The US built its success on the backs of Indigenous people and enslaved Africans. Since the nation’s birth, discrimination and white supremacy have been employed by the government, private sector, and white communities to undermine and/or erase the progress or existence of communities of color.

The proliferation of Indian boarding schools, the Chinese Exclusion Act, the destruction of Black Wall Street in Oklahoma in 1921, the 40-year Tuskegee experiment where Black men were infected with syphilis, the internment of the Japanese and the seizure of their assets during WWII and redlining of reservations and urban communities of color demonstrate the relentlessness with which the white supremacist power structure persists. The result of these actions is persistent and growing inequality in these communities.

Today, Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) communities continue to struggle to gain access to capital, education, high-wage jobs, healthcare, quality food, and climate justice.

The re-allocate campaign

Croatan Institute’s REEFS program is launching the RE-Allocate campaign as part of our work to encourage investors and capital providers to pursue racial equity investing within their investment portfolios. This campaign builds on the research of the Capital at a Crossroad report and its complementary webinar series Redirecting Capital. The goal of the campaign is to encourage investment managers and decision-makers to reallocate 15% of AUM to invest in America’s emerging majority within three years of joining.

REEFS and its allies will use a multi-pronged communications strategy to get the word out about the campaign. Year One will have a focus on the climate and examine how asset managers and investors can elevate the work of BIPOC communities and support more inclusive forms of ownership, as part of the nation’s efforts to create a greener economy. There will be a series of webinars and podcasts, articles, blogposts, and social media posts geared toward amplifying the messages of racial equity investing and its intersection with climate and economic justice, and a just transition. This work is particularly important considering the historic investment of the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act). RE- Allocate is a move toward ensuring that BIPOC communities receive an equitable share of the capital investment resulting from this legislation.

As part of the campaign, we are recruiting a diverse set of Campaign Ambassadors across asset classes who are working at the intersection of economic, climate, and environmental justice.

Each RE-Allocate Campaign Ambassador and their organization will be asked to:

Commit to reallocating 15% of AUM to racial equity investing.
Participate in semi-annual meetings to advance racial equity investing.
Participate in at least one RE-Allocate Conversation hosted by the REEFS program.
Recruit 3-5 new peers to join the RE- Allocate Campaign in the first year of the campaign.

In addition, RE-Allocate Ambassadors will also: