About This Insights Report
The Ownership DNA Assessment™ identifies individual inclinations toward five distinct pathways for building ownership and generational wealth.
Rather than prescribing a single approach, the assessment reveals natural strengths and preferences, helping professionals understand which ownership strategies align with their skills, risk tolerance, and goals.
The assessment is diagnostic—it reflects current awareness, familiarity, and natural inclinations based on past experiences, not inherent capability or future potential.
This aggregate analysis of 51 NBMBAA conference attendees reveals collective patterns that can inform strategic programming and partnership decisions to better serve members' wealth-building objectives.
The Five Ownership Pathways
These pathways represent different approaches to building ownership and generational wealth, each requiring distinct skills, resources, and strategic focus areas.
ADVISE
Turn your expertise into equity, income and influence.
CREATE
Productize your knowledge into digital assets you own.
BUILD
Grow a real estate portfolio that pays you forever.
ACQUIRE
Buy a business or franchise that's already working.
LAUNCH
Start and scale a new business endeavor—on your terms.
Executive Summary
Key Takeaway
Analysis reveals significant concentration in advisory and knowledge-creation pathways with limited representation in asset-building approaches.
General Population (n=51)
82.4% of assessment results indicated inclination toward income-focused pathways (ADVISE + CREATE) while only 5.9% showed inclination toward asset-building pathways (BUILD + ACQUIRE).
Director+ Level (n=17)
100% of results aligned with ADVISE (82.4%) and CREATE (17.6%) pathways.
No Director+ attendees' results indicated current inclination toward real estate, business acquisition, or venture launch pathways
The Bottom Line: NBMBAA attendees have the expertise to advise billion-dollar companies, but assessment results for 100% of senior attendees aligned with advisory and knowledge-creation pathways—real estate and business ownership pathways that actually create generational wealth showed zero representation. This isn't a capability gap; it's an exposure gap.
Assessment Results Analysis
Bottom Line: Assessment results show strong inclination toward advisory and consulting work (58.8% ADVISE pathway), but limited current inclination toward hands-on business building, real estate ownership, and company acquisition opportunities. This suggests clear programming priorities around entrepreneurship support and asset-building education.
58.8%
ADVISE
Board roles, fractional leadership, and speaking engagements
23.5%
CREATE
Knowledge products, courses, communities
11.8%
LAUNCH
New venture creation, new fund formation
3.9%
ACQUIRE
Business acquisitions and franchises
2.0%
BUILD
Residential and commercial real estate investing
NBMBAA Pathway Distribution & Development Needs
Here's how NBMBAA conference attendees distributed across the five pathways and what they need to advance their wealth-building goals:
ADVISE
58.8%
Those inclined to leverage expertise through fractional leadership, board and equity advisory roles.
Development Needs
- Board readiness training
- Advisory board building workshops
- Equity compensation negotiation
- Corporate governance education
- Access to decision-makers
CREATE
23.5%
Those inclined to build knowledge products, courses, frameworks, and intellectual property.
Development Needs
- Digital product creation training
- Course platform guidance
- Intellectual property protection
- Marketing and audience building
- Pricing and packaging strategies
LAUNCH
11.8%
Those inclined to start and scale new business ventures from the ground up.
Development Needs
- Startup fundamentals bootcamp
- Access to early-stage capital
- Pitch deck development support
- Go-to-market strategy guidance
- Accelerator program connections
ACQUIRE
3.9%
Those inclined to pursue business acquisitions, franchises, and existing company purchases.
Development Needs
- M&A fundamentals training
- Deal sourcing strategies
- Due diligence frameworks
- SBA loan navigation
- Franchise evaluation guidance
BUILD
2.0%
Those inclined toward real estate and tangible asset development for long-term wealth.
Development Needs
- Real estate investing 101
- Property financing strategies
- Asset management education
- Syndication opportunities
- Commercial real estate access
The Ownership Access Gap
Key Insight: Only 5.9% of assessment results showed inclination toward BUILD or ACQUIRE pathways—two important routes particularly well positioned for high earners and operators to build generational wealth through asset ownership. This represents a significant development opportunity that NBMBAA can address through targeted programming and exposure.
Why This Matters
Research consistently shows that wealth inequality is driven by asset ownership gaps. Black Americans hold significantly less wealth in:
- Real estate and property (BUILD pathway)
- Business ownership through acquisition (ACQUIRE pathway)
- Scaled operating businesses (LAUNCH pathway - also underrepresented at 11.8%)
While ADVISE (58.8%) and CREATE (23.5%) pathways can generate strong income, they typically don't build the same level of transferable, appreciating assets that create generational wealth.
The Capital Misconception
A common assumption is that BUILD and ACQUIRE pathways require substantial upfront capital. However, the barrier isn't capital availability—it's knowledge access. High-earning professionals can access real estate syndications with $25K-$50K, acquire businesses using SBA loans with 10% down, and leverage creative financing strategies. The data suggests the gap isn't financial capacity, but strategic exposure to these pathways.
Senior Respondent Analysis (Director+ Level)
Among the 17 senior-level respondents (Directors, VPs, C-Suite), we see similar inclination patterns with even more pronounced gaps:
82.4%
ADVISE
Significantly higher than 58.8% general
17.6%
CREATE
Lower than 23.5% general
0%
LAUNCH
vs 11.8% general
0%
ACQUIRE
vs 3.9% general
Implication: Assessment results for the most experienced respondents showed NO inclination toward BUILD or ACQUIRE pathways as their primary focus. This suggests either limited exposure/education in these areas, or systemic barriers preventing senior professionals from accessing real estate development and business acquisition opportunities.
How Gravy Wealth Can Support NBMBAA 2.0
Based on this data, we see a clear opportunity to help NBMBAA attendees expand beyond their current pathway inclinations and gain exposure to all five ownership routes. Gravy Wealth offers two complementary solutions designed specifically to address these gaps:
Ownership Sprint™
Experience All Five Pathways in One Intensive Week
A premium 5-day accelerator for high-earners ready to stop renting their time and start building generational wealth. The Ownership Sprint provides systematic exposure to all five pathways alongside expert guests, helping participants identify and pursue their optimal wealth-building approach with clarity, strategy, and execution frameworks.
- Day 1: Foundations—Income Mountain, S.E.R.U.M., Ownership Flywheel
- Day 2: Escape Velocity—The Big Four, High Earner Credit Chess
- Day 3: Building Moats—Brand Baseline, Prime Assets
- Day 4: Multiplication—Network & Talent Leverage Playbook
- Day 5: Your Path—The 5 Strategic Pathways, Risk Personas
- Rated 4.8/5 stars by participants
Gravy Wealth Annual Membership
Year-Round Community & Pathway-Specific Resources
An annual membership connecting participants to a curated community of high-caliber peers on similar ownership journeys. Members receive pathway-specific resources, access to vetted experts and partners, and ongoing support to accelerate their progress across all five pathways.
- Nucleus: Curated group of 4-6 high-caliber peers with monthly roundtables and hot-seat sessions
- Lumina: Expert-led live sessions, workshops, and 100+ hours of on-demand content
- Forum: Private hub for discussions, deal circles, and strategic partner access
- Syndicate: Exclusive investment opportunities and advisory role access
- Partner Network: Curated list of lenders, brokers, advisors, investors.
- Resource Library: Templates and Pathway Playbooks
Insights to Action (Q4 2025)
Gravy Wealth partners with NBMBAA to add value to its network as part of the organization's 2.0 vision, expanding member access to ownership pathways that build generational wealth.
1. Release Insights Article (Oct)
Publish insights from this insights report in the context of NBMBAA 2.0's vision to collaborate with partners and bring support to its members interested in pursuing entrepreneurial and investment pathways.
This will advance NBMBAA's vision as well as it's partner model, position it as a leader in understanding and addressing wealth-building gaps in the Black professional community.
2. NBMBAA x Gravy Wealth Partnership (Oct)
Launch an ongoing partnership that provides exclusive member benefits including:
- Access to a premium Ownership DNA Assessment ($197 value)
- Preferred pricing on the Ownership Sprint
- Preferred pricing on Gravy Wealth Annual Membership
3. Special NBMBAA Live Session (Oct)
Gravy Wealth to deliver a 1-hour exclusive session breaking down how high earners can shift from income to ownership.
The session will break down 3 frameworks:
- Income Mountain (how income should evolve)
- Ownership Flywheel (compounding assets)
- 5 Strategic Pathways (routes to ownership)
4. Ownership Sprint Campaign (Oct/Nov)
Execute a collaborative promotional effort to drive enrollment in the upcoming Ownership Sprint, specifically targeting NBMBAA members interested in expanding beyond their current pathway inclinations.
Ownership Sprint™
November 17–21, 2025
Monday–Friday | 12–2pm ET
Moving Forward
The Opportunity: NBMBAA can be the first major professional association to systematically address the wealth gap—not just the income gap. By exposing members to all five ownership pathways, NBMBAA directly impacts generational wealth creation in the Black professional community. The question isn't whether members have the capability—they're already managing multi-million dollar budgets. The question is whether they have the exposure and strategic frameworks to build ownership alongside their careers.
Next Steps for Leadership
→
Immediate (30 days)
Launch partnership discussions, plan special live session, and begin white paper publication process. Start promoting November Ownership Sprint to NBMBAA network.
→
Short-term (90 days)
Execute November Sprint with NBMBAA cohort, launch Annual Membership priority access, and establish revenue tracking systems. Begin quarterly data collection pipeline.
→
Long-term (12 months)
Scale partnership nationally through NBMBAA chapters. Use quarterly insights to optimize programming and demonstrate measurable impact on member wealth-building progress.
Ownership DNA Assessment™ by Gravy Wealth
Prepared for National Black MBA Association • October 2025 • N=51 Assessment Responses