Dear Colleague,

• We are pleased to release the public summary of our work for the New Orleans Business Alliance (NOLABA). Titled Healthcare Small Business Gap Analysis, the report identifies ways area hospitals can use local procurement to support economic development in low-income, African American neighborhoods in New Orleans. Find out more below, and read press coverage of the report in The Advocate and The Times-Picayune. We continue our work on anchor-linked development in other cities as well. The Democracy Collaborative is partnering with Health Care Without Harm and Emerald Cities Collaborative to form Anchors for Resilient Communities (ARC), which will focus on creating jobs and wealth in under-served neighborhoods in Richmond and East Oakland, California.

• In an article in The Nation, William Greider challenges Hilary Clinton to incorporate a call for systemic change into her presidential platform. The Next System Project was also featured in the first article of YES! Magazine’s new “Checkerboard Revolution” series, which will examine how community organizers and local movements can “preserve their rich diversity while overcoming the isolation that leaves them vulnerable.” Democracy Collaborative Co-Founder Gar Alperovitz discusses the Next System Project in an interview in Orion Magazine. Registration is still open for the free Next System Project launch webinar on May 20, at 3pm EDT. Register here.

• Community wealth building is taking root in cities across the country and abroad. Articles in Grist and Next City highlight The Democracy Collaborative’s work in Cleveland, Baltimore, and Rochester. The Philadelphia City Controller’s Office recently released a report on opportunities to develop an anchor-based local procurement strategy. The City of Toronto is working with some of the city’s largest public employers to develop an anchor mission. Across the Atlantic, the City of Preston, England is drawing from the Cleveland Model to develop cooperatives. In 2013, I had the opportunity to visit with Preston city officials to discuss opportunities to strengthen the local economy. This new report, prepared by the Center for Local Economic Strategies for the City Council of Preston, outlines opportunities to leverage anchor procurement for local benefit.

• The Democracy Collaborative is excited to announce the launch of the Community Clean Water Management Group in Prince George’s County, the first business launched under the Washington Regional Association of Grantmaker’s Community Wealth Building Initiative (CWBI). On Monday, May 18, I will speak at the CWBI briefing, which will focus on efforts to promote worker ownership in the DC metropolitan area. Register for this free event here. I will also be a featured speaker at the Aspen Institute’s Rooting Opportunity Conference, held in Washington, DC from June 1-2, along with Sharice Davids of the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, and Emily Kawano of the Wellspring Collaborative and the Center for Popular Economics. A full list of speakers and registration can be found here.      

• Research Director Steve Dubb gave the keynote address at the Community Wealth Building Roundtable in Durham, North Carolina. While there, he was interviewed by the North Carolina Public Radio station WUNC, where he spoke about the value of cooperative employment as a means to build equity and economic security. 

• Senior Fellow Marjorie Kelly moderated a webinar on cooperative conversions, co-sponsored by The Democracy Collaborative and Project Equity. A recording is available here. Marjorie also keynoted the BALLE Impact Investment Summit in Asheville, North Carolina.