Ownership Is the Answer: Rethinking How Capital Flows to Close the Racial Wealth Gap

Thirty years of effort and hundreds of billions deployed have not closed the racial wealth gap: Black households still hold roughly 11 cents for every dollar of white household wealth. This session argues — and invites audience challenge — that a critical missing piece is access to wealth-generating enterprises, including businesses, investment vehicles, and asset-based industries like real estate development. Panelists will work with the audience to design a practical capital deployment framework, exploring equity, lines of credit, loan guarantees, and capital readiness strategies needed to accelerate minority ownership and asset accumulation.