REVIVE THE COMMONS.

REBUILD THE REAL ECONOMY.

Re-rooting wealth in community resilience, dignified work and local production through long-term investments in commerce, culture and cohesion.

CRISIS → OPPORTUNITY

For most of human history, thriving economies were built on real assets, ethical trade, and shared rules — not abstraction, debt, or speculation.

A gold-colored balance scale with stacks of coins in each tray.

Majalis draws from this lineage to rebuild economic systems that work in the present, to prepare communities facing uncertain futures.

NOT JUST MEMORY, METHOD.

Across history and across the world, societies have built durable prosperity through shared economic infrastructure, ethical trade, and long-term stewardship.

PAST

The most prosperous and economically equitable civilizations and periods in history shared key principles:

  1. Commonly owned economic infrastructure: access to shared means of production, enabling small and medium sized businesses to easily up and down-scale operations

  2. Limitations or bans on exploitative financial instruments, usury and compounding interest based upon moral and ethical grounds

  3. Real assets based currencies, guild-organized labor, and more.

Recent rising-stars proving the efficacy of these models today:

  1. SMS-based blockchain micro-currency in a Kenyan Village increases local trade by 3x in 1 year

  2. YIWU Public Market & Common Production Complex stimulates 291x increase in GDP per Capita in 30 years, with 90% SME Economy, and 99% eradication of poverty

  3. Kelantan, Malaysia mints tens of millions in Gold and Silver Currency in 2006, proving the power of grass-roots economic change.

Three right-pointing white arrows with yellow borders on a black background.

PRESENT

POSSIBILITY

Rapidly changing global economic climate create openings for innovation:

  1. BRI and South–South routes connect billions of consumers and producers by land and sea, breaking centuries of gate-keeping

  2. Blockchain + mobile payments enable settlement that bypass legacy systems, choke points, and financial extraction

  3. With geopolitical fracture, AI labor abstraction, real production and hard assets regain strategic value - an advantage for marginalized communities.

The question is no longer whether these systems can work — but who will help build them?

The Three Pillars

COMMERCE

HOW VALUE CIRCULATES

COMMERCE & LOCAL PRODUCTION are the core of Majalis Fund’s investments in economic resilience. Productive Commons are shared assets that enable dignified economic participation at scale, while producing goods and services that meet real human needs. When monopolized, commerce & production concentrate wealth through extraction and abstraction. When designed well, they create economic resilience for communities while delivering reliable returns to investors.

We begin by building productive infrastructure and trade networks in strategically selected markets such as: regenerative agriculture, import/ export logistics consolidation, artisanal production and local-scale factories.

In this initial stage, we establish trade guilds to organize workers, rapidly up-skilling locals through paid working-apprenticeships. Our early advantages (superior technology, infrastructure and trade networks) provide stable returns to investors.

Then, we intentionally invest in the rapid growth of local competition, while progressively shifting management of infrastructure completely to the guilds. By the cycle’s completion, locals dominate the industry(s) we’ve introduced into the ecosystem, while initial investments continue to yield consistent returns to enable future investments. Then, the cycle is repeated as the next level of production is unlocked.

Thus, We elevate those who’ve traditionally had their land and labor exploited to bring the fruits of their human effort all the way to market. This increases income for producers, and reduces cost for consumers by by-passing parasiting intermediaries. Drawing from time-tested economic methods, we prioritize partnership over extraction, circulation over hoarding, and transparency over speculation.

This is infrastructure that employs generations, and trade that unites nations.

Workers in a textile factory inspecting and processing stacks of white towels or cloths on their workstations.
A man in blue welding overalls and a welding helmet welding a rusty metal pipe on a workbench outdoors, with trucks in the background.
Three people working on bamboo basket weaving outdoors in front of a rustic house with a tiled roof. Items for basket making are scattered around them.

CULTURE

AS ECONOMIC INFASTRUCTURE

ART, CULTURE & MEDIA shape how people understand value, dignity, and purpose. It determines whether work is honored, whether craft is transmitted, and whether or not we believe that shared economic prosperity is possible.

Leveraging a generous philanthropic contribution to Arts & Culture, Majalis will invest in capacity-building and infrastructure that supports artists, story-tellers, influencers, and cultural-institutions. These creative ecosystems paint the picture of what’s possible, and serve 3 strategic purposes:

  1. Building trust and understanding with partner communities before deeper partnership.

  2. Developing integral chains of transmission for education, ethics and transformative economic models.

  3. To build awareness and solidarity and to showcase pilots and possibilities that exist across the portfolio.

Big change requires deep trust, and empowering partnerships require investing in shared understanding & knowledge.

Scene inside an industrial-style warehouse with brick walls and large windows, set up for a film or photo shoot. Several people are working with filming equipment, lights, and monitors. Some crew members are standing while others are seated or adjusting gear. There are ladders, softbox lights, and various technical equipment scattered around.
A man sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of a camera, recording a video for a webcam. He is gesturing with his hands and speaking. Behind him, a gray couch and a green bicycle are visible, with shelves and plants in the background.
Two men seated at a wooden table, engaged in a conversation, with a tapestry featuring peacocks hanging on the wall behind them and a woman standing beside the table holding a film-set sticks.
A group of people dressed in yellow traditional clothing, playing drums and participating in a cultural parade, with some wearing head coverings, under a clear blue sky with power lines overhead.

COHESION

FOR FUNCTIONAL GOVERNANCE

COHESION & GOVERNANCE enable the context of collaboration in which prosperity can flourish. Majalis invests in the leaders, organizations, and movements which promote integrity, pro-social behavior and crisis-resilience in our partner communities.

It would be naive not to acknowledge how maladaptive survival strategies which arise in the face of generations of conflict and poverty threaten success and stability. Instead, we enable communities to heal, and skillfully address them head-on.

The leadership models and governance methodologies Majalis promotes enable widened participation, collective decision-making, and effective conflict mediation. They bridge generational gaps, and create a context where historical divides can be addressed and overcome. Thus, we lay the foundation for future generations to rise into a functional society. 

People sitting in chairs in a room with large windows showing trees outside, participating in a meeting or ceremony. Some have closed eyes, others are looking forward or down, with flowers on the floor in front.
A group of people hiking up a grassy hill under a clear blue sky. They are wearing outdoor clothing and hats, walking along a trail surrounded by trees and open land.
A group of five diverse women sitting around a table in a wooden cabin, engaged in a discussion with a woman explaining something using hand gestures, with trees visible through a large window behind them.

Majalis Fund is a long-horizon steward of capital investing in real-economy institutions that demonstrate scalable alternatives to extractive, debt-driven finance.

We invest in productive commons— cooperative enterprises, artisanal factories, cultural institutions, and shared infrastructure—that enable people to produce, govern, and trade with dignity, rather than remain dependent on extractive financial systems or speculative capital. These principles are expressed through:

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MOVEMENT of CAPITAL

TANGIBLE
 PORTFOLIO

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We prioritize investments connected to real production — goods and services that meet human needs — while maintaining appropriate liquidity and risk mitigation. This includes a balanced approach across operating enterprises, shared infrastructure, and stabilizing assets.

The goal is not maximum income, but sustaining impact across generations.

GOVERNANCE &
DILIGENCE

Three ancient Egyptian-style stone columns with carved capitals, viewed from front.

Majalis will be governed through transparent oversight and fiduciary care. All capital allocations will be reviewed through structured diligence, expert advisement, and board accountability. Founded by the operators of a 10-year fiscal agent, long term-sustainability, honoring donor-intent and maintaining impeccable compliance are foundational.

Good governance is the first investment.

INVESTMENT
INSTRUMENTS

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Majalis deploys capital through a range of mission-aligned instruments — including grants, interest-free loans, program-related investments (PRIs), mission-related investments (MRIs), and operating partnerships — selected based on context, risk, and impact. Our diversified capital stack will range from impact-investment to philanthropy.

The form follows the function.

Anchored by lead philanthropic gifts from:

Logo for the William + Flora Hewlett Foundation with black background, white text, and green geometric design.
Fetzer Institute logo with blue shield and white cross

BE A PART OF HISTORY IN THE MAKING.

A Seat at the Table:

We are inviting a small group of vision aligned partners to join us.

The Founding Capital Partner Circle includes individuals and institutions who understand that durable economic change requires more than capital alone.

Capital Partners are committed to planting seeds and building systems that will outlast us - a rope of hope for the generations to come, who will see a world we can barely imagine.

These Founding Partners support Majalis’ early work across commerce, culture, and cohesion, while participating in the formation of its long-term vision, governance, and priorities. They also receive priority access to future investments.