Our Story

In 1803, a man named York, an enslaved Black navigator, linguist, and explorer, journeyed west with Lewis and Clark. Though he could not live in the world he imagined, his imagination became the first act of freedom. He embodied what it means to see a future you may never enter, and to chart a map so others can arrive whole. It is from that imagination, that lineage of visionary leadership, that 1803 Fund was born.

The vision York carried west did not end with him. It was only the beginning.

Thousands of Black families migrate to Oregon seeking opportunity and helping power the nation’s wartime production, carrying the pursuit of a better future.

The Vanport Flood displaces more than 18,000 residents. Many Black families relocate to Albina, helping establish the cultural, civic, and economic center of Black Portland.

Highway construction, institutional expansion, and urban renewal projects displace generations of Black residents and businesses, stealing community wealth and destabilizing Albina.

What was once dismantled is now being transformed into opportunity, ownership and investment.