Love, RUNWAY: From Hoop Dreams to Closing the Wealth Gap by Preston Price

LOVE, RUNWAY is an ongoing series of original written works by members of the RUNWAY team to remind ourselves and each other of the love we share for our work, our communities, and our people. To continue developing the muscle of reimagining what the world would look like if the economy loved Black people we write love letters to different points in humanity's timeline. We hope these stories will help others connect with our purpose and showcase the richly textured humans behind our work.

What’s up P? This letter is coming to you from a much older version of yourself. I am 54 now, and I am writing this letter to you, my 14-year-old self. I know you have your heart set on being a high-profile lawyer as an adult. However, you are going to select a different path when you finish high school. The college path you choose will influence your career decisions. Rest assured though, you will still make the parents and Grands proud without becoming an attorney.

I’m writing from 2024. Today, you are the Chief lending Officer for RUNWAY. RUNWAY is a Black women-led, mission-driven financial innovation firm. Our mission is to build financial practices and infrastructure that help close the racial wealth gap. More directly, we provide capital to entrepreneurs in BIPOC communities to build community wealth and job opportunities. It is very noble and satisfying work.

Right now, you’re probably making that face we make like Arnold from Different Strokes––“What you talking bout, P?” Let me break it down for you. When you leave high school, you will choose to follow Shelby’s example and attend Howard University over all the PWIs you are considering right now at 14. At HU, you will be a Business major and become enamored with Marketing and Finance. Law school will still be on the horizon, but after three years of clerking at a law firm, your plans will change. You will start a journey towards becoming a banker. More importantly, at HU, you will learn to love and value “our people.” You will fall in love with the entire Black Diaspora. It is this love that will lead you to RUNWAY.

You have always been driven. Whether it was basketball, poetry, music, or relationships, your drive to be great will always be a part of you. You will spend over 23 years working in progressive roles in banks and credit unions. You will love the credit union work because credit unions are driven by the motto of people helping people. This is important because at HU, you will learn about how the people in control weaponize FICO scores and block capital from making it to BIPOC entrepreneurs with brilliant ideas. Yes, redlining is still a thing in 2024. Remember the story Mom told you about? Mom and Dad buying the Carson house? In 1974, Mom and Dad had to find a non-Black referral to co-sign their mortgage even though they easily qualified for the loan. You will spend all of your years in lending working to make sure our people get fair treatment at the organizations where you work. 

I'm sure you’re now asking, “How does one Black man help level the playing field in this industry?” Let me explain. As the Chief Lending Officer, you’ll create the policies and procedures RUNWAY uses to approve loan requests from BIPOC entrepreneurs. In addition to creating policies and procedures, we also work with the fund managers to ensure the entrepreneurs we fund align with RUNWAY’s mission. This will surprise you, P, but we are having a ball. We speak with entrepreneurs and listen to them share their dreams and visions of financial independence with us. We work with a group of awesome people who accept us for who we are and respect what we bring to the table. In addition to helping make dreams come true for entrepreneurs, we are making one of our dreams come true by building the infrastructure for RUNWAY to continue to grow and serve more people in more cities. The vision of the dynamic Black women leading RUNWAY inspires us every day. Their dedication to reimagining financial systems by prioritizing repair and the needs of Black entrepreneurs fuels the work we do to build lasting community wealth.

This may sound boring to you at age 14, but trust me, it is invigorating work. During your whole time in lending, you have had to play by someone else’s rules. At RUNWAY, we’re creating a new set of rules. No more long list of credit criteria weaponized against borrowers of color. No more rules about collateral size and types. You have spent over 20 years excelling in a framework of paint-by-numbers credit decisions. Now, at RUNWAY, you are painting credit decisions on a blank canvas, and every picture looks different. There was a time when we found joy in working on a $80 million deal. Now, an $80 million real estate deal is boring compared to working on a $100,000 deal to help a local retail store stabilize its workforce and build out its 2nd floor to expand its business in one of our communities. You will lead a team of vibrant and selfless souls who are all working towards closing the racial wealth gap. You still love learning, and let me tell you, buddy, you also love “unlearning” the strict credit policies you worked under in the credit union space.

Right now, at age 14, you still have hoop dreams. Playing pro ball may be fun, and several of our friends will play pro ball. That is not our path, P. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but later this year, Paw Paw will pass away from cancer. He wanted you to be the first Black President of the United States. Newsflash: President Barack Obama beat us to it. No, P, our future is not in politics either. We will go pro in finance and I promise you, the work we do today is making Paw Paw proud. He taught us to value continuous improvement. He also taught us to take care of people who look like us because the systems are set up to work against us. At RUNWAY though, we are the system. We make the rules that help provide access to capital for people who look like us.

I hope 14-year-old Preston is excited to hear we are doing positive and progressive things. The plans have changed from law school and the NBA. Nonetheless, we are making a bigger impact on our community working in finance at RUNWAY than we ever would have made in politics, law, or basketball. At Howard University, you will learn that “there is no shortcut to the top of the tree.” Keep working hard, keep practicing continuous improvement, and we will become someone to be proud of. As Mom says, we are now using our superpowers for good!

As Mom says, we are now using our superpowers for good!

Preston

Preston Price (He/Him) is a financial advisor, activist, founder and creative. He is an eternal student and Sower of seeds for financial education, creative arts, and building multi-generational businesses in black communities.