Napoleon Wallace is the Co-Founder of Partners in Equity NC, an investment fund focused on supporting owner-occupied commercial real estate for Black- and women-owned businesses. He is also the Co-Founder of Activest, a fiscal justice research and investment advisory firm.
With more than 20 years of experience in finance, entrepreneurship and community economic development, Napoleon has led and supported numerous successful impact efforts within private, public, and nonprofit sectors.
 

Most recently, Napoleon served as the Chief Investment Officer of the Southern Reconstruction Fund and Deputy Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Over the course of his career, he has served as a Social Investment Officer at the Kresge Foundation, on the executive staff at Self-Help, as the turnaround CEO for two troubled CDFIs, and as an investment banker with Wells Fargo Capital Markets. Napoleon is a native of rural eastern North Carolina, the proud son of a teacher and a small-business owner.

Wilson Lester is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Partners in Equity (PIE). PIE is a private equity investment company focusing on business purpose real estate. Noting that transferable assets are the most sustainable pathway to generational wealth, PIE’s strategy focuses on underinvested communities with a higher index of tenancy versus ownership, offering an opportunity for more businesses to own where they operate. Wilson’s leadership extends beyond traditional investment strategies. He is the visionary behind Piedmont Business Capital, a pioneering North Carolina-based Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), which has strategically deployed millions in impact capital to uplift Black-owned businesses across the state.

 

As the Co-Founder of the ACCESS Center for Equity and Success, he plays a crucial regional role in empowering minority business enterprises to access public and private contract opportunities, thereby advancing economic inclusion. His commitment to transformative philanthropy is evident through his roles as Treasurer and Investment Committee member at the Cone Health Foundation and his board positions at the Triad Advisory Council for Truist Bank and Greensboro College. His involvement with various boards dedicated to health and economic development, including past contributions to the African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs Advocacy Committee, underscores his dedication to shaping policies that benefit Black businesses and foster resilient communities, highlighting his unwavering commitment to economic inclusion.

 

Believing that generational wealth starts with educating family, Wilson created Nocho Park Redevelopment, an infill residential development company, to introduce his family to a living-learning lab that provides affordable housing in the community while building long-term assets.

 

Wilson earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Greensboro College and his Master of Science in Management, Strategy, and Leadership from the Eli Broad School of Business at Michigan State University.

An urban innovator, Talib draws on his vast expertise in technology, finance and real estate to build vehicles that launch, fund and help support Black entrepreneurial enterprises across the USA. From his time in Silicon Valley to the Aspen Institute and in the Research Triangle, Talib combines his experience in the corporate world with his accomplishments as a serial entrepreneur.

 

He served as a Google Entrepreneur-in-Residence (2015–2017), founded a CDFI-backed HBCU Entrepreneurship Center, designed an education and career readiness non-profit called Knox St. Studios, and built from the ground up Black Wall Street Homecoming, an organization that connects black-owned businesses with the venture capital, start-up capital, and equity capital need to connect and thrive.

 

In his work with Partners in Equity, Talib concentrates his energy on securing owner-occupied real estate and supporting ownership within the historically overlooked Black entrepreneurial ecosystem across the USA.,whether it be in the tech space or with Main St. brick-and-mortar businesses.

Talib Graves-Manns serves as Managing Partner– Partners in Equity, Founder & Executive Director– Knox St. Studios, Co-Founder, Autopilot Worldwide, and serves as a ResilNC Fellow as well as Planning Commissioner for the City of Durham.