Overview:

Although GrassRoots Investment Group was founded in August 1997, the seeds for its growth were planted well before its official start. Phillipe Tatem and Ranon Maddox, both seeking their MBA from the School of Business and Industry at Florida A&M University, had often conversed about networking within the African-American community to achieve economic empowerment. Noting how the vast majority of blacks lack investment savvy, the two researched investment groups as a way to learn, educate, and help build a financial legacy that could be used to provide for themselves in the years to come.

The main goal of GrassRoots is education. GrassRoots' initial goal was to use the collective experiences and education of its members to invest to provide at least 1 million dollars for each member at the end of its charter. At its 2004 annual meeting, however, GrassRoots' new mid-term goal is to grow its assets to $10 million dollars within 7 years. The investment group is broken into 4 distinct teams; Real Estate, Market Investments, Ventures, Communications.

The current membership consists of 38 individuals in 13 states. Most of our members are employed with Fortune 500 firms, several are completing their first (or secondary/professional) degrees, and the remainder are working in the public sector, are self-employed, or are capitalists. Partners contribute $175-$350 monthly to expand the financial capital of the group. GrassRoots has historically enjoyed double digit growth in its non-contributed assets.