Take Your Place in The Shift: Engage, Support, Participate (Vol. 2, No. 2)

Leaders Up
3 days ago
3 min read

By John “JR” Roberson

The Shift | Vol. 2, No. 2 – Transforming Black Futures Together: Driving Change from Within

Blueprints for Black Futures

Black Futures Are Designed, Not Discovered. This Black History Month, I am reminded that progress has never been accidental, and that Black Futures Month demands intention. The systems we rely on today, from voting protections to workplace standards, or discovered. They were designed. They were designed through protest, through organizing, and through collective imagination.

In 1963, the March on Washington wasn’t just a protest; it was a strategy. People gathered not only for freedom, but for jobs, fair wages, and dignity in work. Their demands helped lay the groundwork for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The protest moved policy.

Photo by Rowland Scherman | National Archives

In the 1970s and 1980s, Black and Brown entrepreneurs organized for inclusion in public infrastructure projects. Their advocacy helped institutionalize Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) programs across cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, shifting procurement systems to open doors that had been closed. The protest moved purchasing power.

That arc, from protest to policy to procurement, is a blueprint. And today, we stand in a similar moment. Los Angeles is on the brink of a wave of mega-events over the next three years. Billions of dollars will flow through our region, in infrastructure, travel and hospitality, transportation, media, and small-business contracts. The question is not whether the money will move. The question is: Who will help design where it lands?

Black Futures Are Designed — Together

At LeadersUp, we believe systems change happens when communities move from consultation to co-design. We are not building systems for young people. We are building systems with them.

As an intermediary, our role is not to speak over the community, but to activate ecosystems. We connect young adults, employers, policymakers, educators, and industry leaders to align vision with resources, influence, and real opportunity.

Through initiatives like Activate Los Angeles Economic Empowerment Alliance (LAEEA) and our Billion Dollar Spend campaign, we’re asking a bold question:What would it look like if Black and BIPOC young adults helped design how billions of dollars are invested in their own economic future?

Last week’s Activate LAEEA activation wasn’t just an event. It was a signal. You could hear it in the voices of young creators and advocates defining what real empowerment means:

Ownership, not just employment.
Pathways, not just placements.
Wealth-building, not just wages.
Voice in decisions, not just participation in outcomes.

That vision doesn’t design itself, and it won’t wait.

Where You Can Lead Change Today

The next phase of this work takes place during our upcoming DREAM Sessions.

These are not listening sessions. They are design sessions. Intentional spaces where young adults and partners:

Define economic justice in real terms
Identify barriers in the workforce and procurement systems
Shape strategy for the Billion Dollar Spend Campaign
Co-create models that direct real investment into communities

If history teaches us anything, it’s this: Movements succeed when ordinary people decide to become architects.

How You Can Support Community-Led Change

Here’s how you can take part today:

Sign up for a DREAM Session
Bring young leaders into the room
Offer your organization’s expertise or influence to advance youth-designed solutions
Align your procurement, hiring, or partnership strategies with community-informed priorities
Make a public commitment to center youth voice in economic development

Collective power becomes economic power when it is organized.

The Commitment We’re Asking You to Make

Black innovators have always known that the future is not something we inherit, it’s something we build. This Black History and Black Futures Month, we’re asking you to make one commitment:

Step into a DREAM Session.
Help design where the next billion dollars flow.
Stand not just in solidarity, but in strategy.

Because Black Futures are not discovered. They are designed, and the design process is happening now. Your place in The Shift is waiting.

John “JR” Roberson is the Vice President of Stakeholder Engagement at LeadersUp, driving transformative partnerships and systemic workforce equity through cross-sector collaboration and policy influence.