Every generation faces a moment when it must choose between accepting the world as it is or building the world as it should be. Today’s young Americans face this inflection point within an economic system that often leaves entire communities behind and concentrates pathways to capital, education and influence among a narrow few.
The American Dream has always been about opportunity: the chance to build something meaningful where you plant your roots. But today’s reality tells a different story. Capital flows like water downhill, pooling in major metropolitan areas while communities across the Heartland—from South Dakota to Missouri, Kentucky to Alabama—possess vast potential that remains underserved and underappreciated.
It’s not just an economic problem—it’s a democracy problem. When entire regions get left behind, we weaken the very fabric that makes America competitive. The solution? Creating new pathways for the next generation to become wealth creators in their own communities. This is Positive Sum Patriotic Capitalism at its core: investing in strategies that strengthen both individual prosperity and the common good. And it’s a better alternative than robbing poor Peter to pay wealthy Paul.
The infrastructure that’s missing
Consider this paradox: we live in the most connected era in human history, yet economic advancement remains unnecessarily siloed. Throughout the Heartland, community leaders and organizations are devising innovative, locally based solutions to create better jobs and economic growth. These local innovators have the vision and talent to transform their regions. What they lack isn’t capability; it’s the investment infrastructure that turns ideas into businesses and businesses into sustainable economic engines.
Traditional venture capital and private equity models simply don’t work for communities outside major metros. The deal sizes are too small, the expected returns too low, the timelines too uncertain and the investors too distant to understand local market dynamics. While one in five Americans live in rural America, less than one percent of all venture capital investments reach businesses based there.
Meanwhile, young people who understand these markets—who grew up there, who know the community members and their challenges—are told their only path to success runs through New York or San Francisco. This narrative is fundamentally wrong and wastes tremendous human capital. We’re missing the chance to strengthen entire communities that could be thriving with the right capital investments and frameworks.
Two models for community-centered capital
The Ford Foundation’s $40 million Heartland Initiative reflects our belief in investing in regions that hold unrealized capacity. Supporting visionary leaders across the Midwest, the South, Appalachia and rural America enables them to reshape their regions’ futures with capital investments and locally based solutions.
Building on this groundwork, Ford Foundation is piloting two innovative models that put community wealth creation in the hands of emerging leaders who understand local markets and dynamics.
The emerging investor model
In partnership with the REDF Impact Investing Fund (RIIF), a $5 million initiative with Marshall University, West Virginia University and Ohio University is breaking new ground to equip emerging leaders with real investment capital—and the skills to deploy it, in their own communities. These students aren’t just running simulations; they’re making investment decisions that help create jobs and grow businesses across Appalachia. Our investment is designed as a layer in a blended finance structure intended to attract subsidies from governments and foundations and private sector capital from CRA-oriented banks, impact-first capital from family offices and program-related investments from foundations.
The power lies in combining deep local knowledge with sharp investment expertise. A young professional from rural Ohio sees promise where others see risk: They know which hometown businesses are poised to grow, which entrepreneurs have the grit to succeed and how to turn overlooked community strengths into investable ventures. Those are insights that no algorithm or quant model can replicate.
The quality jobs revolution
Nine Dean represents our largest direct investment commitment in worker-focused business models. This permanent holding company structure is designed to demonstrate that putting workers at the center of business strategy drives superior financial performance.
Research shows that when companies have C-suites with high empathy, great corporate cultures, superior operational design and their workers have ownership stakes—when they share in the upside they help create—businesses become more innovative, more resilient and more profitable. Yet despite these benefits, too few companies have embraced the characteristics that would make them great: 62 percent of U.S. employees are not engaged at work, leading to an estimated $605 billion in lost productivity each year. Partnering with the Good Jobs Institute, Nine Dean builds on a growing body of evidence showing that companies focused on quality jobs, employee engagement and shared prosperity consistently outperform their peers on key financial metrics.
For the next generation of business leaders, this isn’t charity; it’s smart economics that creates a competitive advantage for businesses while building stronger communities for all. Companies that engage and empower their workforce will capture larger market shares, generate higher returns and build more sustainable revenue streams.
A framework for economic independence
Both initiatives operate on key principles that can help democratize prosperity:
- Proximity-Based Investment: Local investors make better decisions because they understand local markets, community assets and unrealized value. They’re also more likely to remain committed when obstacles arise.
- Worker-Centered Operations: Quality jobs frameworks aren’t just about treating employees well. They’re about creating sustainable competitive advantages through effective operational design and engaged, empowered workforces.
- Patient Capital Structures: Community wealth building takes time. Short-term thinking optimizes for quarterly returns while long-term thinking optimizes for generational prosperity.
- Stakeholder Capitalism: When company management considers the interests of workers, customers, vendors and communities, everyone wins. Shared interests create shared prosperity.
- Institutional Resilience: Strong local institutions—from universities to community organizations—provide the foundation for sustainable economic development and help unlock regional capacity.
Far from theoretical, these are tools that emerging leaders can use to build businesses, create jobs and generate wealth, while strengthening their home regions.
Scaling the revolution
The real power of this approach becomes clear when you zoom out. Every young professional who chooses to build wealth in their community creates a ripple effect. They hire and invest locally, they mentor the next generation of local entrepreneurs and they help realize their region’s hidden strengths.
Instead of talent migration, you get talent retention. Instead of capital flight, you get capital formation. Instead of communities watching prospects pass them by, you get communities that become magnets for talent and investment, unlocking their tremendous strength.
This isn’t about limiting people’s choices—it’s about expanding them. When we give emerging leaders the tools they need, they transform their communities into thriving economic ecosystems that reflect their values and strengthen our shared future.
The next generation doesn’t need a bailout. They need access to capital, supportive frameworks and our confidence in their ability to build wealth where they choose to live. When we provide those, they’ll declare their own economic independence and help realize the vast possibilities that exist in communities across America.
This is what Positive Sum Patriotic Capitalism looks like in practice: investments that serve individual ambition while strengthening the communities and democracy that make prosperity possible, recognizing that every region holds the potential to grow the national economic pie for brighter futures.