birdSEED Foundation named Finalist in World Changing Ideas Awards 2022
Washington, DC, [May 3, 2022] -- The winners of Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards were announced today, honoring clean technology, innovative corporate initiatives, brave new designs for cities and buildings, and other creative works that are supporting the growth of positive social innovation, tackling social inequality, climate change, and public health crises.
In the midst of the pandemic in January 2021, Flock’s small-but-mighty philanthropic initiative (a micro-grant program for doers, makers, and disruptors in DC) evolved into a full-fledged foundation offering down payment grants to Black and Brown first-time home buying residents of DC. Through birdSEED, Black, Indigenous, and other residents of color with a household income of less than $150,000 are eligible for anywhere between $5,000 and $15,000 in cash grants to use towards the down payment of a home, contingent on mortgage approval and a short list of other requirements. The program is purposefully low-barrier and gets cash to new homeowners right at the time of closing.
Is this the financial windfall that will suddenly make homeownership affordable for our Black & Brown neighbors? Not yet. Does it shift the conversation and invite those who have benefited from an industry that has historically excluded others to consider their responsibility? It should.
We’re honored to have been acknowledged in not just one, but two categories in Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas contest. The birdSEED Foundation was named a Finalist in the Social Justice Category as well as an Honorable Mention in the Corporate Social Responsibility category (specifically, for the small business size). Our hope is that this work sets the example for our peers in the industry, and for other business leaders. We want to start a reparative justice movement in the real estate industry in DC and beyond. We hope that this foundation will inspire a more conscious capitalism; fueling the changes we need to see now rather than waiting on policy changes to close the racial wealth gap. We call birdSEED’s formula rapid philanthropy; it gets money into the hands of people when and where they need it. It’s simple and it works. Since our inception, we’ve had nine households close on their new homes and we are just getting started.
We believe that any business large or small — any person — can have a big impact on building a better future. It’s time for good citizenship to take flight. We’re thrilled to be part of a World Changing Ideas cohort that knows that, because birdSEED is set to soar.
About the World Changing Ideas Awards: World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.
“We are consistently inspired by the novelty and creativity that people are applying to solve some of our society’s most pressing problems, from shelter to the climate crisis. Fast Company relishes its role in amplifying important, innovative work to address big challenges,” says David Lidsky, interim editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “Our journalists have identified some of the most ingenious initiatives to launch since the start of 2021, which we hope will both have a meaningful impact and lead others to join in being part of the solution.”