credit Program, and over 9,500 families received the credit.  These families have already received approximately $20 million in federal money through this innovative public/private sector partnership.  Treasurer Cisneros has also pioneered a financial empowerment initiative, because studies had shown that 50,000 San Franciscans did not have bank accounts. The Treasurer continued to expand his role as a financial educator and advocate for low-income San Franciscans by creating innovative programs aimed to give residents access to a bank account and eliminate the use of high-fee check cashers and payday lenders.  The Bank on San Francisco initiative brings together community organizations, city agencies and fifteen banks and credit unions to help unbanked San Franciscans transition into the financial mainstream.  Treasurer Cisneros launched the initiative in January 2007 in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. To date, Bank on San Francisco has helped over 25,000 San Franciscans open checking accounts through banks and credit unions and has become a model for the state of California as well as cities throughout the country.

Summit Video: The Honorable Jose Cisneros
Financial Literacy and Progressive Public Policy