Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative (AWBI) Launches a Bold Strategic Vision for 2023 and Beyond; names Dr. Janelle Williams as CEO
Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative receives over $2M in funding support from such funders as Prudential and Truist Foundation to expand its reach.
Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative (AWBI), the first and only data-driven organization dedicated exclusively to closing the racial wealth gap in Atlanta and beyond, announced that its Board has approved a new strategic plan and has appointed Dr. Janelle Williams as CEO to lead the organization. The announcement comes after successful partnerships with Truist Foundation and Prudential which awarded the organization more than $2M collectively. The funding will be used to implement key strategies intended to increase Black wealth.
Dr. Williams’ career is a reflection of her lifelong commitment to serving disinvested communities; particularly those impacted by economic exclusion. Prior to her appointment as CEO, Williams served as Principal Adviser with the Community Economic Development team at The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. She brokered partnerships in southeastern communities to bolster economic mobility. She also co-designed the Federal Reserve Bank’s groundbreaking Racism and the Economy series with colleagues across the 12 Reserve Banks which amplified how structural racism constrains the overall competitiveness of our economy. Additionally, Dr. Williams co-authored the Small Businesses of Color Recovery Guide and Navigating a Crisis - An Uneven Recovery for Communities and Organizations in the Southeast.
Prior to serving at the Atlanta Fed, Dr. Williams also led the economic opportunity portfolio for The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Atlanta Civic Site. While at the Foundation, she administered millions in grants and leveraged significant co-investment. She also served as the lead author of Casey’s Changing the Odds reports. Her work has served as a national model to other grantmakers looking to operationalize racial equity and inclusion.
Dr. Williams is Co-Founder of the Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative and served as a member of the AWBI Board of Directors since its inception. In alignment with the organization's strategic plan, the Board’s transition committee representing AWBI’s Board of Directors and an independent firm led the process to determine its next leader. Nonet Sykes, Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer with Atlanta Beltline, Inc. was elected Board Chair effective November 1, 2022.
“AWBI is incredibly ambitious and focused on fulfilling its mission,” states Sykes. “With Janelle’s deep expertise in inclusive development, small business, racial equity, policy, and research, as well as her intimate institutional and community knowledge, it made her a natural choice to lead and strengthen the legacy of our work in Atlanta and beyond.”
AWBI’s mission is to eradicate racial wealth disparities. The newly refined strategic plan outlines key strategies to address the racial wealth gap including extending the 1,000 Black Business campaign, launching a policy agenda to address systemic barriers to build collective Black wealth, introducing an integrated capital fund to mobilize commercial affordability, and expanding shared ownership models.
“Even as Atlanta continues to elevate its profile and prosper as a global mecca, it has the highest income inequality among large U.S. cities, largely driven by deeply entrenched racial disparities that took root generations ago,” states Williams. “My charge stepping into the CEO role is to foster agile and impactful solutions, advance ambitious strategies laid out in our strategic plan, and respond to the opportunities in the field.”
Dr. Williams will begin her new role in January 2023.