About Us
FutureRoot catalyzes people building cultural, economic, and political power at the intersections of race, place, and history to reimagine cities and create more just futures.
Yodit Mesfin Johnson
Co-founder of FutureRoot, Yodit is also president and CEO of Nonprofit Enterprise at Work, founder of Black Men Read, a founding co-chair of Washtenaw Care-based Safety, and a community partner of the Black Washtenaw Collaboratory, documenting local racism and resistance. She thrives in building community around the questions that matter most; how can we unlock the potential and possibility needed to radically transform our communities, see the ecosystem and the whole, and design and act in ways that bend the long arc of history towards balance and harmony? Yodit uses various mediums, including poetry, podcasting, writing and storytelling as tools in her organizing, activism and in the rewriting of her own personal narrative. She lives, works and plays on the occupied land of the Anishinaabeg, commonly called Washtenaw County.
"The revolution we long for is rooted in our relationships." ~ Yodit Mesfin Johnson
Jessica A. S. Letaw
Co-founder of FutureRoot. At FutureRoot, she is a community partner of Justice InDeed, documenting and educating the community around racially restrictive covenants on local housing deeds; as well as of the Black Washtenaw Collaboratory. More broadly, Jessica is a housing and racial justice community organizer. She believes in housing for all and inclusive public processes that are welcoming to everyone. She co-hosts the politics + policy podcast Ann Arbor AF and advocates for housing affordability and abundance through Ann Arbor Housing For All.
"Everybody who thinks they're nobody is actually somebody who can change the world." ~ Jessica A.S. Letaw