Introduction

The Boston Ujima Project is pleased to present our first Investor Update of 2022. After successfully reaching our investment capital goal of raising $4.5M the Ujima Fund Team is solely focused on deploying the fund’s investment capital and supporting working-class communities of color in Boston through responsible business development.

We began the year by completing our second investment vote. Dorchester Food Co-op received overwhelming support from Ujima voting members, and were approved for a $25,000 loan which they intend to use for the build out of their new grocery store. We’re also energized by the launch our third investment campaign—an equity ownership opportunity—in Jazz Urbane Cafe.

We have set an ambitious investment goal of investing between $1M - $1.25M of capital throughout the year and we’ll need community support each step of the way. To ensure businesses can receive access to capital, advertising, and technical assistance, we’ll first need the businesses to join Ujima’s Good Business Alliance.

As you may know, the Ujima Good Business Alliance is our business membership organization. Each member of the Alliance is first nominated by Ujima’s members, and then meets with our Community Standards Committee. If you’ve named any of the “Businesses We Love” we’d like your support in encouraging those companies to contact our Ujima Fund Management Team. We’ll be reaching out to many as well but appreciate any added support!

We have set an ambitious investment goal of investing between $1M-$1.25M of capital throughout 2022, and we’ll need community support each step of the way. 

If you’ve named any of the “Businesses We Love” we’d like your support in encouraging those companies to contact our Ujima Fund Management Team.

To ensure a just transition, we remained steadfast in our commitment to financing solutions to social and economic inequality. As we gear up for an exciting year, we look forward to more conversations with business owners, employees, coalition partners, and our members. We are grateful for your support. ◼︎

— Jock Payten, Interim Managing Director, Ujima Fund 

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In this latest report, you will find interviews with three esteemed investors, new alliance members, and our new resource, Ujima’s Investment Pipeline Status Page, which aims to create more transparency in our process by providing open-source access to our investment process. Lastly, you will find an updated Ujima Fund Financial Dashboard, as well as portfolio and business alliance updates. Scroll down to peruse the website and learn more. ︎