Freedom Futures: Cash for Today, Capital for Tomorrow, is a first-of-its-kind accelerated Baby Bonds pilot program that seeks to understand how direct investments in young people can provide financial stability and accelerate their ability to build wealth. The program provides young people with an income support so they can meet their needs today and an investable sum to build long-term wealth—cash for today, capital for tomorrow.

Applications close at 11:59 PM EST on August 27, 2025.

About Freedom Futures

Freedom Futures is a four-year pilot program that provides participants with a unique combination of financial resources and education:

  • An Investable Sum – Participants receive up to $20,000 for wealth-building purposes such as homeownership, entrepreneurship, higher education, or investing in a retirement account.

  • Monthly Income Support – Participants receive $500 per month for four years, no strings attached, to meet basic needs.

  • Financial Education & Advising – Online, group, and one-on-one advising to support informed financial decisions and goal-setting.

The program has two goals: 

  • Support Participants & Communities: Through cash transfers and wraparound services, improve the financial stability, wealth positions, wealth trajectories, and other key outcomes of program participants.

  • Generate Learnings: Generate evidence and narratives to inform early wealth building policy proposals and programs, like Baby Bonds. State-level Baby Bonds programs will not generate learnings for 18+ years. Our program will generate data, stories, and narratives within four years as well as learnings on various aspects of program implementation - like financial advising.

Discover how Freedom Futures is creating pathways to financial freedom in Atlanta.

Amit Khanduri, our Director of Programs, discusses the Freedom Futures program.

Eligibility Criteria

Applications close at 11:59 PM EST on August 27, 2025. 

Please review the Freedom Futures application for the full eligibility criteria and the list of required documents.  

To be eligible for the Freedom Futures program, applicants must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Enrollment with a Freedom Futures Partner:

    • Mays High School: Must have graduated in the Class of 2025 with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0.

    • Clark Atlanta University: Must have sophomore, junior, or senior status in Fall 2025, be in good academic standing (cumulative 2.0 GPA or higher), and have completed one or more semesters at CAU as an undergraduate student.

    • Atlanta Metro State College: Must be enrolled in a Certificate, Associate's Degree, or Bachelor's Degree program with at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA.

  • Age: Be 18-25 years old at the time of application.

  • Household Income: The applicant’s household income must be at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Line. For example, for a household of 1 is ~$31,000/year. For a household of 3 that is ~$52,00/year. You can check online to see the exact thresholds for eligibility.

Required Documentation

    • You must submit one document from each of the following lists:

      Accepted Photo ID Documents:

      • Driver's license

      • State ID

      • U.S. passport

      • Student ID

      • Non-U.S. passport

      • Employer-issued ID

      • Military ID

      • Green Card (I-551)

      • Certificate of naturalization

      • Certificate of citizenship

      • Native American tribal photo ID

      • Consular ID card

      • Foreign voter ID card

      • U.S. work authorization

      Accepted Non-Photo ID Documents:

      • Birth Certificate

      • Health/prescription insurance card (with Date of Birth)

      • Insurance card (with Date of Birth)

      • Employment Identification card (with Date of Birth)

      • Voter ID card

      • Vehicle registration (name + address)

      • School enrollment records

      • Adoption records

      • Life insurance policy

      • Baptismal/religious certificate (with Date of Birth)

      • Certified hospital records (with Date of Birth)

      • Form I-94

  • You must provide income verification documentation for the head of household as defined by the IRS. If you are the head of household, you should report your income. If someone claims you as a dependent on their taxes, you must provide the income for that head of household.

    You can submit one of the following sets of documents:

    • 2025 Tax Return (Form 1040, Schedule C, or equivalent)

    • SNAP, TANF, or WIC enrollment letter (dated January 2025 or later)

    • Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8)

    • Social Security Statement (SSI or SSDI – benefit letter or bank statement)

    • Unemployment Award Letter (dated within the last 6 months)

    OR BOTH of the following:

    • Two recent pay stubs (within the last 60 days)

    • 2025 W-2s or 1099s for all income-earning household members

  • You must submit one document based on your enrollment status at a partner institution:

    • Atlanta Metropolitan State College: Official or Unofficial Transcript verifying enrollment in a Certificate, Associate's, or Bachelor's Degree program with at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA.

    • Clark Atlanta University: Official or Unofficial Transcript verifying that you have sophomore, junior, or senior status in the fall of 2025 and at least a 2.0 GPA.

    • Mays High School: Official Transcript verifying that you are a graduate in the class of 2025 with at least a 2.0 GPA.

Why Freedom Futures Matters

Wealth inequality is at crisis levels and is likely to worsen given current trends. The top 10% of US households have 67% of the overall household wealth in the US. The bottom 50% of US households hold just over 2% of overall household wealth. 

Wealth is highly concentrated by race. In Atlanta, the average White household has 46x more wealth than the average Black household. The White-Black wealth gap is as large in Atlanta today (46:1) as it was nationwide when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863.

Unchecked wealth inequality isn’t just about fairness - it limits economic growth, destabilizes democracies, and corrodes social trust. Wealth inequality limits the economic futures of young people. Young people today face unprecedented challenges, from stagnant wages and soaring housing costs to the burden of college debt. Black young people, in particular, are disproportionately affected by a persistent racial wealth divide. For instance, the average white young person begins adulthood with $46,000 in wealth, while the average Black young person begins adulthood with only $2,900.

We are at a crossroads on wealth policy. Freedom Futures is designed to meet the moment - providing critical insights on an accelerated basis to advance early wealth building proposals designed to address wealth inequality.  Freedom Futures combines two policy proposals that address different but complementary root causes of wealth inequality: income precarity and structural wealth exclusion. 

  • Freedom Futures offers $500/month cash transfers. This is supported by the evidence that cash transfer programs, like guaranteed income, effectively address income precarity which perpetuates wealth inequality by keeping people in survival mode, unable to save or invest.

  • Freedom Futures offers a $40,000 investable sum that can be used for wealth building, recognizing that lack of access to capital and generational wealth is a key driver of wealth inequality. This component of the program is modeled on Baby Bonds, a leading policy proposal that addresses wealth inequality by providing young people with significant sums for wealth building.

Pilot programs, like Freedom Futures, make policy tangible - providing data, evidence, and narratives that demonstrate what an inclusive economy can look like.

Freedom Futures will deliver learnings in 4 years. Early adopters at the state level are creating the proof points needed for national change. Over 10 states have introduced Baby Bonds legislation. But State-level Baby Bond programs won’t deliver learnings for 18+ years. Freedom Futures will be among the first pilot programs to deliver learnings for Baby Bonds and other early wealth building policy proposals.

Baby Bonds is a bold policy proposal designed to give every child a real chance to build wealth. Here’s how the Baby Bonds policy generally works: When a child is born, the government seeds an interest-bearing account and makes annual deposits, with the amount often depending on the family’s income. The funds grow over time, and by adulthood, the funds have grown into a significant sum that can be used for wealth-building assets like a home, education, or starting a business.

Zewde, N. (2020). Universal Baby Bonds Reduce Black-White Wealth Inequality, Progressively Raise Net Worth of All Young Adults. The Review of Black Political Economy. https://doi.org/10.1177/0034644619885321

Get Involved & Support Our Work

When young people are empowered to build wealth, the entire community benefits. Join us in creating a more just and inclusive society.

Donate

Your contribution directly funds this transformative work. If you are interested in contributing to our fundraising goal for this program, please donate here. On our donation page, you can specify that your donation should go to “Baby Bonds” by selecting the option under “Apply my donation to” on the donation form.

Partner With Us

Interested in collaborating or other ways to support, please email our Director of Programs, Freedom Futures, Amit Khanduri at Amit@thegrofund.org.

Learn More

We invite you to learn more about Freedom Futures by visiting our FAQs page.