ROOTED is Here
We are elated to announce ROOTED, our 10-year initiative to invest in Southern Black entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation. Black artists and innovators are the leading exporters of culture and creativity worldwide.
How do we keep Southern creatives and entrepreneurs resourced and supported so they can stay rooted where they are in community?
To be rooted is
to be anchored, to be grounded––to be home. It invites us to ask ourselves, “where am I rooted?” and “what am I rooted in?” The root word of “economy” is eco, meaning home, or the management of home. In many ways, we think about a return to the South as a return home to tend to our foundations and root into the soil of right relationship on our journey to cultivate Black joy, healing, and collective prosperity.
ROOTED is about who we are,
the stories we carry, and the road we are paving toward a more equitable future. Through ROOTED, we will be making bold investments into the South in restorative and regenerative ways. As we reimagine an economy rooted in equity and justice, we orient our work around the communities most impacted by structural inequities. The South’s violent history of free, exploitative labor is what built this nation’s economy. It is where racism and systemic oppression still have currency, and it is exactly where transformative financial practices need to be taking root.
The funds we create and economic infrastructure we build will reflect the needs of Southern Black creatives, entrepreneurs, and innovators so they can access the capital and holistic support they need to thrive and create multigenerational wealth.
