Build Back – Dream Forward

A Post COVID-19 Growth Initiative of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia

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.

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

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

Grants

“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.
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Donors

The COVID-19 Response Fund has attracted over $2.3 million in contributions from local individuals, foundations, corporations, and corporate foundations. These partners played a critical role in mitigating the impacts of the virus in our community.
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Impact

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.
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Questions

Please direct any general questions and inquiries to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For nonprofit and community partners, please contact the Community Foundation’s Vice President of Grants and Community Leadership at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
For media inquiries and interview requests, please contact the Community Foundation’s Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Events, Tara Nadel, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
For inquiries from donors and companies, or to make a donation by check or other assets, contact our Director of Development, Megan Niewold, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

COVID-19 Community Resources

Featured Event

12/03/2020 12:00 PM
Business NOT as Usual
We Need More Capital, More Loans, More Equity for Black Owned Businesses
Co-hosted by the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia and the Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce

Entrepreneurship and business ownership—particularly of community-based businesses—are crucial ways to develop community wealth, for both business owners and the people they employ. Healthy Black-owned businesses could be a critical component for closing the United States’ Black–white wealth gap, which McKinsey & Company project will cost the economy $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion (in 2018 dollars) per year by 2028. The COVID-19 crisis, however, has further stressed Black-owned businesses and may cause the racial wealth gap to widen. Between February and April this year, 41% of Black owned businesses shut their doors under economic pressure caused by the pandemic, compared with 17% of white owned businesses. 75% of initial PPP loans went to businesses in majority-white census tracts. Between 2001 and 2018, the number of Black owned financial institutions declined over 50%, leaving only 21 Black owned banks in the United States. With a compelling, data driven case for economic inclusivity finally emerging, how do we fix what’s broken?

Thursday, December 3, 2020
12:00 - 1:30 pm
Brown Bag Lunch Webinar Register