It is more evident than ever in this moment of overlapping crises that thriving health is not a luxury—it’s a necessity and the way forward.
A recent Spring 2025 Poll of Black Women Voters in America, from The Highland Project and brilliant corners Research and Strategy, tells a story many of us know all too well: we’re feeling the heavy weight of what is happening around us in every aspect of our daily lives.
Over 54% of Black women reported feeling financially burdened and like they’re falling behind, and nearly 45% say that their mental health has declined since last year alone.
These aren’t just isolated statistics—they are indicators of systemic erosion and a broader national crisis.
Another report found that 93% of U.S. adults rate their physical and mental health as essential to their well-being. Yet, only 30% say they have good financial health—a number that has dropped 44% since 2022. These numbers reveal what Black women have long known: our systems are not designed for the many, but for the few. And they certainly are not designed to support the well-being of Black women.
What has remained consistent across The Highland Project’s years of polling is this: Black women want real, care-centered solutions. Thriving health is no longer a reward to be earned after struggle; it is a state to be achieved. It is work. And it is already underway.
A New Vision of “Wellth”: Communities of Care
Over the years, we’ve consistently heard that thriving health and true wealth are inseparable. When people say “health is wealth,” they mean it holistically: the freedom to rest, to dream, to lead without burnout, to experience financial agency, and to feel whole.
Thriving health is not just an outcome, but the precondition for a new kind of collective wealth.
Across the country, leaders are showing us what this vision looks like in action. They are modeling what it means to design systems that center on care, community, and sustainability, moving towards a vision of health and wealth that benefits us all.
From reimaging economic models to dismantling generational poverty, they are strategically investing in our wholeness as a form of revolution and legacy.
A legacy that centers on our physical, emotional, mental, and financial health.
Springboard to Opportunities’ CEO, Aisha Nyandoro, has developed the Magnolia Mother’s Trust program in Mississippi, a guaranteed income initiative that supports Black mothers by transforming lives through the alleviation of financial stress and the easing of the mental load associated with economic precarity.
Social entrepreneur Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon is building entrepreneurial ecosystems through The Village Market and Our Village United, empowering entrepreneurs with resources that prioritize their growth, sustainability, and well-being.
Katara McCarty, founder of Exhale, is creating space for emotional well-being by offering a mobile app that centers the mental health of Black women and women of color, providing tools and guided practices to navigate stress, grief, and collective healing.
Chastity Lord, President and CEO of the Jeremiah Program, is leading a multi-generational approach to educational advancement and addressing generational poverty, making way for the disruption of systemic barriers that often prevent mothers from achieving “wellth” for themselves and their children.
In the South, Monica Simpson, founder of SisterSong, is leading a reproductive justice movement. Monica and the organization aren’t just fighting for access; they’re fighting for autonomy, safety, and the inextricable link between choice and freedom.
These leaders aren’t just fixing broken systems—they are building new ones.
Systems where thriving is not an exception, but the norm. Systems that put thriving at the center, not just for Black women, but for everyone by default.
Thriving Together
It is often said: when Black women are well, everyone is. This is not just rhetoric—it is a roadmap. The next generation is stronger when Black mothers are supported. Our economy flourishes when Black women entrepreneurs are invested in. Healthcare systems are more just when Black women are believed and treated with care.
Black women are not just a part of the vision for the future—they are the blueprint.
The infrastructure for a more just, more abundant, more liberated world is already being laid by those who know what it means to carry the weight and still build.
Imagine a world where rest is respected, where bodily autonomy is a given, where labor does not define worth, and where care is the cultural standard. That world is not a dream—it is already in motion.
Our Spring 2025 poll reaffirmed that Black women are not retreating in the face of crisis. A 55% majority said now is not the time to pull back.
They are demanding bold action, meaningful leadership, and systems that honor our full humanity.
For too long, our well-being has been treated as secondary. But if we are to build a future where everyone thrives, we must begin with the understanding that thriving health is not a destination. It is the starting point.
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Gabrielle Wyatt is the Founder and CEO of The Highland Project, a values-aligned coalition designing and leading a multi-generational vision of wealth and opportunity for all, anchored in belonging, abundant choice, thriving health, and financial freedom.
Resources
The Highland Project Spring 2025 Poll of Black Women Voters
GuardianLife.Com:Americans point to physical and mental health as most important to well-being
The Highland Project’s Research
Springboardto.org
Magnolia’s Mother’s Trust
The Village Market
Our Village United
Exhale
Jeremiah Program
SisterSong
