Ross Mac is on a mission to transform the financial landscape for Black communities. A former Wall Street professional who worked at Morgan Stanley in sales and trading before returning to Chicago to work at a hedge fund, Mac witnessed firsthand the exclusion of Black professionals from high-level financial opportunities. As the creator of Maconomics and visionary behind the Maconomics Wealth Summit, he’s working to democratize financial knowledge and create pathways to generational wealth.

Mac’s journey from Chicago’s South Shore to Wall Street and back again has given him unique insights into both the barriers facing Black communities and the tools needed to overcome them.

His work addresses a sobering reality: the median net worth of Black families in Chicago is currently zero, and without intervention, the median net worth of Black families across America will reach zero by 2053. The Maconomics Wealth Summit represents his answer to this crisis—a comprehensive, transformative event designed to provide practical financial education and real-world solutions.

What inspired you to create the Maconomics Wealth Summit, and why did you feel now was the right time?

I’m from the South Side, I’m from South Shore, but I was lucky enough to work on Wall Street at revenue-generating positions. I worked at Morgan Stanley doing sales and trading, then I came home to Chicago where I worked at a hedge fund. What I realized is that when it comes to finance as a whole, it’s almost like a very close-knit fraternity, and not a lot of us are there. I remember being the first Black guy on my desk at Morgan Stanley, and this was in 2012. It’s not like we’re talking about the eighties where it was normal to be the only one.

I was just tired of us not having a seat at the table, because having a seat at the table means other people are able to be effective. The overall knowledge and access to information had been effectively kept from us. By working on Wall Street, compliance issues wouldn’t allow me to get on social media and TV and talk freely about stocks because of compliance.

When I moved back to Chicago, I realized the median net worth of a Black person in 2024 is zero. Literally, the median net worth of a Black family in Chicago is zero. Then I look at national statistics—by the year 2053, the median net worth of a Black family across all of America will be zero. I’m tired of just hearing about it. Let me be part of the solution.

What makes this summit stand out from other financial literacy or wealth-building events?

It’s one thing to have people talk at you versus hearing people talk with you. When you come, it’s going to be very transformative where a person, when they leave, they’re going to have the true blueprint to change their life, change their relationship with money.

They’re going to know how to go from A to Z—how to finally budget better, how to get out of debt, what account to open, what to invest in that account, what skill sets they need, what financing they need if they want to be an entrepreneur, how much life insurance they need, and what company to get it from.

We’re talking about estate planning. It’s one thing when you hear about Michael Jackson and most recently Chadwick Boseman, who played Black Panther—people fighting over their estate because they don’t have an estate plan. We got Union Life, which is the oldest Black-owned life insurance company in America. We got Morgan Stanley helping us talk about investing 101. We got US Bank with C-suite executives. We got a multitude of famous people coming too. It’s all about transforming people.

Who is this summit designed for, and what kind of transformation do you hope attendees walk away with?

We were really intentional about getting the right people in the building. We worked with nonprofits where sponsors donated tickets. Research shows by age seven, you’ve already formed how you will be with money. It’s not too late to break a bad habit, but we want those young adults who are getting ready for high school, getting ready for college, getting jobs, getting access to credit cards. We want them to know exactly what to do.

We also want those young adults who have a job but don’t know what to do with their 401K, don’t know what to invest in. We got entrepreneurs or people who want to be entrepreneurs who don’t have true guidance. We got older people too. We’re asking questions from a financial wealth management standpoint—if I’m 25, how should I be approaching it? If I’m 55, how should I be approaching it? We got the entire gamut, but the right people are those who, once they hear the information, will be able to put it into practice.

Can you share some highlights or key sessions that people should look forward to during the summit?

I got my guy Antoine Walker talking—he’s one of the biggest advocates for saying young athletes need financial literacy. If you can’t manage $10,000, you can’t manage $10 million. That panel will be led by three athletes: one NBA, two former NFL players.

The younger kids are going to gravitate to a panel that has two actors from The Chi and my guy Amir, who’s the CEO of Breaker. It’s all about monetizing your fan base. These kids want to be streamers, so that’s something they’re going to resonate with.

I got my home girl Budgetnista, who, just like me, was on the Netflix documentary “Get Smart with Money.” We both have helped shape and transform millions of lives. We got Black McDonald’s operators talking about what it takes to be a franchise owner. We got my brother Chris Sain for people trying to learn how to trade in the stock market. We’re talking life insurance, estate planning, real estate. All of it is something that everybody needs to hear.

What’s one message or piece of advice you hope resonates with everyone who attends the Maconomics Wealth Summit?

You got to learn to pay yourself first. People when they get older always say, “Man, I wish I would have known this. I wish I would have done this when I was younger,” and they think that’s the end-all be-all, so now they’re embarrassed and no longer want to start investing. I tell them all the time that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, but the second best time is today.

You got to start, and it boils down to paying our future selves. We’re conditioned to pay our bills—our Capital One credit card, our mortgage, our car note, our phone bill, Netflix. All that’s automatically paid every month. But we need to also be conditioned to pay ourselves first. What I mean by that is investing so that your future self could actually reap the benefits of the work you put in today and the discipline that you took today.

What long-term impact or legacy are you hoping to create with this summit?

Helping our people have a much better relationship with money and understand that they have the ability to be rich, no matter where they are in their life. There’s a true blueprint to becoming wealthy. It’s just a function of staying disciplined and consistent—better managing our inflows and outflows by budgeting, getting out of bad debt, building up an emergency fund and investing every month like our life depends on it, because it does.

The legacy is teaching our people—not only giving them a fish, but more importantly, teaching them how to be fishermen. With that, everybody’s going to learn how to build generational wealth and keep passing that knowledge down, so that by the year 2053, our median net worth is not zero.

How can people get involved and where can they find more information?

Definitely go to maconomics.com and you can buy your tickets. You can also follow me at I’m Ross Mac—that’s the letter I, the letter M, and then ROSS MAC. We’re going to make history.

The Maconomics Wealth Summit runs July 18-20, featuring a welcome event for sponsors and speakers, a full day of programming at Whitney Young from 9 AM to 3 PM, followed by an all-white yacht party. Sunday focuses on philanthropy with the Maconomics Foundation, featuring Chicago athletes like Jabari Parker and Javonte Green, cast from The Chi, and various artists coming together for a great cause.

Ross Mac’s vision extends beyond a single event—he’s building a movement to ensure that financial literacy and wealth-building strategies become as automatic as paying monthly bills. Through the Maconomics Wealth Summit, he’s creating the blueprint for a generation that will break the cycle of financial exclusion and build lasting prosperity.

Jay Maska, Nonstop Financial CEO Nonstop Financial

Insurtech is pivotal in reshaping financial opportunities for all communities who have contended with inadequate access to insurance services vital for wealth transfer. This intersection of insurance and technology has prompted Jay Maska, founder of Nonstop Financial and agency owner of Family First Life, to empower entrepreneurs in the insurtech space with the information needed to build multi-million dollar businesses. With 52% of the total U.S. population owning life insurance, there is a burgeoning opportunity for insurtech to democratize financial inclusion and secure generational wealth.

The Breakdown You Need To Know:

Insuretech is about agents leveraging unique perspectives to serve clients better while ensuring everyone has the opportunity to benefit from the financial security and peace of mind life insurance provides. They are making a tangible difference in people’s lives and helping entrepreneurs tap into the vast opportunities within the Life Insurance & Annuities industry that is projected to reach $994.4 billion in 2025, according to research firm IBIS World.

“We operate in the life insurance, annuities, and financial planning sector, focusing on removing traditional barriers to financial security. Our approach leverages technology-driven sales systems, a seamless client experience, and a focus on financial literacy to empower both policyholders and agents in a rapidly evolving market,” said Maska to CultureBanx.

Building generational wealth through life insurance policies is a simple process and companies like Nonstop Financial continue to modernize the process. The cost stays nowhere near what you pay for homeowners or car insurance, yet the death benefits range from $5,000 to millions of dollars.

Beyond Traditional Assets:

In the pursuit of financial inclusion, insurtech is not just a business opportunity, it’s a societal imperative. Modern policy management systems support multiple business lines on a single platform. The systems enable straight-through processing throughout the policy lifecycle and have cut administrative expenses by 20% to 30% , according to McKinsey.

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Many people misunderstand the role of life insurance in wealth-building. Maska said that “at Nonstop Financial, we work to break down these barriers by providing education, transparency, and modern tools that help individuals see life insurance as an essential component of generational wealth.”

Currently, Black families have the highest rate of life insurance ownership among all racial groups at 56% , compared to 52% for the total U.S. adult population. It’s important for people who want to use insurtech to grow their wealth, that they continue to work with entrepreneurs who are from their communities and can relate to their core values.

Starting young can also be quite helpful, which is why Maska stated his company employs hundreds of agents under the age of 25. Young adults are increasingly applying for term life insurance instead. Term life insurance is growing in popularity, with the total premiums paid for term coverage expected to reach $3 billion by the end of 2024, LIMRA, an insurance industry association, found is a new record for the product.

Optimizing Value:

This aligns perfectly with Maska’s entrepreneurial mentorship approach as he attempts to redesign the way the world operates, away from the scarcity mindset to one of abundance. Through his own entrepreneurial success, Maska has been able to play a pivotal role in inspiring other entrepreneurs who work under him, and are writing nearly $5 million in policies every month, he stated. Also, he has guided his team to creating their own levels of success in the industry, which has so far garnered more than 4,000 policies monthly.

LIMRA found that whole life policies make up about 38% of the life insurance market. However, whole life insurance tends to be expensive; the average monthly premium for a $500,000 whole life policy is about $440, according to Policygenius.

Situational Awareness:

Insurtech plays a significant role in wealth transfer for all communities. Tailored financial and entrepreneurial guidance is crucial and Maska’s approach extends beyond just providing life insurance; it’s about reshaping the ecosystem. Ensuring financial security for communities and fostering self-sustaining entrepreneurs are not just business strategies; they are a commitment to bridging gaps and creating a more equitable wealth building society.

Image Image Credit Nykieria Chaney/Contributor via Getty Images Image Alt Ross Mac sharing financial literacy knowledge with attendees at REVOLT WORLD Image Size landscape-medium Image Position center

Ross Mac is clear about one thing: Black financial empowerment doesn’t have to come at the expense of enjoying yourself. In fact, for the Chicago native, that is central to the mission.

“I think that us as a people, we like to be entertained,” Ross told REVOLT in an exclusive interview. “If you have the ability to network across to a person that’s like-minded while simultaneously… enjoying yourself and having joy, now your outlook on everything changes.”

That outlook is the foundation of the Maconomics Wealth Summit, a multi-day event designed to demystify wealth-building while fostering genuine community — complete with yacht parties, celebrity basketball games, fireside chats, and panels featuring moguls, entrepreneurs, and even former NBA stars. But underneath the music and mixers is a deeper mission to close the racial wealth gap by any means necessary, with joy front and center.

“It’s one thing to just go party with your homies,” Ross continued. “It’s another thing to go party with like-minded people who, oh man, that person over there knows how to fix your credit. That person over there knows how to get you $100,000 in business funding, 0% APR for 18 months. That person over there knows how to trade. That person over there is a master when it comes to crypto and this, that and the third.”

This year’s summit — rooted once again in Ross’ hometown of Chicago — doubles down on joy as an educational tool. But, it also makes a larger statement about reversing generational trauma, creating accessible wealth pathways, and reclaiming ownership of the culture Black folks have historically built but not always profited from.

Bringing Wall Street to the block

Before Ross Mac became one of REVOLT’s most recognizable voices on financial literacy, he was a Wall Street analyst with a front-row seat to some of the most exploitative investment practices in modern finance. One story, in particular, shaped his decision to leave that world behind.

“I was working at this hedge fund… one of the investments… was a specialty finance company,” Ross recalled. “We were looking to invest a large sum of money in a particular company that owned a portfolio of cash advance places. So, payday loans, cash advance loans, those types of places.”

“And what you realize is that on paper, it was a remarkable investment… They’re getting 20 to 30 to 40% returns annually… Then you actually peel back the layer to say, ‘Okay, wait a minute. Who are their clients? Who are the people that are going to a cash advance loan or payday loan spot?’ Oh, traditionally underbanked Black and brown people… They will pay a 200% loan. They will pay a 300% loan,” he continued.

The experience altered the way Ross viewed his role in the system.

“You realize that we were the prey of certain financial products,” he said. “You realize, ‘I need to find a better way to not be part of the problem but actually be part of the solution.’ So, I wanted to start bringing Wall Street to Main Street.”

That solution became Maconomics, an educational platform and brand that demystifies investing, debt management, real estate, and other financial tools for the Black community. Ross referred to it as part of a larger “digital wealth renaissance,” and with the summit now gaining traction as a major annual event, his message is clearly resonating.

How the Maconomics Wealth Summit can and will help

For people living paycheck to paycheck, the concept of building wealth often feels out of reach. Ross understands the skepticism.

“I think that when a person is in a certain predicament, the idea of building wealth is just so far-fetched to them,” he said. “Because when we talk about building wealth, it’s the long-term investment play, right? And quite often in certain demographics, people are in survival mode right now. So, the idea of saying, ‘I can be rich in 20, 30 years from now,’ it’s hard to fathom that when you’re trying to survive in the current day.”

That’s why the Maconomics Wealth Summit isn’t just about spreadsheets and stock portfolios — it’s about culture, connection, and building new emotional relationships with money.

“When a person leaves, we want to give them the actionable steps [that are] going to help them get out of debt, help them change their relationship with money, or help them start investing today, start planning for retirement, learn how to get straight into real estate,” Ross explained.

“We also got somebody coming, speaking about life insurance and estate planning, et cetera,” he added. “So, helping people protect their money is just as important.”

This year’s lineup reflects that hybrid approach. Speakers include Antoine Walker, the former NBA star who famously lost millions before becoming a financial literacy advocate, as well as Melvin Rodriguez of Mielle Organics, The Budgetnista (Tiffany Aliche), and grooming entrepreneur Darrell Spencer of Crowned Skin — which, Ross pointed out, is “the No. 2 men’s grooming brand on TikTok.”

They’re joined by entertainment figures like Cortez Smith from “The Chi” and Sekou Kaalund, a Black executive who once led JPMorgan’s multibillion-dollar Advancing Black Pathways initiative. “We got the whole gamut when it comes to it,” Ross made clear.

Why Chicago?

A lesser-known aspect of Ross’ work is his commitment to Chicago — not just as his hometown, but as a battleground for Black economic progress.

“I think Chicago has one of the most talented groups of people, especially when it comes to our culture, but we just lack synergy,” he told REVOLT. “Not often do we work together… Chicago doesn’t do it that well.”

He continued, “When I first got kind of welcomed to financial literacy as a whole, you start to see different cities that really lead that. And I think that even when it comes to the leaders that are in the financial literacy space in Chicago, they tend to move… And so, I think it was important for me because when I moved back… it wasn’t until I moved back that I realized I wanted to even do this.”

“But once I moved back, I’m like, nah, I don’t want to move it, right? Let’s keep it here. Let’s keep it rooted in Chicago,” Ross said. “And I want this to be one of the biggest events in Chicago… The ultimate goal is to make this a staple annual event.”

A blueprint, not a pep talk

Unlike many financial influencers who rely on broad inspiration, Ross focuses on logistics and actionable change. “One, you can’t build generational wealth if you can’t overcome your past generational traumas,” he explained. “They’re going to have a better relationship with money, and now learn how to prioritize different things in their life. They’re going to leave with a free budget plan. They’re going to leave with free resources.”

“We’re going to tell you what account that needs to be. We’re going to tell you how to go about investing,” Ross added. “I’m hoping none of this message falls on deaf ears, but people are [instead] saying, ‘Okay, now I know what to do. I’m no longer scared. That person I just met has been doing it. That person I just met told me why this is important. And they, more importantly, gave me the blueprint.’”

He also shared how his own mindset changed as a student: “I was a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania. I was in the Wharton class. I was in Econ 101, and an Asian kid was day trading in the middle of class. I ain’t never seen that. I was on a $300 Acer computer that I got for free from the Chicago Urban League.”

“Exposure is the greatest teacher,” Ross said. “I said, ‘Wait a minute, I got to figure this out.’ I asked him what he was doing. And within two weeks, I had opened up my own E*TRADE portfolio, and I started investing. My first investment was GE, General Electric. Reason being, this was in 2008. And as you can imagine, we were going through a recession.”

Legacy goals: The digital civil rights movement

When asked what he wants his legacy to be, Ross didn’t hesitate.

“What my overall brand is, is a person that’s selfless… That is part of what I would consider the digital wealth renaissance, the digital civil rights movement,” he stated. “We want financial rights. We want financial freedom.”

“I want to fight for our freedom because the statistics are saying that by the year 2050, median net worth would be zero. In Chicago where I live, the median net worth of a Black family is already zero,” he revealed. “My legacy is to reverse that, to ensure that people know how to start building wealth because we’re the most talented people in this world. It’s just a function of what we’re putting our energy in, right?”

“If we want to come up with a dance that’s going to go viral on TikTok, we’ll do that. But then, some other group might actually monetize it, right? We want to come up with a dope-a** saying and slang and this, that, and the third — we’ll come up with it. If we come to sports, we excel in everything. But are we owning it? Are we monetizing it?”

“When it comes to wealth building, I want to continue to lead our people,” Ross expressed. “I want people to invest like their lives depend on it… because it does depend on it.”

The 2025 Maconomics Wealth Summit kicks off on Friday (July 18). Cop your tickets here if you haven’t already!

For Dr. Paris Butler, his family’s shore house in Cape May, New Jersey, was the source of so many cherished memories. However, he made the determination over a decade ago that a new direction would be necessary for upcoming generations to make their own memories at the beloved home.

That’s when Dr. Butler decided to make Cape May 2.0 a reality for the Butler family.

“The love and the memories are what pushed my parents to do everything to keep up the home,” Dr. Butler explained. “This place has been great to me. So, I thought, what if we could update it into the 21st century?”

It took many years for Dr. Butler to see his dream come to fruition, ultimately deciding to build a new home on the site of the family’s old shore house. During that time, Dr. Butler reached professional heights as he graduated from the University of Virginia Medical School and eventually became an Associate Professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery at the Yale University School of Medicine and Yale Department of Surgery Vice Chair of Education and Inclusive Excellence.

When Dr. Butler was at the stage of his life where he and his wife could afford the dream, he decided to make it a grand surprise to his parents, Rick Butler and Camile Thomas Butler, who still owned the home. Before doing so, he needed to map out a plan – that is where Joe Hage, TD Wealth Mortgage Loan Officer in Princeton, New Jersey, came in to guide Dr. Butler through the process of getting a construction loan.

“My passion is helping build people’s dreams of generational wealth through our programs here at TD,” said Joe. “It was so much more than a transaction, as this home had been in his family for decades with a deep-rooted history. I wanted to make sure it was a seamless process, so I walked him though each detail. I will cherish how I was able to be a part of this experience for the Butler family, and I was proud to wear the TD Shield while doing so.”

Paris Butler as a child with his great uncle

The deep history of the Black community in Cape May

The home was originally owned by Dr. Butler’s great uncle and godfather, Aubrey Newlin, who purchased it in circa 1961.

He was a proud Philadelphian and at that time, one of the few “Temple University- made” attorneys who was a person of color, according to Dr. Butler. His great uncle wanted a place for his family to retreat from the city. The house has since remained in the Newlin/Thomas/Butler family.

Cape May is a special place for Dr. Butler and his family because of its historical significance. Harriet Tubman lived in Cape May in the early 1850s, working to help fund her cause to free enslaved people, according to the Harriet Tubman Museum located in the city. Cape May then served as both a critical stop on the Underground Railroad and one of few shore towns in the northeast to have a significant Black population in the early part of the 20th century.

Black residents comprised about 30 percent of Cape May’s total population in the 1920s, according to CapeMay.com. However, after urban renewal programs of the 1960s and other factors, the Black population declined to its current level of 2.34%, according to US Census Bureau data.

Dr. Butler has spent part of almost every summer in Cape May since his birth, and it was particularly significant as his father served in the military, which meant the family moved often. The annual visits to Cape May helped deepen their broader family connections. However, Dr. Butler wasn’t aware of Cape May’s historic Black roots until he grew older.

“We were really blessed that my family was able to hold onto that property,” he said. “I just became increasingly proud of the house and the history of Cape May. I knew we had to figure out how to keep our family history going.”

David and Cheryl Taylor built their lives on federal salaries. He was a 20-year-old warehouse worker in 1973, aching for a better opportunity when a friend told him about the U.S. Postal Service exam. Soon, he had a mail route and was making $4.35 per hour. “Big money,” he recalled thinking at the time.

She was 23 in 1982, making $5.80 per hour at a hospital in North Carolina. But even with a master’s in nursing, she struggled to advance her career as the only Black nurse on her floor. She didn’t hesitate to move north a year later when the National Institutes of Health offered her a job.

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After meeting through David’s sister, the couple got married. And with her federal paycheck, plus his, they bought a house on the edge of Prince George’s County.

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In this Washington suburb, the Taylors’ story is not unique. Until recently, Prince George’s ranked as the wealthiest majority-Black county in the United States, fueled by middle-class workers who gravitated to the federal sector for its promise of stability and benefits — and the chance to boost their families’ economic bottom line.

The federal government is the largest employer in Maryland, and more than 65,000 federal workers live in Prince George’s County, making up 17.4 percent of the county’s total workforce, according to an analysis of 2023 American Community Survey data by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Their median salary of $110,400 far outpaces workers in both the county government and the private sector.

Prince George’s County is one of the wealthiest majority-Black suburbs in the United States. Now, federal layoffs threaten generations of economic stability. (Video: Hadley Green/The Washington Post)

The slashing of the federal workforce under the Trump administration has been felt across the nation. But in a county where Black workers helped build and populate communities through the 20th century — and where many families relied on federal jobs to reach and maintain middle-class status — these actions have cut especially deep.

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“The attacks from the Trump administration are not glancing blows. They’re direct strikes, and they’re direct strikes against the people of this state and they’re direct strikes against the people of Prince George’s County,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said in an interview. “We have to make sure that we’re supporting our federal workers because Maryland has a higher exposure to these federal actions than anywhere else in the entire country.”

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Cheryl, 66, and David, 72, are retired from their long federal careers. But they’re still feeling the effects of the Trump administration’s purge.

They canceled a trip to see California’s giant sequoias over concerns about how the country’s national parks will fare after hundreds of workers were laid off. They worry about their Social Security, too, and other promised federal benefits.

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Most of all, they worry about their 41-year-old daughter, a microbiologist. After working years in the private sector, she started her first federal job in December.

Cheryl still remembers the advice they gave their daughter before she applied: “You need to get into government. You know, security and all that.”

“Now, as soon as she gets in the job,” Cheryl said, “this happens.”

‘A Good Government Job’

More than a year ago, Dennis Doster started curating an exhibition at the Montpelier Arts Center to honor the Black federal workers who helped shape Prince George’s County, not knowing how relevant his work would become.

Visitors in February were greeted with a history lesson: a placard displaying the names of enslaved laborers from the county who were “rented” out to help construct federal buildings such as the White House and the U.S. Capitol.

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A collection of photos showed Black workers after the Civil War with low-level jobs inside federal kitchens and laundry rooms.

In a set of images from the early 1900s, workers in more technical roles stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their White counterparts at the Treasury Department and other federal agencies.

All around, portraits highlighted workers who made notable contributions at federal agencies based in Prince George’s: Harold T. Pinkett, who in 1942 became the first Black archivist at the National Archives; Rex Ellis, who started working as a research chemist for a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture around 1957; Melba Roy Mouton, a Howard University graduate whose computing efforts at the Goddard Space Flight Center helped track satellites in the 1960s.

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Doster, program director of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s Black History Program, named the exhibition “‘A Good Government Job’: A History of Black Civil Servants and Federal Government Employment.” He said federal workers flocked to see it after Trump signed a Feb. 11 executive order that enabled Elon Musk and the U.S. DOGE Service to dramatically shrink the government. Some visitors were county residents who had been recently fired.

Doster explained to them how opportunities for Black workers in the federal sector ebbed and flowed through the 20th century, driven down by segregationist policies mandated by President Woodrow Wilson, and pushed back up after the Great Depression. They benefited when President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s, seeking to create jobs for more Americans, kick-started public works initiatives under the New Deal. One such project was to build the city of Greenbelt in Prince George’s. But even though Black workers were instrumental in building the city, they were not allowed to buy homes there until decades later.

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Today, the county remains home to several key federal agencies including the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Census Bureau. But in a suburb where fiscal spending by the local government is closely linked to residential homeownership and property taxes, the wide-scale loss of federal jobs threatens to imperil the county’s economy.

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In a statement, Angela Alsobrooks (D), the former Prince George’s County executive who was sworn in as Maryland’s first Black U.S. senator this year, said that Trump’s cuts are an affront to what federal service has meant for many families in the county and will have economic ripples.

“This callous and cruel witch hunt isn’t about making government more efficient. It’s about enacting this President’s retribution on civil servants and the people they serve — the American people,” Alsobrooks said. “It’s a disgraceful series of actions meant to upend American lives, cut American jobs, and destroy the American spirit that calls so many of us — countless across Prince George’s County — to serve in this way.”

During terse budget meetings in recent months, lawmakers in the largely Democratic county repeatedly discussed how many Prince Georgians’ livelihoods are dependent on, or intertwined, with the federal government. In late March, two council members proposed legislation that would provide the county’s laid-off federal workers a $1,000 payment if they’ve lost their jobs through the White House cuts; a separate, recently introduced resolution would offer them a moratorium on mortgage foreclosures.

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Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 800,000 federal workers nationwide, said that for some Black families, those government jobs offered the only path toward prosperity and the middle class, and at times provided insulation from discrimination in the private sector. About 19 percent of the nation’s federal workers identify as Black.

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“Everybody wanted to get a ‘good government job,’” Kelley said. “What you’re really going to see is a disproportionate effect of these cuts and these firings. It’s going to erode the middle class for many African Americans, and Black and Brown people.”

Alvin Thornton, a former Prince George’s County school board member, said the Black middle class is relatively new and generally spans two generations: “grandfathers, grandmothers and their children” who were the first in their families to build equity. This instability, he said, means they may now have to tap into savings or even consider selling their homes to get by.

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But beyond the potential economic pain, Thornton, a professor emeritus at Howard University, said he also worries that the emotional toll of job losses for Black federal workers will be exacerbated by the speed of the firings — as well as the administration’s attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

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He said this combined economic and existential pain will probably permeate the D.C. region and other counties with high concentrations of Black federal workers.

‘I could not move’

Angela Smith, a contractor with NASA who lives in the Prince George’s County seat of Upper Marlboro, felt the emotional toll immediately. On Jan. 31, Smith said she received a phone call that sent her into a “catatonic state.”

“I could not move. I could not speak,” Smith said. “I did not at all see this coming. The day before, I was doing work.”

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She has spent 26 years on and off as a contractor with the agency, where she has helped launch about 14 satellites and write documents related to launch support.

The 54-year-old naval veteran had been laid off three times previously — typically when a satellite launch was complete — and was always swiftly rehired, she said. But she said the context of this layoff was different: Smith was told the budget was at “zero,” and that she needed to surrender her badge.

After collecting herself, she updated her résumé for the first time in nearly a decade. Without insurance, Smith would struggle to afford medicine to treat her fibromyalgia, a chronic illness that causes pain in muscles and soft tissue. And jobs in her field are scarce.

“I’ve been launching satellites for 26 years. There’s not a lot of places you can do that,” she said.

But in mid-March, she received some relief: NASA hired Smith as a contractor once more. She was told, however, that future budget cuts could threaten her role.

Jonathan Hairston, an artificial intelligence specialist for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, received the email he was dreading on Valentine’s Day.

The missive from the Office of Personnel Management said Hairston, 40, was not fit to continue working because his “ability, knowledge and skills” no longer met the agency’s needs. A six-year military veteran, Hairston had spent a year at the General Services Administration when he transferred in August to the CISA, placing him under probationary status. Still, he was certain the email had been sent to him in error: Not only did it say his performance was inadequate — but it also misstated the name of his department and position.

Reality set in when Hairston was locked out of his government-issued phone.

Like so many other federal workers in Prince George’s County, his once-stable family life was upended. He spent hours on the phone with creditors and mortgage lenders. He asked his two oldest children to pause extracurricular activities that include baseball and swimming. He and his wife agreed to limit day care to just once per week for their two youngest children, adding to the stress at home. A counterintelligence specialist in the Army, he likened the process to triage.

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On March 17, Hairston learned he and thousands of other probationary employees had been reinstated temporarily thanks to an order from a federal judge. The following Monday, the Trump administration filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to allow the firings to proceed. Meanwhile, Hairston is still locked out of his phone.

“It’s unnerving,” Hairston said. “We grew up understanding the security that comes with the federal government. Now, that’s up in flux.”