Jessica Norwood 

Named to Essence Magazines “50 Entrepreneurs to Watch” list, Jessica Norwood is a financial activist, impact investor and social entrepreneur. She is the founder of the Runway Project, a suite of strategies that challenge wealth inequity by increasing early capital known as a "Friends and Family" round, or what Jessica calls “Believe in You Money” into African American companies nationwide. 

Jessica is trained in nonviolence organizing, anti-racism and popular education facilitation. She is also a former board member of the famed Highlander Research and Education Center, the same place that trained Dr. King.

Widely recognized for her groundbreaking work in economic disruption, Jessica is an immediate past fellow for RSF Social Finance Integrated Capital Fellowship, Nathan Cummings Foundation Fellow, a former BALLE Fellow for local economies, a lifelong Fellow of the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University and Southern University College of Business for Emerging Leaders, as well as the Political Power and Social Change Fellow of the Hip Hop Archive at the Hutchins Center of Harvard University. Her innovative work has been profiled in NPR, Next City, Essence Magazine, Conscious Company, Fast Company and NY Times Best Selling “Decolonizing Wealth” by Edgar Villanova calls her work the “medicine” modern philanthropy and investment need. Jessica splits time between Alabama and California.