About
Building better systems for how cities create and retain value
The Firm
Building Equity is an urban intelligence and capital strategy firm reimagining how wealth and opportunity circulate through cities.
We work with cities, civic institutions, development agencies, and values-aligned investors to develop ownership, finance, and governance strategies that help communities retain more of the value created through investment and development. We also help city leadership teams coordinate the institutions, investments, and decisions needed to move priority initiatives forward and assess the benefits they create for residents.
Our work is anchored in the Local Capital Loop, a proprietary framework for assessing whether capital entering a place builds local assets or exits through absentee ownership and non-local institutions.
Leadership
Founder
Raquel Wilson
Founder & CEO
Raquel Wilson is an urban economic strategist and entrepreneur working at the intersection of capital, cities, and local ownership.
She brings two decades of experience across international development, development finance, and strategic communications, working with governments, multilateral institutions, investors, and growth-stage private enterprises. At the African Development Bank Group, she supported partner engagement and strategic communications around the 17th replenishment of the African Development Fund, which secured a historic $11 billion in commitments.