Root Capital

As of 2026, Tuti Scott, the founder and president of Changemaker Strategies, a consulting firm with the critical race theory-aligned notions of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), listed herself as a coach and advisor to leadership at Root Capital. ⁴

Activities

Root Capital partners with small and growing agricultural businesses to assist with capacity gaps and other challenges through lending services, trainings, and advisory support. ¹

As of 2026, Root Capital was working with enterprises that it saw as contributing to positive social and environmental effects in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Colombia, Peru, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Indonesia. ¹ It claimed to be working toward “rural resilience” and was pursuing policies and goals it contended would create jobs, raise incomes, advance “women and young people,” and improving the environment. ²

As of 2026, Root Capital was offering financing, including lines of credit and term loans, as well as comprehensive and interactive workshops covering a variety of topics ranging from climate mitigation to data analysis and customized trainings. Its advisory services included business management, digital business intelligence, and agronomic and climate resilience. ¹

As of 2026, Root Capital stated that it had provided loans to 843 clients and disbursed a total of $2.06 billion, claiming that 88 percent of its borrowers would not have otherwise qualified for commercial loans. It also stated that 361 of its clients were gender-inclusive or women-led, accounting for $67.7 million in disbursements, reaching 634,000 women farmers. ⁵

Financials and Funding

According to its 2024 tax return, Root Capital generated $11.6 million in revenue from contributions and grants. ⁶

In 2024, its tax return confirmed that it received $1.5 million from the Eagle Foundation for program and project support, ⁷ $1 million from the Waverley Street Foundation for general operations, ⁸ and $1 million from the Ezrah Charitable Trust to support Root Capital’s work with small and growing agricultural businesses around the world. ⁹

In 2022, Root Capital received $25 million from MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. ³

In 2024, Root Capital paid out $19.6 million in salaries and compensation. Its total expenses were $37 million. ¹⁰ After paying out salaries, its biggest expense was $16 million to provide agricultural businesses with loans and lines of credit. It spent $8 million, including $1.3 million in grants, on its advisory services program to provide training to clients, and $2.9 million on research and development to support its programs for underserved rural small businesses. ¹¹

Root Capital’s only U.S.-based grant of 2024 was $583,458 given to Catholic Relief Services. ¹² It provided $733,980 in grants and other assistance to foreign organizations ¹³ and made more than $138 million in loans to entities outside the U.S. ¹⁴

Leadership

As of 2026, William “Willy” Foote was CEO of Root Capital. At the time, Foote was also a Skoll Entrepreneur, an Ashoka Global Fellow, and a member of the Strategic Advisory Council of the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan. Foote was also a member of both the Council on Foreign Relations and Young Presidents’ Organization and sat on the executive committee of the Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs. In 2008, the World Economic Forum named Foote a Young Global Leader; in 2012, he was a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute; and he was one of Forbes’ “Impact 30” in 2011. ¹⁵

As of 2026, Scott Amero was co-chair of the board of Root Capital. At the time, Amero sat on the boards of Rare, Adventure Scientists, the Harbor Funds, the Nature Conservancy Massachusetts chapter, and the Mossavar-Rohmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. Amero previously worked for BlackRock from 1990 to 2010, most recently as vice chair and global chief investment officer for fixed income. ¹⁶

As of 2026, Sophie Romana was serving as a co-chair of the board of Root Capital and the founder of Althae Strategy, a women’s economic empowerment business. At the time, she was working on projects financed by USAID with Strategic Impact Advisors and the World Council of Credit Unions. Romana previously led Oxfam’s Community Finance Department from 2011 to 2018 and before that worked in private equity and in humanitarian relief in Madagascar, Rwanda, and Bosnia. ¹⁷