Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative has announced the launch of the Black Wealth Data Center (BWDC), which will host the Racial Wealth Equity Database to help address the problem of insufficient and inaccessible data on Black wealth.

Funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies with an eight-figure commitment and incubated by Prosperity Now, BWDC compiles data from multiple sources on a wide range of factors correlated to economic well-being and progress by race, with the aim of empowering decision makers—including practitioners, elected officials at all levels, and philanthropists—and journalists to improve and document economic opportunity. The Racial Wealth Equity Database will provide access to data on assets/debt, education, employment, homeownership, and business ownership and compare that data by race (Black, Hispanic, Asian, White, and Other or multiple races), sex, age, education attainment, and geographic area (state, county or zip code). The project also will build a network for leaders and organizations working to create economic progress for Black families and communities.

Since 2020, the Greenwood Initiative has made investments including $100 million to historically Black medical schools, $150 million in Johns Hopkins University’s Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative to address historic underrepresentation in STEM fields, and $19 million to the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund.

"Leaders and organizations across the country have been challenged by the lack of accessible, contextualized, and high-quality data disaggregated by race—making it difficult to assess what’s working and not working in efforts to make America fairer [and] grow Black wealth, what assets exist in Black communities, and what we need to do to effect change,” said Garnesha Ezediaro, who leads the Greenwood Initiative. “With a commitment to continuously scan and integrate the best data into a comprehensive user-friendly source, the Black Wealth Data Center will be a resource for leaders who are working to ensure that data can be accessed more equitably, progress can be measured more precisely, and that change can come faster.”

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