The Greenwood Trust was created to meet a long-standing need with structure, care, and purpose. Guided by clear governance and informed by community voices, the Trust exists to support meaningful repair following the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the generations of policy harm and disinvestment that followed.
The Trust focuses on deploying private resources responsibly and for long-term impact.
History and Responsibility
In 1921, the Greenwood District stood as a center of Black entrepreneurship, culture, and community life. In less than twenty-four hours, that progress was destroyed by an act of racial violence that resulted in loss of life, displacement, and the destruction of homes and businesses.
The effects of the Tulsa Race Massacre were compounded over time by exclusionary policies and structural disinvestment, shaping economic and social outcomes that remain visible today.
Why the Greenwood Trust exists
The Greenwood Trust exists to address the conditions created by this historic reality through strategic, sustained place-based investments that ensure the survivors, descendants and long-term residents of Greenwood and North Tulsa thrive.
Our Guiding Framework
Mission
To advance economic mobility, development, and growth in Greenwood and North Tulsa to ensure the survivors, descendants,and long term residents of Greenwood and North Tulsa thrive.
Purpose
To address long standing and structural harm with sustained investment that achieves measurable impact.
Community Informed
The Greenwood Trust is shaped by the work and guidance of survivors, descendants, advocates, historians, and civic partners who helped define its responsibilities and priorities.
On June 1, 2025, the Mayor of Tulsa announced the formation of the Greenwood Trust as part of the city’s Road to Repair. The announcement acknowledged the limits of legal remedies while affirming the responsibility to act where meaningful change remains possible.
The Greenwood Trust represents a civic commitment translated into structured, independent action.