Project 10X
 

This is about being bold.

Project 10X is LISC’s biggest, most ambitious and most urgent initiative ever. It is designed to upend the racial health, wealth and opportunity gaps that keep tens of millions of Americans from sharing in our country’s prosperity and realizing their personal potential.

Project 10X is both a moral imperative and economic common sense: it is a means to realizing America’s egalitarian and democratic ideals.

Why 10X?

  • At last count, the average White family’s net wealth was at least 10 times that of the average Black family.
  • There is at least a 10 year gap in average life expectancy between Black and White people in many American cities.
  • Authentic, lasting change doesn’t take place overnight. We are dedicated to investing in and pushing forward this initiative for 10 years.
  • This effort requires “10X thinking”—10 times the vision, determination and dedication of previous initiatives. And we need partners who will join us in 10X investment, to help ensure Project 10X creates maximum impact.

Why now?

In 2020, the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting recession, and the anguished public outcry over the deaths of Black men and women at the hands of police have coalesced, highlighting the many levels at which our union is not working for all its members. In fact, historically it has been structured to discriminate and exclude, which has resulted in the disproportionate impact of the pandemic and its economic fallout on communities of color.

We share in the widespread sense of urgency: never has it been more imperative that we do everything in our power to nurture systems that promote racial equity and wellbeing for every American.

How does Project 10X work?

Project 10X will invest in community organizations, businesses and developers working in rural and urban communities across the country. We aim to scale proven solutions, seed new ideas for closing racial health, wealth and opportunity gaps and build the capacity of our partner organizations to do so. Our investments will target four fundamental approaches to building equity:

  • Generating enduring wealth and equity through homeownership and small business ownership 
  • Building credit and savings and strengthening financial institutions led by Black, Indigenous and People of Color
  • Investing in community wellness, digital access, education, arts, and justice reform
  • Supporting quality jobs with good wages and benefits

 

CHIPOTLE ANNOUNCEMENT

In June, Chipotle selected LISC as a partner in its Juneteenth “Round Up” promotion. Over a two-week period, Chipotle customers rounded up their orders to the next dollar to donate to LISC and our work benefitting Black communities as part of Project 10X – a LISC initiative to address racial inequities in health, wealth, and opportunity.

With the $194,000 raised by the Round Up promotion, LISC recently awarded grants ranging from $13,700 to $20,000 to nine Black-led organizations across the country. In alignment with our Project 10X initiative, the grants from Chipotle support three fundamental approaches to building equity for Black Americans: 1) generating enduring wealth through homeownership; 2) investing in safety and justice reform; and 3) promoting health equity through nutrition and food access.

The Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation, which has a 30-year track record of advancing inclusive revitalization in Houston’s Fifth Ward, a historic African American community, is one of the Chipotle grantees. The organization will use the grant to provide homeownership counseling to Fifth Ward residents looking to buy a home. A portion will also support a juvenile justice diversion program that provides a suite of services to empower youth and parents, creating alternatives to incarceration.

“We value Chipotle’s investment in our work and recognize shared responsibility for creating positive change – believing that we can empower the world, one community at a time!” says Kathy Flanagan Payton, Executive Director of Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation.

In the Bay Area, the focus is on improving access to healthy food and nutrition education. The Chipotle grantee, Mandela Grocery Cooperative in West Oakland, is the only grocery store to serve the community’s need for healthy, affordable food while at the same time offering an employee track to co-ownership for young adults.

"Worker Co-ops are the future of food and work,” says Adrionna Fike, Member Owner of Mandela Grocery Cooperative. “We appreciate the increase of awareness and investments being made toward economic democracy through worker-owned businesses."

Mandela Grocery Cooperative will use the grant from Chipotle to support monthly nutrition workshops designed to educate and inspire local residents to cook healthy meals from scratch at home.

Jacksonville was one of seven organizations that received grants thanks to Chipotle’s Round up campaign in honor of Juneteenth.

Jacksonville: Three Rivers Legal Services (TRLS)

TRLS will provide free legal assistance to help vulnerable households in Jacksonville obtain a clear title to heirs property, enabling more Black families to access the equity in this asset and preserve it for future generations. Homeowners possessing clear title will receive help on estate planning to prevent the home from becoming heirs property again.

LISC is proud to partner with Chipotle and these Black-led organizations to address racial inequities in health, wealth, and opportunity. Together, we can nurture systems that promote racial equity and wellbeing for every American.