Build Back – Dream Forward

The purpose of Build Back – Dream Forward is to achieve economic mobility, promote racial justice and equity, and catalyze more inclusive systems of economic growth in Northern Virginia, particularly in local communities of color who have been disproportionately impacted by the virus and its fallouts. It is an event and community investment initiative.

Learn about the impact of its grants to support community conversations through this video.

Goals

Achieve Economic Mobility: We will adopt the US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty’s 3-prong definition of Economic Mobility, namely, economic success, power and autonomy, and being valued in community, and we will use the Urban Institute’s newly released, complementary Mobility Metrics to help our entire region define goals and measure success against them. Local data will be collected and analyzed through Insight Region, the new Center for Community Research at the Community Foundation.

Promote Racial Justice and Equity: We will conduct an event series that discusses structural racism and promotes local initiatives and strategies addressing it. We will fund and therefore encourage other anchor institutions across Northern Virginia who are conducting similar convenings promoting racial justice and equity. We will invest in local media to help elevate voices in underrepresented neighborhoods in Northern Virginia.

Catalyze Inclusive Systems of Economic Growth: We will continuously make the economic case for inclusivity with powerful national and local data. We will work collaboratively across the social, civic, government, and private sectors to catalyze inclusive economic growth and help aspiring, hardworking entrepreneurs and small business owners from local Latinx, Hispanic, African American, Korean, Ethiopian, El Salvadorian, Vietnamese, and other communities in Northern Virginia that seek to maintain and strengthen their businesses through COVID-19 and beyond obtain the credit, resources, services and investments they need to thrive.

Donate to the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia’s COVID-19 Response Fund for Northern Virginia: Build Back – Dream Forward.
DONATE

“Build Back – Dream Forward” is the next phase in our COVID-19 Response Fund for Northern Virginia. Learn about the fund’s impact through community investments and grant opportunities.
LEARN MORE

The Community Foundation’s Build Back Dream Forward initiative and COVID-19 Response Fund for Northern Virginia are making an impact throughout the region. Read stories of how our community investments and events are addressing the disproportionate economic and health impacts of the virus on local communities of color, dismantling structural racism, and promoting racial justice and equity.
LEARN MORE

In 2021, the Community Foundation held three "Build Back - Dream Forward" events to address economic mobility, promote racial justice and equity, and catalyze more inclusive systems of economic growth in Northern Virginia, particularly in local communities of color.
LEARN MORE