FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Three Founders Behind Building Freedom Funds Launch Debut Book - and a Six-City Tour - to Close the Wealth Gap

Building Freedom Funds: How to Grow Wealth and Say Goodbye to Financial Shackles hits shelves October 23, with launch celebrations rolling out through next April in Brooklyn, Staten Island, Austin, the DMV, Florida, and Atlanta

NEW YORK, NY (September 22, 2026) – Building Freedom Funds — the wealth-building education movement founded by Dafina Lovelace, Kellie Sauls, and Uzoamaka N. Okoye — today announced the October 23, 2026 release of its debut book, Building Freedom Funds: How to Grow Wealth and Say Goodbye to Financial Shackles, written by co-founder Dafina Lovelace. The launch will be marked by a six-city celebration tour running from October 2026 through April 2027, with community events in Brooklyn (October), Staten Island (November), Austin (December), the Washington, D.C./Maryland/Virginia (DMV) area (January), Florida (February & March), and Atlanta (April).

Written for high-potential, high-achieving earners who do many of the “right” things educationally and financially but still wonder if their money could be working harder, Building Freedom Funds argues that earning money and building wealth are not the same skill — and that the second one can be learned. Drawing on her own money journey and lessons passed down from her mother and grandmother, Lovelace makes the case for a simple idea at the center of the book: wealth is not the destination. Freedom is.

The book grew out of a community Lovelace, Sauls, and Okoye have been building since 2011, when they co-founded the Dhana Mercury Group, an investment club built on a simple insight: investing alongside peers and experienced guest speakers is one of the strongest predictors of whether someone actually builds wealth, not just learns about it. That insight, and a shared goal of narrowing the gender and racial wealth gap, became the foundation of Building Freedom Funds — a movement dedicated to equipping underrepresented earners with investment education and access.

“This isn’t a get-rich-quick book. It’s a get-free book,” said Lovelace. “You don’t need to be born wealthy, and you don’t need to be a Wall Street expert. You need to start, and be consistent. Freedom Funds create choices — to leave a job, start a business, help your family, weather an unexpected season, or simply stop letting money dictate every decision you make. Your money has more potential. So do you.”

“We built Building Freedom Funds because we saw, firsthand, that access and community close the wealth gap faster than information alone,” said Kellie Sauls, co-founder. “This book is the roadmap; the launch tour is the community showing up to prove it works in six different cities over seven months, not just one.”

“I spend my days managing strategy and governance on one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country — the kind of work where you don’t get to be vague about a plan,” said Uzoamaka N. Okoye, co-founder. “That’s exactly the mindset people need for their money. This book gives readers the practical tools and the confidence to stop being vague about their own financial future.”

Building Freedom Funds is available for pre-order now at buildingfreedomfunds.com, where the first 50 readers to order directly receive a signed copy, a Digital Freedom Fund Roadmap, a Financial Freedom Meditation, an invitation to a live virtual author Q&A, and an invite to the in-person launch tour. The book is also available through Amazon, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, and other major retailers. Readers can purchase directly via the secure Building Freedom Funds Stripe Order Form.

Launch Tour Dates

• Brooklyn, NY — October 2026 | Private Garden Salon (Bed-Stuy)

• Staten Island, NY — November 2026

• Austin, TX — December 2026

• DMV (DC / Maryland / Virginia) — January 2027

• Tampa, FL — February 2027

• Miami, FL — March 2027

• Atlanta, GA — April 2027

Full event details and updates are posted at buildingfreedomfunds.com.

About the Author

Dafina Lovelace, MBA, is the Founding President of Building Freedom Funds. She merges financial insight with a holistic approach to wellness, empowering individuals to achieve what she calls “wealthy wellness” — a state of both financial strength and well-being. A public speaker, certified yoga instructor, and product marketing manager with over 13 years of virtual and in-person leadership experience through Embrace Change Yoga and financial platforms including The Dhana Mercury Group and Seed & Harvest Ventures, she holds an MBA from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business and a B.S. in Computer Science. Her career spans Wall Street, financial technology, and public service through the White House's U.S. Digital Service.

About the Co-Founders

Kellie Sauls, MS, is a Co-Founder of Building Freedom Funds and a seasoned leader in enterprise-wide program delivery and small business operations, with over a decade of experience driving efficiency, strategy, and collaboration across industries. She brings that same strategic and futures-focused mindset to helping individuals reshape their financial future.

Uzoamaka N. Okoye, Esq., is a Co-Founder of Building Freedom Funds with a career spanning law, engineering, and executive leadership. She currently serves as Chief of Staff for the $19-billion New Terminal One project at JFK, overseeing strategy, governance, and sustainability at one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country. At Building Freedom Funds, she applies that same strategic expertise to help people invest with confidence and reimagine their relationship with money.

About Building Freedom Funds

Building Freedom Funds is a wealth-building education movement whose mission is to equip underrepresented earners to build wealth through investment education and access, with a vision of building a new global class of wealth. The organization grew out of the Dhana Mercury Group, an investment club its founders launched in 2011 to reduce the gender and racial wealth gap and change the face of wealth-building. Learn more and join the “In the Black” newsletter at buildingfreedomfunds.com and on Instagram at @bff_buildingfreedomfunds.

Media Contact

Alistar Hetherington, Executive Assistant, Building Freedom Funds — hello@buildingfreedomfunds.com