Develop
We create projects that help Black families and communities protect what matters and prepare it for the next generation.
BHA-originated work begins where we see a gap that deserves a new response.
Approach
How we help
legacy endure.
Black continuity is not secured by memory alone. It depends on families, places, property, and institutions being strong enough to carry responsibility from one generation to the next.
BHA develops, incubates, and partners on work that strengthens those connections.
Explore our workOur framework
Family. Place. Property. Institutions.
These are the four conditions BHA looks for in work that is meant to last. They are distinct, but they are rarely independent.
- 01
Family
The people, relationships, traditions, and responsibilities that connect one generation to the next.
- 02
Place
Homes, land, neighborhoods, and culturally significant sites where Black life has been built and sustained.
- 03
Property
What families and communities own, inherit, protect, steward, and pass on.
- 04
Institutions
The organizations, resources, and shared structures that help important work continue beyond one person or one generation.
Continuity is what happens when all four are strong enough to endure.
Why this matters
Preservation is not enough if ownership, stewardship, or control disappear.
A family may remember a home after it is sold.
A neighborhood may retain its history after the places that shaped it are gone.
A community may inherit a tradition without the resources or structure needed to sustain it.
BHA works at the point where heritage becomes practical: who owns what, who is responsible for it, what should be protected, and what must exist for it to remain in place.
Our role
We develop. We incubate. We partner.
Incubate
We help emerging cultural and community projects build the leadership, partnerships, resources, and structure they need to last.
Incubation may include strategy, governance, fundraising, project development, partnerships, or a temporary charitable home.
Partner
We bring the right people together around work that no single family, organization, or discipline can do alone.
Depending on the project, that may mean working with preservationists, attorneys, funders, researchers, cultural institutions, planners, technologists, or community partners.
In practice
Continuity is built through action.
Gather
Bring families and communities together around what matters.
- Reunions and homecomings
- Intergenerational gatherings
- Community convenings
- Family decision-making
Plan
Prepare property, traditions, responsibilities, and shared assets for the next generation.
- Estate and succession education
- Family property planning
- Stewardship plans
- Preservation priorities
Protect
Strengthen ownership, stewardship, and the places that carry meaning.
- Historic property preservation
- Heirs’ property support
- Legal and professional referrals
- Culturally significant places
Build
Create the projects, partnerships, and institutions that help legacy continue.
- New cultural institutions
- Incubated initiatives
- Preservation projects
- Long-term partnerships
The work is interdisciplinary by design
The work is interdisciplinary by design.
BHA is not a law firm, land trust, museum, genealogy company, financial adviser, or preservation consultancy.
We work across those boundaries because the problems families and communities face rarely fit inside one profession.
Our role is to understand what continuity requires, assemble the right relationships, and help create the structure that allows the work to move forward.
Stewardship
Stewardship is not the same as ownership.
BHA does not need to own every story, property, collection, or project it helps protect. We believe durable work depends on clear responsibility, appropriate control, strong partnerships, and respect for the families and communities whose legacy is at stake.
Who we work with
Built with others.
- 01Families and descendants
- 02Community organizations
- 03Cultural institutions
- 04Preservation partners
- 05Legal and financial professionals
- 06Funders and philanthropic partners
- 07Researchers and educators
- 08Technology and design partners
The mix changes from project to project. The goal does not: help what matters survive, remain connected, and move forward responsibly.
A next step
What are you trying to carry forward?
If you are protecting family property, preserving a meaningful place, strengthening a community tradition, or building something meant to outlast its founders, we should know each other.