In response to the continuing crisis of inequity confronting Atlanta, the Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative, The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Atlanta Civic Site, The Kendeda Fund, and Prosperity Now convened a Community of Practice (CoP) tasked with shaping recommendations for a more vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem to support African American businesses in building community wealth. After exploring the data and identifying challenges, the CoP identified the need for a deliberate, equitable strategy marked by jobs, innovation, renewed resolve, and new economic structures. 

In the fall of 2017, the Kendeda Fund and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, in concert with a new set of board members, relaunched the Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative with a focus on promoting the understanding of community wealth building models and elevating the engagement, capacity, and leadership necessary to shape a new economic narrative in Atlanta.