At a moment when the nation has just celebrated 250 years of American independence, 1803 Fund is working to imagine, design, and build the next 250 years of America with freedom and prosperity expressed through action; centering the people who built the nation while being denied full access to its assets, ownership, and power.
For much of America’s first 250 years, Black people were foundational to building the nation while simultaneously being denied full participation in long-term prosperity. America Next 250 envisions a future America where Black prosperity, stewardship, ownership, learning, and imagination are central to how the nation grows and thrives.
As part of the America Next 250 initiative, 1803 Fund and MESO are partnering to support Black content creators in producing short, original stories that bring the campaign narrative themes to life. Through micro-grants, creators will document the people, places, ideas, and experiences shaping Black communities today while helping imagine the future we are building together. We are seeking authentic, on-the-ground stories that align with one or more of the America Next 250 narrative themes, including:
• Black Prosperity: Prosperity explores ownership, capital deployment, capital circulation, entrepreneurship, wealth creation, economic participation, and long-term community vitality
• Stewardship: Stewardship explores responsibility for people, places, institutions, culture, learning, and future generations.
• Learning as Capital: Learning explores curiosity, imagination, and innovation as drivers of future prosperity. Learning is not simply educational attainment. Learning functions as a capital asset when it compounds over time, increases agency, and generates durable social, civic, cultural, and economic returns.
• Freedom & Shared Destiny: Freedom is not simply the absence of confinement. Freedom is the uninterrupted ability to imagine and participate in shaping the future of one's life, community and legacy. Shared Destiny recognizes that prosperity becomes more durable when communities understand their futures as interconnected rather than isolated.
Stories might spotlight local entrepreneurs, artists, neighborhood leaders, youth, cultural traditions, community spaces, or everyday acts of innovation and resilience. While our history and present are important foundations, we are especially interested in storytellers who can connect those realities to a compelling vision of Black futures, showing what freedom, prosperity, and community can look like over the next 250 years.
Projects should be locally rooted, community-centered, and designed for digital audiences. Whether documentary, profile, visual essay, or another creative format, selected projects should inspire conversation, deepen understanding, and contribute to a growing body of stories that reflect the richness of Black life and the possibilities of Black futures.