Draft:Jessica Norwood

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Jessica Norwood
photo of Jessica Norwood
BornPrichard, Alabama
Occupation(s)Founder, CEO, Author, Activist, Host
Known forRUNWAY, Believe-In-You-Money: What Would It Look Like If the Economy Loved Black People? (book)
Websitewww.jessicanorwood.com

Jessica Norwood is a financial activist, entrepreneur, impact investor, artist, and philanthropist known for founding RUNWAY, formerly known as The Runway Project, an organization that provides early-stage funding for Black entrepreneurs.[1][2]

Norwood is trained in nonviolence organizing, anti-racism, and popular education facilitation.[3] She is also a former board member of Highlander Research and Education Center, a social justice leadership training school and cultural center where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. trained.[4]

Norwood is a native of Prichard, Alabama.[5]

Career[edit]

RUNWAY[edit]

RUNWAY is a "financial innovation firm"[6] that provides capital and other business support for Black entrepreneurs.[7] The mission of RUNWAY is "to advance resiliency for Black businesses and the communities they serve by building emergent financial practices and infrastructure that close the racial wealth gap."[8][9]

Norwood is on the Advisory Committee for Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute[10], and is a principal member at ZEAL, a worker-owned creative agency and social impact collaborative that develops strategies to build community wealth.[11]

Writing[edit]

Norwood is the author of Believe-In-You-Money: What Would It Look Like If the Economy Loved Black People?, a book that discusses the systemic failures surrounding Black wealth building.[12]

Research[edit]

Norwood has conducted research on how racism influences Black women’s use of reproductive health care services. The abstract for the publication she co-authored titled “Racism Runs Through It: Examining The Sexual And Reproductive Health Experience Of Black Women In The South” summarizes how racism–both structural and individual–influences Black women’s reproductive health care access, utilization, and experience.[13]

The study discusses how institutional racism affected participants’ finances and led some to forgo reproductive health care or face barriers to obtaining care. The study found that individual racism resulted in some women electing to receive care only from same-race medical providers. The research findings suggest a need for policies and practices that address structural barriers to reproductive health care access and improve the reproductive health experience of Black women.

Podcasting[edit]

In December 2021, Norwood launched a podcast called Road to Repair with co-hosts Nikishka Iyengar, a social entrepreneur and sustainability strategist, and Andrew X, a writer and independent consultant.[14]

Road to Repair has featured several guests including author and poet adrienne maree brown, and food sovereignty activist Leah Penniman.

Speaking Engagements[edit]

Norwood has spoken at various events including Net Impact[15], Social Capital Markets (SOCAP), Community Capital (COCAP), Slow Money, Social Venture Institute, and Social Venture Circle.

Other Work[edit]

Recognized for her financial activism, Jessica was a former Fellow at the Center for Economic Democracy in Boston, Massachusetts; winner of the Nathan Cummings Foundation Fellowship[16]; a Political Power Fellow with the Hip Hop Archive & Research Institute at the Hutchinson Center at Harvard University[17]; an Integrated Capital Fellow at the Just Economy Institute in San Francisco, California[18]; a Fellow at Common Future in Oakland, California; a member of the board of directors for the Highlander Research and Education Center[19]; and an Emerging Leaders Fellow at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University[20].

Recognition and awards[edit]

Norwood has received numerous awards and honors for her work, including being named “50 Black Women Founders To Watch” in 2020 by Essence Magazine[21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Jessica Norwood on How to Close the 'Friends and Family' Capital Gap for Entrepreneurs of Color". nextcity.org. June 19, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  2. ^ Mazzoni, Mary (April 5, 2019). "Can Investment Capital End Racism, Sexism, and Classism?". SOCAP Digital. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  3. ^ "Jessica Norwood". Regenerative Rising. April 2, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  4. ^ "The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute". Stanford. 26 April 2017. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  5. ^ Lacey, Maggie (October 2, 2019). "Change Maker". Mobile Bay Magazine. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  6. ^ Brentin Mock (January 15, 2021). "Can a 'Guaranteed Income' for Black Entrepreneurs Narrow the Wealth Gap?". Bloomberg. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  7. ^ Carolyn Said (November 3, 2018). "Startup loans to black entrepreneurs to 'interject some balance in capitalism'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  8. ^ "Closing the Racial Wealth Gap: Jessica Norwood of the Runway Project". See Change Magazine. Feb 18, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  9. ^ Baskin, Kara (March 16, 2022). "What corporate philanthropy got wrong after George Floyd's murder". MIT Management Sloan School. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  10. ^ "The History and Practice of Emergent Strategy". Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  11. ^ "Principal Members". Allied Media Projects. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  12. ^ Browley, Jasmine (August 31, 2023). "What Would Happen If The Economy Loved Black People? This Investor Has An Answer". Essence.com. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  13. ^ Terri-ann Monique Thompson, Yves-Yvette Young, Tanya M. Bass, Stephanie Baker, Oriaku Njoku, Jessica Norwood, and Monica Simpson (February 2022). "Racism Runs Through It: Examining The Sexual And Reproductive Health Experience Of Black Women In The South". Health Affairs. 41 (2): 195–202. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01422. PMID 35130060. S2CID 246650969. Retrieved April 24, 2023.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "Road to Repair". Road to Repair. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  15. ^ "Net Impact Conference Keynote: Jessica Norwood". YouTube. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  16. ^ "2015 Fellow". The Nathan Cummings Foundation. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  17. ^ "HARI Team". The Hiphop Archive and Research Institute. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  18. ^ "2017-2018 (Cohort 1)". Just Economy Institute. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  19. ^ "Jessica Norwood". Regenerative Rising. April 2, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  20. ^ "Jessica Norwood: The Power of Repair". Lift Economy. February 4, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  21. ^ MARQUITA K. HARRIS (October 26, 2020). "50 Black Women Founders To Watch". Essence. Retrieved April 24, 2023.

External links[edit]