Robert E. Friedman has dedicated his life to closing the racial wealth divide and unleashing the economic freedom and productive potential of all people, especially those marginalized by systemic discrimination.  A fourth generation Californian, graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, Bob founded and helped lead Prosperity Now, a 45-year old national non-profit dedicated to enlarging economic participation and prosperity for all.  Bob helped create the U.S. microenterprise, saving and asset building fields, and the international enterprise development and child savings fields.  He pioneered the practice and policy of microenterprise, Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) and Child Development Accounts (CDAs and Baby Bonds) respectively with the Self-Employment Investment Demonstration (1984-1987), American Dream Demonstration (1993-1998) and the Saving for Entrepreneurship, Education and Downpayment (SEED) Initiative (2003-2010+).  His third book, A Few Thousand Dollars: Sparking Prosperity for Everyone (New Press, 2018), recounts the history and lessons of this work and sketches the path to building a truly inclusive and prosperous economy that works for everyone.