Honoring the 59th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday as a Call to Action

This March, we commemorate the legacy of the protesters who bravely marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma nearly 60 years ago. PERC honors their determination not as a relic of the past, but as a call to action for the present and future to actively and collectively build on the foundation laid by their efforts.

As a new justice venture aimed at building the economic mobility in Black, Indigenous and Latino/a/x (BIL) communities through public investment, we’re proud to uplift the progress that we’ve made in our first two years of operation and affirm the strength of our unique business model.

Our first cohort of four cities, including Selma, is already disrupting the iterative cycle of inequitable investment processes. Each city has laid the foundational elements essential to creating a new and equitable ecosystem for public investment, including:

• Cross-sector working coalitions in which members share power and accountability in grant applications, project planning and implementation
• New structures and capacity for coalition planning and implementing development projects; and for ongoing engagement and consensus-building
• Documentation of the key factors driving racial disparities in their city
• Detailed data-based action plans for a list of development projects ready for investment with committed partners; multi-year strategies; and key milestones

The cohort has already won $5 Million in public and private investment, including investors recommitting additional dollars, and is applying for additional investment.

We know our expectations are ambitious, but the progress we’ve already made speaks volumes about the potential for the long term impact of our unique approach.