in a major announcement today, Dallas-Based T.D. Jakes Group and San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Company unveiled a strategic partnership aimed at driving “economic vitality and inclusivity in communities across America.” The announcement includes a big number: Up to $1 billion. That’s the amount in capital and financing Wells Fargo is committing to the partnership over 10 years, as well as grants from the Wells Fargo Foundation.

That big financial commitment would “pursue the goal of revitalizing neighborhoods, fostering economic opportunity, and creating long-term change in communities most in need.” The two organizations say their partnership “marks the first of its kind in driving long-term transformational impact over the next decade.”

The T.D. Jakes Group includes T.D. Jakes Real Estate Ventures, TDJ Enterprises, and the T.D. Jakes Foundation—all based in Dallas.

Aiming for ‘a lasting impact for generations to come’

Charlie Scharf, CEO of Wells Fargo [Photo: Wells Fargo]

Charlie Scharf, CEO of Wells Fargo, said the strategic partnership “goes beyond a one-off capital investment and underscores our continued commitment to diverse and inclusive communities.”

“We’re excited to collaborate with the T.D. Jakes Group as they play a key role in the transformation of communities that will have a lasting impact for generations to come,” Scharf added in a statement, “We look forward to seeing the meaningful difference we’ll make together in communities across the country.”

T.D. Jakes calls ‘disruptive partnership’ a ‘paradigm shift’

T.D. Jakes, chairman and CEO of the T.D. Jakes Group, says the new alliance with his organization “allows us to further our four decades-long work to provide economic justice, eradicate food deserts, construct desirable workplaces and affordable housing, closing the digital divide and ultimately help families leave a rich and lasting legacy for the next generation.”

“We recognize the need for CEOs like Charlie Scharf bending the arc and aim of Wells Fargo toward correcting systemic inequalities,” Jakes said in the statement. “We’re committed to ensuring additional opportunities actually reach as many areas of need that we can influence. Disruptive partnerships like this create a paradigm shift in how we can collectively bring long overdue transformation, particularly to Black and Brown communities and other marginalized groups around our nation.”

Turning a former Atlanta army base into an innovative mixed-use community

Map shows part of the new development planned by T.D. Jakes real Estate Ventures at Fort McPherson in Atlanta [Image: TDJREV]

One of the first prominent projects the organizations intend to pursue together is the redevelopment of a former U.S. Army base in Atlanta.

In 2022, T.D. Jakes Real Estate Ventures began purchasing nearly 100 acres of Fort McPherson, an historic site located close to downtown Atlanta, with plans to create an “innovative” mixed-use community. In 2021, T.D. Jakes and actor-director-entrepreneur Tyler Perry agreed to pay a combined $37.5 million for the land, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, which noted that most of the 500-acre Fort McPherson property is controlled by Perry.

TDJREV’s plans for what is locally called “Fort Mac” include “mixed-income housing with an array of living choices such as single-family homes, townhomes and apartments positioned in well-designed neighborhoods with ample amenities aimed at enhancing the quality of life through healthy food choices, healthcare options and other wraparound services.”

Wells Fargo said it intends to support the revitalization of the Fort McPherson property as a financial partner—”with the vision of aiding TDJREV in developing the area into an inclusive neighborhood equipped with ample green space, a bike path, recreation centers, [and] impacting the historic business and cultural districts at Fort McPherson.”

Increasing homeownership and fostering business creation in Dallas, Atlanta, and Chicago

The organizations’ foundations intend to work together in lockstep, too.

The T.D. Jakes Foundation and Wells Fargo Foundation expect to “provide financial empowerment education and revitalize neighborhoods in underserved low-and moderate-income communities by increasing homeownership and fostering business creation in several cities including Dallas, Atlanta, and Chicago.”

In other words, today’s big news that came out of San Francisco and Dallas could one day have a big impact in Dallas’ own back yard.

Sharing the news at T.D. Jakes’ International Leadership Summit next week

Today’s announcement comes with propitious timing, just one week before Jakes’ noted International Leadership Summit, which is being held May 4, in Orlando, Florida.

Wells Fargo’s Charlie Scharf will join T.D. Jakes on stage on the event “for a conversation about this unique partnership and other topics.” 

T.D. Jakes Enterprises recently launched a national Good Soil Movement

Earlier this month, Dallas Innovates wrote about another new T.D. Jakes Enterprises initiative: the launch of the Good Soil Movement, whose goal is “to impact, grow and scale minority owned businesses through a supportive ecosystem that will drive financial inclusion and achieve generational wealth-building for our communities.”

The initiative will hold its first daylong entrepreneurship event in Orlando on May 3, the day before the International Leadership Summit. You can read more about it in our story here.

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