2025 Key Learnings on Reparative Capital: A Year of Shared Power and Collective Possibility
Every year teaches us something new about what it means to practice reparative capital with integrity, Black imagination, and care. But 2025 felt distinct. It felt fuller—like a year when ideas long planted finally began to take root, revealing the depth, courage, and collective will of the communities we serve.
This was a year that asked us to stretch further and fortify the practices we’ve been building for nearly a decade. We’ve been able to speak with greater clarity about what it means to build collective power and shift the culture of finance. And, as we look back, we’re holding both the celebration of real wins and the truth that there is still so much more work ahead.
Fortifying the Infrastructure for Repair
Board Leadership
This year, we welcomed new board members—including an entrepreneur alumni representative whose lived experience strengthens our commitment to community-led decision making. Their insight continues to root our work in the realities of what repair must look like on the ground.
Growing Our Assets Under Management
Thanks to long-standing philanthropic and investor partners, RUNWAY Roots crossed an important threshold: over $10 million in investable assets and operational grants raised toward a national vision for reparative capital. This milestone strengthens our capacity to be a steady financial home for Black entrepreneurs and values-aligned communities.
Reparative Capital Deployment in Chicago
Since its launch in 2024, the ROOTED Fund has approved nearly $1 million in reparative capital to entrepreneurs across Greater Chicago—meeting community needs with flexible ranges from $20,000 to $250,000.
As Esther Park, CEO of No Regrets Initiative, reflected on the ripple effect of our approach: “RUNWAY’s commitment to reparative capital through the ROOTED Fund inspired us to reevaluate our investment practice and increase the amount of grant capital alongside investment capital across our entire investment portfolio. We recognize that shifting the culture of finance requires adequate time and space to collectively steward resources.”
Operational Milestones That Transform the Entrepreneur Journey
One of our biggest operational wins was launching a new electronic loan system and application portal—an upgrade that reduced application-to-funding times while ensuring entrepreneurs’ data remains secure and proprietary.
We also expanded Fertile Ground into its first-ever in-person workshop in Chicago–a standing-room-only experience that wove together grounding practices, learning labs, and collective strategy. Participants explored how to navigate policy rollbacks, integrate AI thoughtfully, and tap into cooperative economics as a pathway to resilience.
Community Governance in Action
We operationalized one of our core beliefs: those closest to the conditions should help shape the solutions.
We formed a Stewardship Committee made up of leaders from ESOs, CDFIs, and arts institutions, and assembled a Chicago Investment Committee rooted in local entrepreneurs, conveners, and finance practitioners. Both groups participated in multi-day trainings grounded in reparative lending philosophy, case studies, and mock investment committee sessions.
We also welcomed new team members across Lending, Fundraising, Narrative Strategy, and Communications—including a Chicago Fund Manager and a Chief Lending Officer—building the human infrastructure needed to steward our next chapter.
Reparative Capital as Power Building
One of the most important developments this year was naming something that had always been true: our work is power-building work.
We introduced our Power Building Manifesto, declaring our commitment to cultivating communities that are powerful, self-determining, and interconnected. Our framework centers:
a reparative financial home
an informed entrepreneur
an active ecosystem rooted in shared advocacy and real-time transformation
Through Fertile Ground, we created spaces for entrepreneurs to strategize, problem-solve, and build with funders and partners in real time. These moments reminded us that entrepreneurs are not just business owners—they are organizers, cultural catalysts, and architects of community futures.
We partnered with the State of the People Tour, joining stops in Virginia and Alabama to engage in conversations about community-driven advocacy and the policy shifts required for real repair. These dialogues continue to shape how we approach systems change from the ground up.
RUNWAY Roots also showed up in national spaces—including the Assembly of Black Possibilities and SOCAP25: The State of Reparative Capital—helping to push forward the larger narrative and practice of reparative economics.
A Rebrand Rooted in Justice, Repair, and Power
One of the most visible transformations this year was our rebrand to RUNWAY Roots.
This identity shift reflects:
a deeper grounding in our founding vision
our commitment to reparative economics
our belief in collective power
the role of narrative in reshaping the culture of finance
our responsibility to move resources where they can grow community wealth
The rebrand honored our past while naming the future we are building boldly and unapologetically.
What We Learned This Year: Reflections from the Team
When we asked the team to look back on 2025, a clear story emerged: this was a year of expansion, recalibration, and deeper grounding in what reparative capital actually requires.
Team members highlighted major wins—new investments in Chicago, the relaunch of Boston with refreshed stewardship and investment committees, and a growing pipeline of aligned entrepreneurs. They also named the energy that came from hosting more community-centered gatherings, from Believe-in-You Money Circles to investor convenings to a renewed Fertile Ground series. Even individual donor giving grew in meaningful ways, signaling broader alignment with our work.
One of the deepest areas of growth emerged through our trainings. Fertile Ground and Investment Committee sessions opened space for honest conversations about scarcity, competition, intergenerational trauma, and what it really takes to cultivate a culture of repair. These moments helped anchor our team in the emotional and relational dimensions of this work—not just the financial ones.
Looking outward, the team saw an ecosystem in flux. Entrepreneurs grounded in community are proving more resilient. Funders are tightening resources. Policy instability—especially in CDFI and small business finance—revealed just how fragile the current systems are. All of this reinforced the importance of organizing, shared advocacy, and designing capital models built to withstand shock.
As we head into next year, the team named a shared responsibility: to deepen community-led underwriting, strengthen ecosystem partnerships, experiment with blended-capital tools, and invest in rigorous training so reparative capital remains a discipline—not just a buzzword.
Sustaining the Momentum
As we step into 2026, we do so with a clear understanding of our charge: to keep building, keep listening, keep transforming, and keep insisting that Black communities deserve financial systems built on care, trust, and justice.
