The Greenwood Trust

As part of Mayor Nichols' Road to Repair announcement, he has proposed the creation of a private charitable trust named The Greenwood Trust, which would serve as an avenue to encourage economic growth and development in North Tulsa, the historic Greenwood District, and surrounding neighborhoods, with a focus to address disparities experienced by Tulsa Race Massacre survivors, descendants, Historic Greenwood District and North Tulsa residents and businesses.

The following focus areas for the Trust include:

• Housing Fund, $24 million – This fund will benefit the residents of Greenwood and North Tulsa. It will assist in furthering the implementation of community recommendations centered on housing and homeownership benefits for Race Massacre survivors and their descendants. 
• Cultural Preservation Fund, $60 million – This fund will go toward improving buildings, reducing blight, and helping implement certain aspects of the Kirkpatrick Heights-Greenwood Master Plan.
• Legacy Fund, $21 million – This fund will allow for the development of trust-owned land and acquisition of land for the benefit of Race Massacre survivors and descendants. A part of these monies would help in the creation of a scholarship funding structure for descendants to get Tulsa children on a stronger educational pathway. Another portion of the funds will go toward the support of small business and organizational grants to further economic development in North Tulsa and the Historic Greenwood District.

As part of the Road to Repair, the Greenwood Trust will be created with the goal to secure $105 million in assets with most of the funding secured, or committed, by June 1, 2026, the 105th Anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Assets could include property transferred to the Trust, philanthropic funding, and public funding, if desired.

The trust would be comprised of an executive director, paid by private funding, as well as a board of trustees and a board of advisors to manage and operate the daily functions of the trust. Mayor Nichols said the first operational year of the Greenwood Trust will serve as a planning year to stand up some of the Trust’s initial programs and the hiring of initial staff to carry out fundraising efforts.

More information on board makeup, staffing, and additional announcements will be made soon. 

Beverly to Lead Tulsa’s First Trust Centered on Reparative Efforts from 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

On October 24, 2025, Mayor Nichols, in his role as Trustee of the Greenwood Trust, announced the appointment of Alaina C. Beverly as the Executive Director of the Greenwood Trust, which is a cornerstone of Tulsa's Road to Repair initiative to advance economic growth and repair the generational harm of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

The Greenwood Trust will be a permanent, community-centered private charitable trust that fosters investment in housing, cultural preservation, education and economic growth in the Historic Greenwood District and North Tulsa - centering on survivors and descendants while serving as a national model for reparative economic development through private investment.

“Alaina Beverly brings unmatched national leadership, policy expertise, and a lifelong commitment to racial and economic equity,” Mayor Monroe Nichols said. “Under her leadership, the Greenwood Trust will build the foundation, partnerships, and capacity to make transformative, lasting investments that honor Greenwood’s legacy.”

With Beverly’s appointment, the Greenwood Trust will begin its next phase of development focused on community engagement, fundraising, and program design to bring its mission of remembrance, renewal, and investment to fruition.

“I am deeply honored to serve as the inaugural Executive Director of the Greenwood Trust,” Beverly said. “This work is both a calling and a responsibility - to remember, rebuild, and reimagine investment in a way that honors the legacy of Greenwood, ensures that future generations inherit opportunity, and lifts up the narrative of this great community.”

Since June when the Greenwood Trust was announced, the City of Tulsa has been working to build a framework for the trust, including the establishment of leadership to lead the work, as well as continued fundraising efforts to secure $105 million in assets with most of the funding secured, or committed, by June 1, 2026, the 105th Anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Assets could include property transferred to the Trust or philanthropic funding.

A native of Michigan and graduate of Stanford University and the University of Michigan Law School, Beverly has over two decades of experience advancing equity through government, philanthropy, academia, and advocacy. Most recently, she served as Executive Vice President of the Black Economic Alliance Foundation, where she directed place-based investments to advance Black economic opportunity. Her previous roles include serving in the White House Office of Urban Affairs during the Obama Administration as the National Deputy Director for African-American Outreach for the Obama for America Campaign, and as Assistant Vice President for Urban Affairs at the University of Chicago, and as counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Advancement Project.