Dear Colleague,

I am pleased to announce the publication of The Pluralist Commonwealth, a new book authored by Democracy Collaborative Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Next System Project Gar Alperovitz. For nearly a half-century, Gar has been working to renew and rebuild the very concept of “community” as the foundation of a next American system. His vision is one in which democratic life is built from the ground up; broadly shared ownership linked to community transformation serves as the basis for equitable and inclusive local economies; and a new array of democratic institutions and local political engagement set in motion an “evolutionary reconstruction” of our political-economy. Designed as a small, easy to use handbook, The Pluralist Commonwealth provides concrete and hopeful examples of what can be done locally to build a new, truly democratic political economy from the ground up. The book is available for free online, and a limited number of hard copies are available for local reading and organizing groups; if you are interested in receiving a copy for these purposes, please let us know. 

One of the hallmarks of The Democracy Collaborative is linking the big vision of what’s possible to focused, on-the-ground practice in communities across the country. One way we do this is by working directly with anchor institutions, including hospitals, universities, community foundations and local government to foster community wealth building. Earlier this month, The Democracy Collaborative launched the Healthcare Anchor Network, a group of more than 30 health systems working to improve community well-being by building inclusive and sustainable local economies. Participants in the meeting worked on developing plans to scale these approaches in their own communities and across the sector. What was perhaps most inspiring was to learn of so much work already happening and to witness the wealth of knowledge and commitment in the room. Read more about the meeting and the work of the Network in a blog post from Network member Kaiser Permanente. 

Commitment to these new approaches and to community wealth building is also growing in localities across the U.S. and abroad. I had the opportunity to contribute an essay to the newly released Colorado Impact Report which brings together several leading efforts to build more inclusive and sustainable economies in Colorado. Co-produced by Cornerstone Capital Group and KP Advisors, the anthology details place-based impact investing and other community wealth building initiatives taking place across the state. Meanwhile, across the pond in the United Kingdom, just days before its successful showing in the recent general election, the UK’s Labour Party released a report by an expert group on alternative ownership models, focusing on how worker ownership, cooperatives, municipal ownership, and public ownership at the national level can be used to address rising inequality. Read the full report here.

This month also saw a number of exciting developments in the field of worker ownership: The Democracy Collaborative’s Fifty by Fifty initiative has published a new report on the role impact investing can play in scaling employee ownership, authored by Mary Ann Beyster, president and trustee of the Foundation for Enterprise Development (FED). Read more below. Democracy Collaborative Vice President and Senior Fellow Marjorie Kelly recently spoke at the annual Vermont Employee Ownership Conference about the transformative opportunity for advancing worker ownership through business transitions as baby boomers retire. Read more about her remarks in the VT Digger.

Finally, I would like to extend a welcome to Lauren Worth who is joining our Washington, DC office as a Program Associate in our healthcare engagement division and Molly McSweyn, our new communications intern. 

Sincerely,

Ted Howard
President & Co-Founder, The Democracy Collaborative