Land. Capital. Power. How East Freedman & Main is Scaling Community Ownership to Fight Displacement and Build Wealth
East Freedman & Main (EFM) is a real estate and economic development firm committed to disrupting cycles of disinvestment and gentrification. By integrating community values into sustainable development strategies, EFM empowers historically marginalized communities to secure long-term economic sovereignty.
Through values-aligned real estate strategies, mission-driven capital tools, and deep partnerships with grassroots organizations, East Freedman & Main supports communities to secure ownership, resist displacement, and build lasting wealth—on their terms.
This isn’t just a different development model—it’s a movement for economic sovereignty, designed to embed power and permanence in the communities that have historically been excluded.
WEBINAR SPEAKERS
Elisse Douglass, Founder & CEO, East Freedman & Main
Prior to EF&M Elisse held senior roles at regional developers in CA focusing on institutional scale development projects totaling over 3M sq ft and $2.5B in asset value for private equity, asset managers, and owner users. She built a strong track record of designing and implementing creative financing for job-creating small, medium, and large Black-owned businesses through her development projects as well as impact investing roles in Oakland and NYC.
Todd Hestand, Managing Director, East Freedman & Main
Todd has over 15 years of experience in economic development, specializing in designing business technical assistance programs that promote equitable access and upward mobility for minority business owners. He has developed and managed a range of business support services, including workshops, accelerators, and funding programs, with a focus on minority-owned businesses in development, construction, and retail. Todd is skilled in change management and has led a decade-long research study on the effectiveness of business support programs for minorities in urban environments.
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Meet the Faculty
Tsedey Betru
Tsedey is the Director of Just Communities at the Partnership for Southern Equity. Originally from Ethiopia, Tsedey’s experiences immigrating to the U.S. and growing up in Memphis, TN, have shaped and informed her 20-year career advancing racial equity in community and economic development.
She started her career as a community organizer for the National Voting Rights Institute and the 7th St. Community Improvement Initiative in Oakland, CA. After completing her graduate studies in urban policy analysis and nonprofit management, Tsedey worked at PolicyLink and at the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy in NYC before becoming the Vice President of Community LIFT in Memphis, TN.
More recently, she has moved into economic development and philanthropic advising, working as the Manager of Community Affairs & Strategic Initiatives for Invest Atlanta, as an economic development advisor to Memphis Mayor Wharton, and a philanthropic advisor to the Estee Lauder Charitable Foundation, Waverley Street Foundation, and Gates Foundation.
Tsedey currently serves on the City of Atlanta’s Urban Design Commission, the Atlanta BeltLine Public Arts Advisory, and raises funds for the African Diasporic Arts Museum of Atlanta.