An Economic Warrior Advances Equity, Opportunity & Community

Arlo Washington, president/CEO of the $4.3 million People Trust Community Federal Credit Union in North Little Rock, Ark., is the main focus of a short documentary film nominated for a 2024 Academy Award. Although the documentary did not win Hollywood’s top prize during the Oscars celebration in Los Angeles last week, the film, “The Barber of Little Rock“, told Washington’s story about how he is delivering economic opportunities to underserved and underbanked residents.

He attended the Oscars along with NBA legend Dwayne Wade, who was the executive producer of the documentary that was directed by John Hoffman and Christine Turner. Washington and Wade were interviewed about the documentary for a segment on ABC Network’s “On the Red Carpet” show. During the interview, Washington said just being at the Oscars was a surreal and amazing experience.

His economic warrior story began while he was running a popular barber shop in Little Rock, where a long-time customer told Washington he lost his job and needed to borrow $250 until he could find a new job. After the customer paid him back, Washington realized there was a growing demand in his community from people who were looking for small loans that could make a positive impact in their lives.

“There has to be economic warriors in the community to create economic justice,” he said at the beginning of the documentary released last July. “My name is Arlo Washington, and my purpose in life is to advance equity and create opportunities and build the community.”

People Trust Community is not mentioned in the documentary because it was filmed before the financial cooperative opened.

More than 15 years ago, Washington launched formal initiatives to help people achieve financial wellness.

In 2008, he founded a financial literacy organization, Providing Equal Opportunity Promoting Learning Excellence (PEOPLE), and in that same year, he opened the Washington Barber College. The documentary noted more than 1,500 people have earned their barber’s license from the college. During the pre-Oscars interview, Washington said he opened the college to help people learn hairstyling and business skills as a stepping stone or as a lifetime career, just as he did.

By 2014, PEOPLE transformed into PEOPLE Trust, which made small dollar loans to low-income students. PEOPLE Trust then evolved into a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in 2016. From the profits generated by the barber college, Washington provided the initial capital for the CDFI to offer various consumer and small business microloans.

The documentary showed Washington driving his car through an impoverished neighborhood.

“There are no banks over here, and you got about 30,000 community members over here,” Washington told the documentary’s producers. “Look at this, we got four, five boarded-up houses on this little half a block.”

His own childhood house is also boarded up. Washington reminisced about his mother who gave birth to him when she was 16. She died two weeks before Washington graduated from high school.

“My mother provided such a great example of [having] humanity and having compassion and understanding that life’s circumstances happen, and when they happen that people need compassion. People need restoration. People need rehabilitation. People need love,” he said in the documentary.

Washington then drove to another neighborhood.

“Now we’re going into the Heights, and  the Heights are maybe 8,000 in population, but you got 14 banks, and you don’t see a boarded-up house, not one,” he said.

Washington’s purpose in life to advance equity, create opportunities and build the community through the CDFI, however, took another big step forward when the NCUA granted a charter and insurance coverage for People Trust Community in September 2022. Three months later, the new credit union opened for business as Arkansas’ first minority-owned financial institution, which is offering deposit related products and services the CDFI cannot provide.

Within its first year of operation, People Trust Community has already attracted 445 members and has posted loans of $326,410 with shares and deposits totaling $3,845,528, according to NCUA financial performance reports.

Readers can view the 34-minute “The Barber of Little Rock” for free on YouTube.