she/her/hers

Dr. Ebony Edwards is CEO (Chief Economy Officer) of NeighborBuilt, the economy creation platform she and her husband Daniel founded to help cities transform distressed census tracts into high-performing relevant economies. The pair also own the nation’s only Black-owned lumberyard, Eastside Lumber, the key to economy creation. They are currently piloting the platform in the historically-Black South Vine District in Kansas City, MO, planning $2B in economic impact over the course of a generation.

Prior to founding NeighborBuilt, Ebony spent 10 years conducting research and evaluating large-scale, publicly funded, and small, community-based programs and policies in multiple sectors that impact children and families in under-resourced neighborhoods. She was awarded her Ph.D. in Community Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago.