When I first interviewed Ed Mitzen for IP last year, I was chasing several stories tied to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. I was struck by how this Albany, New York-area businessman had become so passionate about addressing an historical atrocity that, until recently, few Americans knew had even happened. But rather than just offering words, Mitzen took action. In 2022, he gave a $1 million donation directly to the three known centenarian survivors of the massacre at the time. “It just pissed me off,” Mitzen told me in our 2024 conversation. “It felt like the state was running the clock out and just hoping that these people would die and then they wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore.”
Since then, the situation in Tulsa has remained unresolved. While the city’s mayor, Monroe Nichols, recently announced a $105 million reparations plan aimed to help descendants of the massacre, none of that money has been specifically earmarked for the two surviving elders.
When I reconnected with Mitzen this year — first in person at an event in Midtown Manhattan, then later over Zoom — I was met once again by the same straight-talking, roll-up-his-sleeves philanthropist. If anything, his resolve had only deepened. Born humbly in a farm town, Mitzen went on to build three businesses that generated over $1 billion in revenue combined. Meanwhile, his Business for Good Foundation, which he cofounded with his wife Lisa in 2020, remains rooted in four core pillars: economic mobility, workforce development, housing and small business support.
But while the foundation initially focused on local giving in and around Albany, these days, Mitzen has his sights set well beyond the region he calls home. As he told me, the next chapter involves taking the hands-on lessons he’s learned and applying them nationally, while enlisting other wealthy individuals to follow suit.
Mitzen’s model for hands-on philanthropy
One of the ways Mitzen became convinced of the value of hands-on philanthropy is through his experience with the Tulsa descendants, which went beyond just his 2022 donation. When Hughes “Uncle Red” Van Ellis, a Tulsa Massacre survivor, died at 102 in 2023, Mitzen and his wife Lisa spoke at his service. Mitzen still gets texts from Uncle Red’s daughter and was in contact with Viola “Mother” Fletcher, another survivor, when she recently celebrated her 111th birthday. “It was a real honor… I met Uncle Red maybe three or four times,” Mitzen said. “How many people have you met [like that] who would have such an impact on you that you would fly halfway across the country to attend their funeral?”
Back home in New York, Mitzen is also outspoken about state actions that he believes miss the mark. For instance, he’s puzzled by the state’s recent decision to allocate $130 million to make the Empire State Plaza more energy efficient. He’s quick to note he’s not dismissing the urgency of climate change, but can’t help but question state leaders’ priorities, especially when Albany’s poverty rate sits at 22%, more than double the national average.
It is this urgency that first inspired Mitzen to start the Business for Good Foundation, which launched as a pilot program in Albany. Frustrated by government inertia, the Mitzens funded the initiative themselves, determined to prove that targeted investments could transform underserved communities. Their first pillar was economic mobility. “Our thesis [was] that if we can get people up the income curve, a lot of these problems [would] go away,” Mitzen said. “It all comes down to giving these people financial stability, growth opportunities, generational wealth from a housing standpoint and trying to preach the gospel that it’s not a zero-sum game.”
Mitzen paints a bleak picture of broken systems: local and national government struggling to respond effectively and nonprofits that, while well-intentioned, lack the scale to meet the moment. “It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound,” he said. With major cuts looming from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, he points out that even in more stable times, food pantries and homeless shelters were already stretched far beyond capacity.
How the Business for Good Foundation has tackled economic inequity in Albany
Through the foundation, the Mitzens engage in both 501c3 nonprofit giving as well as in venture investments, including in for-profit companies. One key focus is tackling Albany’s housing crisis. Today, over 1,000 properties in Albany are abandoned, according to the city’s vacant properties registry. Most are located in Black neighborhoods that were once redlined. A report by the New York State Attorney General’s Office revealed that around 69% of white households in Albany own their homes compared to only 20% of Black households. “Albany has the second largest disparity of Black and white ownership in the country, second only to Minneapolis,” Mitzen said.
The Business for Good Foundation has stepped up in a number of ways. It paid $950,000 to purchase the Albany Black Chamber of Commerce & Social Club, a place for Black and brown entrepreneurs to come together toward creating a sense of community/support to drive the local economy in Albany. Down the road, this building will also become the headquarters for the foundation.
Supporting small businesses is also central to Mitzen’s vision of revitalized communities. The Business for Good Foundation focuses on small, independent ventures that enrich local economies, working with entrepreneurs like Kizzy Williams of Allie B’s Cozy Kitchen in Albany. Through Mitzen’s support, Williams’ homemade mac and cheese is now packaged and distributed by Price Chopper, a leading grocery chain in the area.
Mitzen also partnered with Bloom’s by Marie, a local florist, and Wallace Turner Law, Albany’s first Black-women-owned law firm. Beyond financial investments, the Business for Good Foundation provides services like marketing, accounting and mentorship, helping owners scale sustainably. Mitzen admits that not every investment bears fruit, but most of them have been worthwhile, he said.
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Branching out with a culinary training “lab” and expanding nationally
Though most of Mitzen’s philanthropic projects fall under the Business for Good Foundation umbrella, his gift to the Tulsa survivors was a personal commitment. Another one is his work with Hattie’s Culinary Lab in Saratoga Springs. This personal passion project leverages Mitzen’s co-ownership of Hattie’s, a storied Louisiana restaurant chain that later landed in New York, to address workforce training needs.
Dedicated to youth aged 17 to 25, the lab offers culinary training and restaurant management skills to underserved students, empowering them to pursue careers in hospitality — recently partnering with workforce development nonprofit SEAT Center to help power its work. By offering Hattie’s a kitchen space for $1 annually, the program has dramatically expanded its capacity, enabling students to gain real-world experience in a state-of-the-art facility.
Having applied his approach in Albany, Mitzen is now focused on expanding his ideas across the country. Key to this effort is inspiring others in privileged positions to play an active role in their own communities.
“I want to try to encourage other people to sort of get off the sidelines,” Mitzen said. “If you don’t know people in some of these marginalized communities, go on a listening tour.” He mentioned ongoing conversations with entrepreneurs in Atlanta and Boston. While these projects are still in the early planning stages, the foundation is working to replicate its Albany model in cities with similar challenges.
He acknowledges that in the early days, he made plenty of missteps — and at times, even unintentionally offended people. But he believes humility is essential and says other privileged donors would do well to adopt the same mindset and get hands-on rather than writing a check safely from a distance.
Mitzen’s ultimate goal isn’t just to scale the Business for Good Foundation’s efforts in a conventional way, but to inspire a broad cultural shift in how wealth is wielded. He said that several high-profile donors he didn’t name believe in his approach and have already pledged seven- and eight-figure gifts, giving Mitzen more resources to broaden the operation’s reach. He’s also exploring national speaking opportunities to share his story and encourage others to join him.
