The Work of Opportunity

A Letter from Jim Shelton, CEO of Blue Meridian Partners

Dear friends and colleagues,

Next year, the United States of America turns 250 years old. This country was built on the self-evident truth that people are created equal, with the right not just to life and liberty, but to pursue happiness. Over time, that principle evolved into the idea of America as the land of opportunity—as Americans fought for and won a wider definition of who is “created equal” and who gets to enjoy those rights. 

When I was growing up, I learned who we are and intend to be as a country in many ways. The national anthem taught me we are “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” The Pledge of Allegiance taught me that we seek to be one nation “indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” And many sources along the way taught me we are “the land of opportunity.”  

These weren’t just rhetorical aspirations: the United States was a place where children were almost certain to outdo their parents economically. That’s no longer true. 

Whether or not you believe these foundational words describe who we were or who we aspired to be, the question a quarter millennium later is, do these tenets still apply? Are we still the land of opportunity? 

It’s a daunting question, but one that energizes me. 

This past March, Blue Meridian’s founding CEO, Nancy Roob, did me the extraordinary honor of passing the reins of leadership to me. With this came the responsibility of guiding an organization with an uncommon opportunity to strengthen the upward path for all Americans. Towards this ambitious vision, we bring an extraordinary team and nearly $5 billion committed by a community of visionary philanthropists working together to tackle barriers to economic and social mobility. That combination leaves us feeling confident about supporting some of the most important and timely efforts in the country. 

But I’m not naive.  

Most Americans see their futures slipping, not rising. A recent Wall Street Journal poll found only 25 percent of people believe they have “a good chance of improving their standard of living”—the lowest response in the survey’s 38-year history. Most said it was harder for them than for their parents to achieve the American Dream: to buy a home, start a business, stay home to parent children. They fear their kids will have it even harder. So is it a surprise more Americans have engaged in zero-sum thinking—the belief that we’re in competition with our neighbors for a piece of an ever-smaller pie? 

Pundits across the political spectrum appear baffled by the “disconnect between the nation’s widespread, sour economic outlook and traditional measures that show the economy to be robust,” the Journal article reports. They seem to find normal Americans’ worry mystifying and misguided. It’s neither. 

What Americans are seeing is a set of real, historic shifts. In earlier decades, when the economy grew, workers felt it in their pockets. Today, much more of that growth benefits the most affluent, while much less goes to the typical worker. That’s why upward mobility has cratered—in reality, not opinion.

• Ninety percent of Americans born in the 1940s out-earned their parents; for those born in the 1980s, only half did—barely even odds.
• In 1985, the typical American man could cover a year’s basic needs in 40 weeks—meaning he could make ends meet and have something left over for enjoyment and savings. By 2022, it took 62 weeks—meaning he’s perpetually behind. The gaps are even worse for women and Black and Latino communities.

New disruptions—from technological change to weakening public supports—are likely to deepen these pressures. It’s a sobering picture, aggravated by failure to acknowledge these facts and broken promises to those for whom opportunity is slipping out of reach. 

Yet what fuels me in this daunting reality are the solutions taking shape throughout the country to shore up mobility in a time of rapid erosion. By investing and working together, Blue Meridian’s philanthropic partners are able to scale up work that none of us could do alone.  These solutions are at different places—in maturity, scale, and literally on the map—but together, they inspire optimism about removing barriers and building pathways to mobility.

The largest of these are breakthrough solutions with national scale, with powerful evidence of their ability to change lives. For example, we’re seeing vital work to give the 77 million Americans a fair chance at a second chance. And in the pipeline are  earlier-stage solutions driven by social entrepreneurs of enormous promise, on their way to becoming scalable solutions.    

Equally powerful are place-based partnerships where entire communities are working together to transform opportunity. In communities like Spartanburg, S.C., Dallas, Dayton, and Tulsa—we’re seeing leaders create something that has rarely existed: efforts across whole neighborhoods and cities to tear down barriers that keep people from rising, and build in their place pathways for growth from cradle to career. Strategies that bring together residents, business, government, and nonprofit leaders are remaking systems, unlocking resources, and integrating solutions spreading nationally—all toward a shared vision of a community that works differently and far better for all of its people.

What’s even more exciting: the data demonstrates the power of communities rising together. Harvard economist Raj Chetty, the nation’s foremost researcher on mobility, has revealed the lie to the zero-sum thinking. He’s found that mobility isn’t a limited good—in fact, communities rise together, in part because social connection to people who are thriving helps others thrive. And he finds rapid improvements in mobility are possible—when communities change, the shape of opportunity can change, even within a single generation.

This work is unbelievably urgent. In a time of historic polarization and concentration of wealth, community-driven change will not fix everything. But it stands to create a counterforce, building a pathway up for the people who need it most at the moment they need it most. That’s the work we, at Blue Meridian Partners, are committed to doing.  

As we approach the 250th anniversary of the American revolution, in a time of extraordinary change and disruption, we have the chance to build anew. The land of opportunity is not an inherited title, it’s one we have to perpetually re-earn. That is the hard work ahead for all who believe in America’s promise, and we are excited to be part of it.

With faith and resolve,

Jim