Built for the Next Generation: Young Adult Perspectives on Federal Early Wealth Building Policy
Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund (GRO Fund) and the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program (Aspen FSP), two organizations focused on centering people with lived experience in their work, partnered to host a two-hour, in-person roundtable of 10 young adults, ages 18-25, in July 2025 to learn their perspective on federal early wealth building.
This brief summarizes the roundtable discussion and aims to elevate the voices of young people. While naturally 530A Accounts were a major focal point of the discussion given the roundtable’s timing, the conversation also included other early wealth building policies such as Baby Bonds and Children’s Savings Accounts (CSAs).
Freedom Futures: How Atlanta’s First Baby Bonds Pilot is Building Evidence to Close the Wealth Gap
Last fall, The GRO Fund launched the inaugural cohort of Freedom Futures: Cash for Today, Capitol for Tomorrow, a first-of-its-kind Baby Bonds pilot program. We welcomed 50 ambitious young people from educational institutions across Atlanta into the program, designed to understand how direct investments in young people accelerate wealth-building and provide lasting financial stability. The program provides young people with monthly income support so they can meet their needs today and an investable sum to build long-term wealth.
Finding Hope Through In Her Hands: Shemeka’s Story
Through In Her Hands, Shemeka discovered something profound: not just financial support, but a community of women who’ve become her sisters, a platform to help others, and the space to be authentically herself while building toward a future that honors both her loss and her resilience.
The Power of Peace: Quaniya’s In Her Hands Journey
The reliable, monthly guaranteed income gave Q more than just a financial safety net. It restored her mental peace. The daily loop—gas or groceries, light bill or school supplies – began to quiet, and Q could hear herself think again.
From Survival to Dreams: Aisha's In Her Hands Journey
When Aisha Amos found the postcard on her door about the In Her Hands guaranteed income program, her first instinct wasn't to think about herself. After more than 20 years in Atlanta, the Baltimore native had become accustomed to looking out for others first.