Southern Rooted, Freedom Bound
Building the next era of Black wealth in the American South
The South has always shaped America's economy.
It has generated extraordinary wealth through Black labor, birthed movements that transformed democracy — and remains home to more than half of Black America holding some of the greatest opportunities to build intergenerational Black wealth in the twenty-first century.
The question is no longer whether the South matters.
The question is who will invest in its future.
Who We Are & How We Work
Driven by curiosity and built on purpose, this is where bold thinking meets thoughtful execution. Let’s create something meaningful together.
Our Pillars
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Building investment pathways that expand Black ownership.
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Connecting leaders across philanthropy, finance, entrepreneurship, and community institutions.
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Producing research, data, and ideas that shape the future of Black wealth.
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Changing how America understands investment, ownership, and the South.
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Supporting locally rooted strategies that can scale across the region.
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We believe Black wealth is built through ownership.
Through land.
Through entrepreneurship.
Through investment.
Through strong institutions.
Through networks of trust.
Through coordinated capital.
Spearheaded By
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President and CEO of Grantmakers for Southern Progress, brings a philanthropic practice built on moving resources with Southern communities, aligning funders around shared regional strategy rather than isolated giving.
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Co-Founder and CEO of Kindred Futures, has spent nearly a decade turning the diagnosis of caste and the vision of restorative capital into policy and practice across the South. Her organization's recent playbook, Now is the Time, lays out concrete state and local strategies — from baby bonds to curbing predatory lending to expanding first-generation homeownership — for lawmakers and communities ready to act.
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Founder and CEO of RUNWAY Roots and author of Believe-in-You Money: What Would It Look Like If the Economy Loved Black People?, asks a deceptively simple question and answers it with a direct challenge to how money moves: away from extractive, individualistic investment, and toward the restorative, interdependent relationships required to actually repair what caste has done to Black wealth-building for generations.
What We Are Building
The Invitation: Southern Rooted, Freedom Bound Dinner
Join us during the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, DC on Thursday, September 17, 2026 from 5:30 pm - 8 pm at Isla DC to advance a regional strategy for capital deployment, policy innovation, research, storytelling, and economic infrastructure designed to increase Black ownership in the South with special guest, Kelly Burton CEO of the Black Innovation Alliance and author of The Price of Union.
Raise $20 million to invest in a coordinated policy, narrative, and capital placement strategy that enables more shared ownership and mutual aid infrastructure.
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Raise $20 million to invest in a coordinated policy, narrative, and capital placement strategy that enables more shared ownership and mutual aid infrastructure. 〰️
