The Karamu Community Banking Center: A public-private partnership

This thesis analyzes the benefits of the public-private partnership between Karamu House and Bank One by using the Karamu Community Banking Center as a case study. The Karamu Community Banking Center is a unique bank branch located in Cleveland, Ohio, specializing in financial services for low and moderate income customers. It is based in Karamu House, a nonprofit community based arts and educational organization rooted in African-American culture. Research for this thesis included interviews with key individuals from Bank One and Karamu House, as well as reviewing correspondence, press releases, annual reports, and articles pertaining to the partnership. Various partnerships were also reviewed. The results of this thesis reveal that a partnership between a nonprofit and profit organization can result in benefits to both partners such as an increase in funding to the nonprofit and an enhanced image for the profit organization.