We view our impact as the change we seed and the change we influence. In 2020, we channeled $4M+ in philanthropic capital directly to leaders in our network and amplified these opportunities to our funder-partners. Through our work to organize capital, more than $250M+ has been redirected into community investment that prioritizes equity and powerbuilding since our founding.
Our network of leaders, partners, and grantees spans 100+ communities, including wealth-holders and wealth-builders working together towards a more equitable economy.
We take a systems approach to change narratives, build connections, recalibrate power, shift capital, and ultimately to support practices and policies that enable equity in our economy.
“It’s not a pilot problem, it’s a runway problem.”
Jessica Norwood knows firsthand that raising “friends and family” capital is a major barrier to black business creation. In fact, there is a $19,000 divide between the net worth of the average black household ($11,000) and the $30,000 you need to start a business from scratch. The Runway Project aims to bridge that gap.
Read More“When people have ownership in an area, they also have pride.”
Derrick Braziel recognized that entrepreneurs in his hometown of Cincinnati were unable to attract startup capital from traditional lenders. At the same time, he noticed many white-owned businesses popping up around the city, a large number of black and brown residents – many of them lacking access to knowledge, resources, and opportunities – were being left behind.
Read More“When communities control resources, they care for them.”
Brendan Martin leveraged his time in the Fellowship to conceptualize and develop the Seed Commons, a peer network that serves as the movement infrastructure for non-extractive finance.
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As CFO of the Baltimore Community Foundation, Patti Chandler joined the Foundation Circle to learn how to incorporate best practices in local mission-investing. Patti used her time in the Foundation Circle cohort to design an impact investing fund for BCF. Support from the other members of the cohort helped her think through structure and governance as she prepared to launch the fund.
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The Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley had no local investments in 2016, despite strong interest in local economies and holding over $50 million in assets. March Gallagher joined Common Future’s 2016 Foundation Circle as the previous President and Chief Executive Officer of the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley to create pathways for local investment through policy adoption and investment identification. Through peer-to-peer learning and conversations with experts, March was able to develop and see through to fruition a series of local investments for the Foundations and provide critical services to the community.
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Aaron Tanaka was working with the Boston Impact Initiative and the Center for Economic Democracy when his 2014 Fellowship lent him the time, space, and collaborators to explore a radical idea: what if communities had the final say over the development that impacts their neighborhoods and their families?
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