If you know the history of structural racism here, then you know that Blacks were, and continue to be, systematically denied benefits available to whites, benefits like educational opportunity and housing opportunity in terms of both access and loans, reducing their ability to create generational wealth.

What may surprise you is the extent to which this inequality exists today. What if I told you that Black Americans have less than half the wealth of white Americans? It would be shocking, right? Well, it’s way more than that.

Here in the nation’s capital, white families have 81 times (yes, 81 times) the wealth of Black families. The intergenerational wealth that is accumulated by home and land ownership was systematically denied to people of color in the US (via redlining, discriminatory lending and other practices) for generation after generation. And the devastating effects are still felt today.

So, what can philanthropy do in the face of this injustice?

Soon after Open Horizon was established, we were invited by our philanthro-cousins at iF, A Foundation for Radical Possibility , to partner with Let’s GO, DMV, a guaranteed income (GI) program for DC hospitality service workers. Conceived of and founded by a worker organizer, Let’s GO, DMV provided support to hospitality industry workers out of work during the pandemic and those ineligible for unemployment insurance because of the “gig” economy which denies many low-wage workers benefits, including basics like paid time off and health insurance. This support, and other guaranteed income programs of this kind, provide workers with peace of mind and greater flexibility to pursue opportunities to generate wealth.

Later we began to partner with Georgia Resilience & Opportunity Fund (GRO Fund), who we met when they were presenting at a philanthropy conference. GRO Fund is an innovator in Georgia which, following the success of a GI program for women of color in both urban and rural areas, started to plan for an accelerated “baby bonds” program. Such programs invest capital in the names of babies or children, capital that they are later given when they reach adulthood in an effort to redistribute wealth to those who have been systematically impoverished. These funds allow young people, specifically those from families impacted by systemic racism, to fund higher education or technical training, to start a business or to pay off high-interest loans, giving access to opportunity and reducing the effects of structural harms.

GRO Fund, working with one of the key architects of baby bond programs, conceived of an accelerated program, meaning that it would give funds to young adults now. This innovative program not only makes a huge difference in the life of participants, who get monthly guaranteed income payments as well as a lump-sum “bond” payment, but it provides the opportunity to learn from the program and about how the payouts will be handled. This will have a significant positive impact on the many programs of this type that are popping up across the country, providing data about how best to design and implement these efforts for maximum positive impact.

Open Horizon also supports Brilliant Futures, a children’s savings pilot program launched in Montgomery and Prince George’s County, Maryland and sponsored by the Greater Washington Community Foundation . This pilot program invests in children starting at kindergarten by putting $1000 in savings each year through 12th grade. Like the GRO program, this will allow the children involved to enter adulthood with access to funds that will open opportunities that may not otherwise be available. We are proud to be partnering with the Community Foundation and other area funders to close the racial wealth gap, and to advance economic justice. Open Horizon is committed to contribute to building a more equitable society.

What can you do to reduce the racial wealth gap? How can each of us make a positive difference and move our nation toward economic justice?

Lisa Cohen, Co-founder