This article is the sixth in a series spotlighting the Nareit Foundation’s DTD 2025 grantees, part of an initiative focused on increasing the visibility, awareness, and appeal of the REIT industry. The Foundation’s DTD program prioritizes three main goals: supporting pipeline and talent development, expanding procurement and business development, and making REITs understandable and accessible to everyday investors. In 2025, the Foundation provided grants to nine nonprofit organizations, including the Empify Foundation, which stands out for its commitment to helping everyday people—especially those from underrepresented communities—learn about REITs, their benefits, and career opportunities within the industry.
Financial literacy is a powerful catalyst for change, particularly for students and people who have not been exposed to the fundamentals of investing and building wealth.
Fintech firm Empify set out to change that by opening doors for everyday investors through targeted educational initiatives and innovative programming. By making financial products like REITs easier to understand and more accessible, the company is helping more people take charge of their finances, no matter their backgrounds.
Demystifying REITs for Everyone
Approximately 170 million Americans—or about half of the U.S. population—invest in REITs. Still, for many people, understanding REITs and their benefits may be confusing. Common obstacles include limited access to clear information and the mistaken belief that financial knowledge is only for the privileged few.
Empify is working to break down these barriers by democratizing financial literacy and empowering individuals from every walk of life to learn about and benefit from REITs.
An Inspired Beginning
Empify emerged from a desire to help anyone learn how to build wealth in a practical way. Ashley Fox, a Howard University graduate and former Wall Street analyst, witnessed firsthand how complex wealth-building strategies can unintentionally widen social inequality. She was managing portfolios for high-net-worth individuals and recognized that this gap isn’t just about money, but access to education and opportunity.
In 2013, Fox left Wall Street to pursue a mission: make financial knowledge simple, accessible, and relevant for anyone. In 2016, she launched Empify—a name derived from “empower” and “modify”—with the concept of helping the 99% of people often overlooked by Wall Street.
Empify’s approach focuses on meeting people at their current level of understanding, offering education on budgeting, investing, and building wealth. Empify simplifies the world of investing and makes it less intimidating by providing clear and accessible courses, workshops, boot camps, interactive member sessions, and live coaching and Q&A sessions. Participants learn wealth-building strategies alongside others who once shared their initial uncertainties and fears but are now making real progress toward their investment education goals.
Leveraging Technology: The Wealth Builders Community App
Rob Boyd, a college peer of Fox, joined Empify as vice president, bringing his experience as a former financial advisor and real estate economist to the company. Fox and Boyd’s objective is to uplift people with practical information that they gathered from their own professional journeys.
In 2020, Empify launched the Wealth Builders Community app, a digital platform that brings together all Empify’s educational resources into a self-paced learning system accessible via smartphone or computer.
Whether someone has only an hour a week or prefers to study every day, Boyd says the program is built to accommodate any schedule. Thanks to its asynchronous format, the platform empowers users to learn at their own pace and chart a personalized journey toward financial confidence and security.
The REIT Accelerator: Simplifying Real Estate Investing
One of Empify’s flagship programs is the REIT Accelerator, specifically designed to break down the complexities of real estate investment. This five-step course walks participants through the fundamentals, helping them understand how REITs work and why they’re an attractive starting point for new investors.
As Boyd explains, REITs focus on income-generating real estate, giving investors the opportunity to participate in the commercial real estate market without the responsibilities of direct ownership. Most people grasp the basics of real estate and are familiar with the concept of paying rent, he says.
“With REITs, investors get the beauty of owning real estate without the headaches that typically come with it,” he adds.
Boyd says for many people, real estate feels tangible and relatable, which reduces the anxiety often associated with stock market investing. While REITs are also stocks, there’s a unique appeal in realizing that a REIT might own the shopping center or self-storage unit you visit regularly, Boyd notes.
“You know this isn’t going to up and vanish tomorrow. Knowing that these companies own tangible properties—places you can see and touch—creates a sense of security,” he continues. “That psychological connection plays a significant role in why many people are drawn to investing in real estate.”
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