Why The Great 38™️ Could Change Wealth in America
The Great 38™️ isn’t just a concept—it’s a roadmap for rebuilding wealth. Learn how systemic underinvestment created today’s wealth gap and why investing in these communities benefits us all.
The Great 38™️ is more than a catchy name – it’s a call to action. It refers to a broad swath of communities that have historically been left behind by mainstream capital markets and public policy. While some regions have thrived on a steady diet of investment and infrastructure, others have been chronically undercapitalized. The Great 38 is our shorthand for those neighborhoods, towns and cities that could be thriving but haven’t been because of decades of disinvestment.
Why does it matter? Because the numbers tell a sobering story. In the United States, the wealthiest 10 percent of households hold more than three-quarters of the nation’s wealth, while the bottom half holds just 2 percent. Nearly 40 percent of inheritances and gifts go to families that are already in the top decile. Meanwhile, Black and Hispanic families have a fraction of the wealth held by White families. These gaps didn’t occur by accident – they are the result of policies and practices that systemically stripped wealth from marginalized communities while facilitating wealth building among others.
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative puts it plainly: to accelerate wealth accumulation for Black individuals and families, we must address systemic underinvestment in Black communities. The Great 38 is where that underinvestment has been most acute. It encompasses rural areas bypassed by venture capital, inner-city neighborhoods gutted by redlining, and small towns where economic opportunities were outsourced decades ago.
But The Great 38 isn’t a story of despair; it’s a roadmap for transformation. By focusing our attention and resources on these communities, we can build new local economies that decouple from national boom-and-bust cycles. Community wealth-building models show that when residents have a stake in local assets, they anchor jobs, expand public services and achieve stability.
Imagine a network of community investment trusts, cooperative businesses and neighborhood crowdfunding initiatives: capital circulates locally, entrepreneurs thrive and families build generational wealth.
The Great 38 matters because it represents untapped potential. Investing here isn’t charity – it’s smart economics. When people have access to capital, education and opportunity, they create businesses, jobs and innovations that benefit everyone. The trillions of dollars in lost opportunity can become trillions in new prosperity if we commit to reversing the compounding effects of disinvestment. That’s why The Wealth Salons are championing The Great 38: to rewrite the narrative and demonstrate what’s possible when we invest in ourselves.
Join the conversation. Share this post with someone who needs to hear it, and connect with The Wealth Salons to learn how you can help build wealth in The Great 38. Let’s co-create a future where every community has the tools to thrive.
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