Business Startup Grants
Empowering entrepreneurs and small business owners with grants, resources, and guidance to turn ideas into sustainable businesses.
Fortune Favors the Bold
Building Wealth. Empowering Futures. Changing Generations.
Fortunes Foundation helps Charlotte residents build wealth, empower their futures, and change generations — through startup grants, financial literacy, agriculture, food programs, community building, and AI and tech education.
Our Mission
To build wealth, empower communities, and create opportunities that transform lives and generations.
Creating tomorrow's leaders — education, innovation, opportunity, impact.
Six programs. One mission.
Every program puts real resources — funding, food, skills, and guidance — directly into the hands of Charlotte residents.
Children & Adult Financial Literacy
Education for all ages to build smart money habits, create generational wealth, and achieve financial freedom.
Agricultural Program
Supporting our community through sustainable agriculture, training, and resources for a stronger, self-sufficient future.
Food & Supplement Program
Providing nutritious food and essential supplements to support health, wellness, and community stability.
Building Stronger Communities
Through partnerships, mentorship, and programs that inspire hope and create lasting impact.
AI & Tech Program
Preparing individuals with digital skills, STEM education, AI training, and tech resources for a future-ready world.
Rooted in Charlotte
Fortunes Foundation was founded in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the belief that opportunity should not depend on zip code. Our programs run out of our own community properties — spaces built for neighbors, by neighbors.
More than a foundation — it's a movement: real skills, brighter minds, stronger communities.
Join us — let's build a better future for today and generations to come.
Together we build wealth, create legacy, and empower communities.
About Fortunes Foundation
A Charlotte nonprofit putting real resources — funding, food, and skills — directly into the hands of the people who need them.
Our Story
Fortunes Foundation began with a simple observation: in the same city, some neighborhoods have grocery stores, business funding, and tech training on every corner — and others have none of it. We exist to close that gap, not with promises but with programs: wealth being built, skills being taught, food growing, and grants landing in founders' hands.
We are a North Carolina nonprofit corporation based in Charlotte. Our federal application for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status is pending, and our programs are built to last — operating out of properties we own in the communities we serve.
What We Do
Startup Grants
Direct grants that turn business ideas into sustainable companies.
Financial Literacy
Money skills for children and adults — budgeting, saving, investing, building wealth.
Agriculture
Sustainable agriculture training and resources for a self-sufficient future.
Food & Supplement
Nutritious food and essential supplements for health and community stability.
Stronger Communities
Partnerships, mentorship, and programs that inspire hope and lasting impact.
AI & Tech
Digital skills, STEM education, and AI training for a future-ready world.
Simon Sneed Jr., Founder
Simon Sneed Jr. founded Fortunes Foundation to put real resources — funding, food, and skills — directly into the hands of underserved Charlotte residents.
His approach is hands-on: the foundation operates out of its own properties, runs programs shaped by the neighborhoods they serve, and measures success by the wealth built, the businesses launched, and the generations changed.
Our Values
Direct
We put resources in people's hands — grants, not just advice.
Rooted
We operate in the neighborhoods we serve, out of spaces we own.
Generational
We build for today and for the generations that follow.
See what we're building.
Six programs, one mission — explore how each one works and who it serves.
Our Programs
Six programs, one mission: to build wealth, empower communities, and create opportunities that transform lives and generations.
Program 01
Business Startup Grants
Ideas are everywhere; funding is not. Our startup grant program empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with grants, resources, and guidance to turn ideas into sustainable businesses. These are grants — not loans. If you have a business idea and the drive to build it, we want to help fund the start.
- Direct grants to individual founders and small business owners
- Resources and guidance alongside funding
- No debt, no interest — grants, not loans
Program 02
Children & Adult Financial Literacy
Wealth starts with knowledge. Our financial literacy program teaches children and adults how to build smart money habits — budgeting, saving, investing — so families can create generational wealth and achieve financial freedom. Education for all ages, because it is never too early or too late to take control of your financial future.
- Budgeting, saving, and investing fundamentals
- Programs for children and adults
- Generational wealth-building strategies
Program 03
Agricultural Program
A community that grows its own food controls its own future. Our agricultural program supports the community through sustainable agriculture — training, resources, and hands-on growing — for a stronger, self-sufficient future across Mecklenburg County.
- Sustainable agriculture training
- Community growing resources
- Partnerships with local farms
Program 04
Food & Supplement Program
Health starts with what is on the table. Our food and supplement program provides nutritious food and essential supplements to support health, wellness, and community stability — because no one in Charlotte should go without the basics.
- Nutritious food distribution
- Essential health supplements
- Wellness and community stability
Program 05
Building Stronger Communities
Strong communities are built, not wished for. Through partnerships, mentorship, and programs that inspire hope, we bring neighbors together and create lasting impact — block by block, family by family.
- Community partnerships
- Mentorship programs
- Neighborhood impact initiatives
Program 06
AI & Tech Program
The future belongs to those who can build with technology. Our AI and tech program prepares individuals with digital skills, STEM education, AI training, and tech resources for a future-ready world. No prior experience needed — only the willingness to learn.
- Digital skills and STEM education
- AI training for work and business
- Tech resources and career-oriented workshops
Want to join a program?
Programs are rolling out now. Join the interest list and we will reach out as each program opens enrollment.
Get Involved
Fortunes Foundation runs on community. Here is how to be part of it.
Volunteer
From program days to community events, volunteers are the backbone of everything we do. If you have time, skills, or simply the willingness to show up, there is a place for you.
I Want to VolunteerPartner With Us
We work with farms, businesses, educators, and community organizations across the Charlotte region. If your organization shares our mission — building wealth, empowering communities, changing generations — let us talk about what we can build together.
Become a PartnerSpread the Word
Follow our work, share our programs with someone who needs them, and help us reach every neighborhood in Charlotte. One conversation can put a grant, a class, or a garden within someone's reach.
Together we build wealth. Create legacy. Empower communities.
Let's build a better future for today and generations to come.
Contact Us
Questions about programs, partnerships, or volunteering — we want to hear from you.