Community Wealth Building in the News
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- The Annie E Casey Foundation’s blog recently featured the Higher Education Anchor Mission Initiative, a joint collaboration between The Democracy Collaborative and the Coalition for Urban and Metropolitan Universities working to advance anchor mission strategies within higher education.
- The Huffington Post recently published an article that highlights the Next System Project’s work around systemic solutions to address climate change, specifically Quantitative Easing for the Planet. The article quotes Research Director Thomas Hanna regarding the opportunity for a federal buy-out of publicly traded fossil fuel companies.
- Nonprofit Quarterly published an article about the development of the Community Justice Land Trust in Philadelphia, noting how land trusts can provide access to permanently affordable housing. A recently launched partnership between Citi Community Development and the Grounded Solutions Network will make $500,000 available to local groups to support community land trust development. Read more in the The Wall Street Journal.
- A recent article in Next City discusses growing efforts to catalyze public banking, featuring efforts in San Francisco, Santa Fe, and New Jersey, as well as a recent Senate bill around banking through the U.S. Postal Service. Recently, American Samoa won the race to form the nation’s second public bank (after the Bank of North Dakota). Read more in the American Banker.
- In New Mexico, a rural electric co-op, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, has been expanding access to high-speed broadband. Read more about the co-op in High Country News.
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New from The Democracy Collaborative
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On May 10, Evergreen Cooperative Laundry (ECL) announced a major expansion in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic, one of the member health systems of our Healthcare Anchor Network. ECL will take over management of the Clinic’s laundry facility, bringing over 100 new workers into the cooperative, joining the 50 employed at the original laundry. This model of expansion demonstrates a new pathway for anchors to support worker ownership through their supply chain. Read the full press release here.
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The forty-fifth in our C-W City series is Birmingham, Alabama. With the city experiencing a 29 percent poverty rate, well above the state average of 17 percent, a number of community wealth building organizations have emerged with many focusing on the intersection of food and economic justice. REV Birmingham, a public-private economic development organization, offers business development workshops and technical assistance to local entrepreneurs, with a focus on healthy and sustainable food businesses. The Magic City Agriculture Project (MCAP) helps communities organize local democratic institutions and cooperative businesses. Find out more here.
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The New Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
In 1967, the Poor People’s Campaign was launched as a multiracial coalition demanding government action to address poverty and racism in the United States. This new report from the Institute for Policy Studies provides an audit of the last 50 years, examining the trends and conditions that drive poverty. It finds that systemic racism, economic exploitation, militarism, and ecological devastation continue to deepen inequality. The report accompanies the launch of the New Poor People’s Campaign to build power to create systemic change. Find out more here.
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Opportunities for Democratic Public Ownership
Noting that a majority of British residents support public ownership of the railways and key utilities, this new paper from the Co-Operative Party calls for modern forms of democratic public ownership. The authors outline how democratic public ownership can lead to productivity gains and protection from government underinvestment in critical infrastructure. The paper outlines what ownership could look like across rail, water, and energy, making actionable recommendations in each sector. Read the full paper here.
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Operated by Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s public economic development agency, Co-Operative Development Scotland provides assistance to companies looking to transition to employee ownership, offering free advising to interested businesses, as well as feasibility studies and succession planning. The CDS blog highlights stories of business that have transferred ownership to their employees. Find out more here.
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