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Nasdaq Foundation

Advancing wealth creation and economic resilience by partnering on scalable solutions that empower future founders and investors
2025 Annual Report Grant Program

The Economic Opportunity Grant Program

Delivering targeted, scalable and strategic solutions to transform investor engagement and foster opportunities that broaden access to resources and enable communities to share in the wealth that markets create.​

Explore the Grant Program

Driving Impact Across Five Key Areas

Financial Literacy

Access to Capital​

Investor Identity

Employee & Community Ownership

Regional Revitalization /​ Rural Wealth Building​

The Investment Quest

Hosted by Tracy Clayton, The Investment Quest follows five first-time investors as they break down financial myths, learn everyday investing concepts, and begin building the pillars to support their own investor identities. 

About the Series

Every investor identity rests on five pillars: belonging, connection, learning, agency, and confidence. Together, they strengthen the emotional and financial health of anyone on their investing journey. To build on those pillars, the Nasdaq Foundation recently partnered with Million Stories, a digital media platform of the Money Confidence Project, on The Investment Quest — a five-part short-form video series. The series explores how to find confidence, connection, and a place in the wealth-building conversation, and why these attributes matter in the first place.
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Coming Soon

Episode 1 - Meet Erynn

In the series premiere of The Investment Quest, host Tracy Clayton meets Erynn — an Atlanta marketer, entrepreneur, and first-time investor — and helps her build her investor identity through three of these pillars: belonging, confidence, and learning.
Coming Soon

Episode 2 - Meet Esteban

In this episode of The Investment Quest, host Tracy Clayton helps Esteban grow his learning, agency, and connection skills through a hands-on financial exercise. 
Coming Soon

Episode 3 - Meet Alexander

In this episode of The Investment Quest, host Tracy Clayton meets Alexander, a Philadelphia teacher, and helps him build his own investor identity through learning, agency, and confidence. 

The Research

The Investment Quest series was developed based on insights from the "Transforming Investor Identity" research project by Commonwealth and supported by the Nasdaq Foundation.

Transforming Investor Identity

The findings highlight how to develop an investor identity, attracting new investors to capital markets and unlocking the wealth-building opportunities they provide.

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Recent Grant Recipients

Reshaping the perception and accessibility of global financial markets. Learn more about the Economic Opportunity Grant Program and meet more of the organizations we partner with.

Financial LIteracy

United Way of Colorado

The Pathways to Financial Confidence, Stability, and Ownership project provides financial literacy education, one-on-one coaching, and workshops on budgeting, credit building, and financial planning to underserved communities across Southern Colorado.

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Access to Capital

Bounce Innovation Hub

Bounce Innovation Hub provides coaching, technical assistance, and twice-monthly public education, along with flexible and affordable space, to help founders in Northeast Ohio navigate the most difficult stages of building a company and become capital ready.

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Financial Literacy

National CAPACD

The Financial Empowerment program provides capacity-building resources, technical assistance, and peer-learning spaces to a cohort of CBOs delivering culturally and linguistically responsive asset-building services.

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Access to Capital

Defy Ventures

Defy's Pathway to Entrepreneurship program provides holistic, beginning-to-end support and training from business concept development to business launch for formerly incarcerated individuals who are interested in exploring entrepreneurship.

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2025

National League of Cities

The Legacy Forward project will build capacity of municipal governments to identify and support legacy businesses and second-stage firms facing growth, transition, or market challenges.

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2025

Future Founders

Future Founders will empower 100+ entrepreneurs ages 18-30 to launch and grow their own businesses and contribute to the prosperity of society.

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2025

The Go Project

The GO Project Families Financial Literacy Workshop Series promotes smart financial decision-making for families and students from underserved areas in NYC.

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2025

The Center on Rural Innovation

The Center on Rural Innovation will launch the AI Forward Studio, a free, 12-week, hands-on experience designed to help rural entrepreneurs build, test, and implement AI-driven solutions for their startups.

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2025

Urban League of Louisiana

The Scaling Entrepreneurship Across Louisiana will provide early-stage women-owned firms in rural parts of Louisiana with the education and resources needed for scalability and profitability.

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2025

Business Council for Peace

The Breaking the $1M Barrier Program helps 25 underrepresented businesses in the Southeast U.S. scale beyond the startup stage.

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2025

Launch Tennessee

Launch Tennessee will bring information about the InvestTN fund directly to TN entrepreneurs and provide guidance as they seek to grow and scale their startups.

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2025

Maryland Philanthropy Network and Community Wealth Builders

In partnership with Community Wealth Builders, the “Resilient by Design: Growing Community Financial Education & Investing to Fuel Local Prosperity” will grow community financial education and investing to fuel local prosperity in Baltimore through an innovative financial empowerment program.

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2025

Community Investment Corporation

The Arizona Capital Access Program will grow a local funder base in Arizona by activating a new generation of investors through peer-led investor groups.

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2025

Restore NYC

Restore's Entrepreneurship services support survivors of trafficking in exploring business ownership as a pathway to economic independence.

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2025

CLIMB Fund

The Palmetto Prosperity Initiative: Expanding Access to Capital for Small Businesses Throughout South Carolina” will expand access to capital for small businesses throughout South Carolina, focusing on women, veterans, and rural small business owners.

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2025

Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development

The Startup Learning Pathway is a digital curriculum designed to equip under-resourced prospective and early-stage small business owners with tailored financial education and resources.

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2025

Common Future

Legacy Lab, is a multi-year initiative supporting community-owned and traditionally structured businesses in strengthening their infrastructure, accessing non-extractive capital, and advancing collective ownership as a path to economic justice.

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2025

Ownership Capital Lab

The Employee Ownership Fund Accelerator will build a pipeline of fund managers that will move employee ownership investing from a niche approach into the mainstream of investing.

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2025

Project Equity

Project Equity will scale employee ownership in the Atlanta and Birmingham regions to equip under-resourced communities with access to wealth building opportunities.

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Partner Stories & Resources Learn more about how our partners are creating pathways to economic opportunity in communities around the world. Explore the Content Hub