Securing Futures

When you support the GRO Fund, you’re supporting bold, innovative policy to end poverty and narrow the racial wealth divide. Learn more about our current initiative below.

Freedom Futures:

Cash for Today, Capital for Tomorrow

GRO’s Baby Bonds pilot, Freedom Futures, is a first-in-the-nation accelerated program that pairs a baby bond with guaranteed income. In short, our plan is cash now, capital for tomorrow.

Freedom Futures:

  • Provides a Baby Bonds of up to $40,000 for wealth building

  • Provides a $500/month guaranteed income to help recipients meet basic needs

  • Provides wrap-around services like financial advising

  • Serves those who are 15-24 years at enrollment

  • Generates learnings in 6 years: the first Baby Bonds proposal to do so

Join a National Movement

With Your Support Young People Will Be Able To:

Purchase their first home

Baby Bonds provides substantial funds towards down payment. A $40,000 Baby Bond can almost cover a 10% down payment for the average home in metro Atlanta. Baby Bonds can reduce debt-to-income ratio, a common reason for home loan denials to Black borrowers.

There is increasing momentum behind Baby Bonds, with 10+ state level proposals, 2 federal proposals, and 3 states with enacted legislation. But current programs or proposals will not generate learnings for 18+ years.

That’s why we’re launching Freedom Futures.

Start a Business

Baby Bonds can provide start-up capital, can be leveraged for a loan, and can eliminate the need to borrow altogether.

Pay for Higher Education

A Baby Bond can encourage participation in higher education. Children without savings dedicated to education are less likely to pursue higher education. Black people borrow the most and struggle the most with student loan repayment. A Baby Bond can reduce the need to borrow and mitigate the impact of existing student loan debt.

Invest in Their Retirement

Disparities in workplace benefits and incomes contribute to racial disparities in retirement savings. Baby Bonds can seed retirement accounts. A one-time, $40,000 contribution to a retirement account at 18 can grow to over $1M by age 60.

  • Young people are on track to earn less than their parents for the first time. The average Millenial holds 41% less wealth than a simialrly aged adult in 1989.

  • The racial wealth divide - wide and persistent - means its even harder for Black young people to get ahead. In the city of Atlanta, the median white household has 46x as much wealth as the median Black household.

  • Over 300 studies show that Guaranteed Income significantly improves financial stability. Baby Bonds provides “investable sums” - enough to invest in appreciable assets - individuals need to build wealth. Together, they are complementary policies foundational for a just economy.

“Baby Bonds—or 'Baby Trusts’—provide an economic birthright to capital. The capital finance provided by ‘Baby Trusts’ is intended to deliver a more egalitarian and authentic pathway to economic security, independent of the family financial position or societal patriarchy in which an individual is born."

— Darrick Hamilton, a university professor, the Henry Cohen Professor of Economics and Urban Policy, founding director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at the New School, and Baby Bonds policy architect.

Your philanthropic partnership helps young people realize their future potential and dreams.

Want to learn more? Please contact Amit Khanduri, GRO Fund Director of Programs, for more information and partnership opportunities at amit@thegrofund.org.