Georgia Resilience & Opportunity Fund

What Georgia Resilience & Opportunity Fund does

The Georgia Resilience & Opportunity Fund (GRO Fund) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, that builds and operates community-led, evidence-based programs to address poverty and narrow the racial wealth divide in Georgia. The organization's revenue model is charitable: it raises funds through donations routed via a Network for Good fundraising page, supported by individual donors, foundations, and likely corporate philanthropy. It does not sell products or services and has no proprietary technology platform; its underlying capability stack is programmatic — program design, community engagement, participant disbursement (via check, direct deposit, or prepaid debit card), and rigorous evaluation.

GRO's core operations are two pilot programs: In Her Hands, a guaranteed income initiative that provides nearly 1,000 women across Georgia with no-strings-attached cash payments of $850 per month over 2–3 years, and Freedom Futures, a first-of-its-kind pilot for 50 young adults that combines guaranteed income for immediate needs with a large lump-sum "baby bond" payment and financial coaching to support long-term wealth building. Both programs are designed in collaboration with community members and generate evidence to inform policy and advocacy work on cash-based solutions at the state and national level. Distribution is regional (Georgia only) and delivered through direct participant payments and community-based enrollment rather than traditional sales channels.

The organization differentiates itself through community-led program design, randomized controlled trial evaluation partnerships, and a narrative/cultural communications strategy that has earned national press coverage. Primary customer segments are women in Georgia (In Her Hands) and young adults aged 18+ in Georgia (Freedom Futures), with a secondary audience of policymakers and advocates using GRO's evidence base. The marketing mix relies on earned media (Fast Company, MSNBC, ABC News, HuffPost, AfroTech, Black Enterprise), a website and reports hub, and email newsletter signup. The team is led by founder and executive director Hope Wollensack.

Name

Georgia Resilience & Opportunity Fund

Legal name

Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund

Website

https://thegrofund.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

GRO Fund is an Atlanta-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs community-led cash-assistance pilots in Georgia, delivering $850/month guaranteed income to nearly 1,000 women (In Her Hands) and combining guaranteed income with baby-bond lump sums and coaching for 50 young adults (Freedom Futures), while generating policy-grade evidence.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Guaranteed Income Programs

NAICS

Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

akta.pro primary industry

Cash & Voucher Assistance (CVA) and Emergency Livelihood Support (BPAGAAAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Social Impact & Inclusive Finance Funds (FSANAJAH), Income Support & Cash Assistance Programs (BPAIAKAE)

Keywords

• Guaranteed income programs
• Direct cash assistance
• Nonprofit poverty alleviation
• Wealth building initiatives
• Community-led social programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: GRO Fund operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that raises funds through donations. The organization accepts contributions through its Network for Good donation page, indicating a charitable giving model supported by individual donors, foundations, and potentially corporate philanthropy.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Georgia Resilience and Opportunity (GRO) Fund runs evidence-based, community-led direct cash assistance pilot programs for underserved populations in Georgia. Its core offerings are In Her Hands, a guaranteed income initiative providing no-strings-attached cash ($850 per month) to nearly 1,000 women for 2–3 years, and Freedom Futures, a pilot serving 50 young adults that combines guaranteed income, a lump-sum baby bond payment, and financial coaching to support both immediate needs and long-term wealth building.

Product overview

The Georgia Resilience and Opportunity (GRO) Fund operates as a non-profit organization running two pilot programs focused on direct cash assistance and wealth building. The core offerings are "In Her Hands" (a guaranteed income program for approximately 1,000 women in Georgia providing cash payments over 2-3 years) and "Freedom Futures" (a pilot combining guaranteed income, lump-sum payments, and financial coaching for 50 young adults). These programs are designed to generate rigorous, policy-relevant evidence to support the national conversation on cash-based solutions and wealth-building strategies. The organization also conducts narrative and cultural work to share participant stories and insights.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• In Her Hands: Guaranteed income initiative serving nearly 1,000 women across Georgia, providing no-strings-attached cash for 2-3 years.
• Freedom Futures

Products and services

• In Her Hands A guaranteed income initiative serving nearly 1,000 women across Georgia, providing no-strings-attached cash payments of $850 per month for 2–3 years. Participants report increased financial stability, greater goal attainment, improved health, stronger community ties, and greater hope for the future. Designed for women experiencing poverty and wealth inequality, with particular focus on those affected by the racial wealth divide.
• Freedom Futures A first-of-its-kind pilot combining guaranteed income, a large lump-sum "baby bond" payment, and financial coaching for 50 young adults in Georgia. The program provides direct cash to meet immediate needs while helping participants build long-term wealth. Designed for young adults aged 18+ who lack capital for immediate expenses and have limited wealth-building opportunities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 1,000 women served across Georgia through In Her Hands program
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• GiveDirectly: Global nonprofit executing direct, no-strings-attached cash transfers to households; comparable on core intervention (unconditional cash), beneficiary model, and evidence generation via RCTs, though international and at much larger scale.
• Mayors for a Guaranteed Income: Coalition of mayors running city-level guaranteed-income pilots; comparable as a coordinating body for cash-transfer evidence generation and policy advocacy at municipal scale.
• The Fund for Guaranteed Income: National philanthropic vehicle funding guaranteed-income pilots across the U.S.; directly comparable as a funder-operator hybrid running cash-transfer experiments and aggregating evidence across sites.
• Springboard To Opportunities: Operates the Magnolia Mother's Trust guaranteed-income program for Black mothers in Jackson, MS; the closest direct peer in mission (direct cash to Black women), model (community-led guaranteed income), and stage (pilot-scale).
• OpenResearch: Research organization that ran the SEED randomized evaluation of Stockton's guaranteed-income pilot; comparable on the evidence-generation, RCT design, and policy-translation function that GRO also claims as a competitive advantage.

Emerging players

• Economic Security Project: Advocacy and grantmaking organization advancing cash-based policy and guaranteed income; comparable as an ecosystem peer shaping the same policy narrative GRO relies on for scale and replication.
• Jain Family Institute: Applied research and policy organization focused on cash transfers, including a NYC guaranteed-income pilot; comparable on the cash-transfer policy/evidence niche, though more research-oriented and less of a direct operator.
• Y Combinator Research: Research arm that produced a large multi-year UBI study in the U.S.; comparable on the evidence-generation side of guaranteed-income work, though positioned as a research lab rather than community-led operator.

Others

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Major U.S. health philanthropy that has funded guaranteed-income research and pilots; comparable as an adjacent funder in the same evidence ecosystem, not a direct competitor but a likely funding partner for GRO.

Regional players

• Hudson County STAG Program: Hudson County, NJ's 'Start Treating AGain Tomorrow' program providing cash to reentrants; comparable as a regional guaranteed-income pilot, though serving a different population and geography than GRO's Georgia focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/theGROfund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Georgia Resilience & Opportunity Fund