Community Wealth Blog
The presence of the 2016 Republican National Convention cast a national spotlight on Cleveland, Ohio. Looking to highlight the struggles and hopes of ordinary low-income local residents, many visiting journalists found their way to the Evergreen Cooperatives, a group of three linked employee-owned social enterprises based in the Greater University Circle area of Cleveland's East Side.
Co-ops Gain Ground in Communities of Color
Originally published in Rooflines: The Shelterforce blog on July 7, 2016.
Since 2010, 60 percent of new cooperative worker-owners are people of color and more than two thirds of total worker-owners are women.
Community Groups Tackle Racialized Food System Inequality
Our Research Associate Emily Sladek writes on the capacity of local food systems to transform the paradigm of economic inequality, especially for low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
Green Taxi Cooperative: Building an alternative to the corporate "Sharing Economy"
After a drawn-out legal process, Green Taxi Cooperative received approval to operate its 800 driver-owned and -operated business in Denver, becoming the largest worker cooperative in the state of Colorado.
Can We Build a Movement for Structural Economic Change? We Must
Our Director of Special Projects Steve Dubb describes the need to link community economic development and the new economy movement in this Shelterforce Rooflines blog.
Infographic: Health Systems Adopting Anchor Strategies
This infographic cites exemplary practices already in place at anchor institutions - place-based hospitals and universities - that work towards more inclusive and local hiring practices as a way to build wealth in their surrounding communities.
State legislatures attacking community wealth building
The eyes of the country turned this spring to North Carolina, where the state legislature passed the infamous HB2 “bathroom bill” in order to overturn the efforts of the Charlotte city council to make public bathrooms inclusive and safe for transgender individuals. HB2—with its extraordinarily broad attacks on LGBT individuals’ rights to equal protection under the law—has been roundly condemned by everyone from grassroots activists to some of our country’s largest corporations, not to mention federal leaders from the DOJ and the White House.
Growing Healthcare’s Anchor Mission
On January 27, Democracy Collaborative Manager of Healthcare Engagement David Zuckerman joined leaders in healthcare on a web forum to discuss the emerging anchor mission model in healthcare. Hosted by Dialogue4Health, the forum brought together Steve Standley, Chief Administrative Officer of University Hospitals, Tyler Norris, Vice President of Total Health Partnerships at Kaiser Permanente, Amy Slonim, Senior Program Officer with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and Matthew Marsom, Vice President of Public Policy and Programs at the Public Health Institute.
Municipal leaders share visions for cities that build community wealth
How can cities redeploy their economic development resources to focus on building a more inclusive economy grounded in broad, local ownership? How can policymakers get strategies like worker cooperative development the support and resources needed to reach truly meaningful scale? How can collaborations between communities, local government, and key institutional stakeholders build pathways to economic equity for the people left behind by the traditional trickle-down economic playbook?
Health Care Confronts Challenge to Shift from “Volume to Value”
In this article written for the Rooflines blog, our Director of Special Projects Steve Dubb discusses the shift in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement from volume to value, and the implications this has for community economic development. Steve draws on our recent paper "Can Hospitals Heal America’s Communities?", co-authored by Democracy Collaborative President Ted Howard and Kaiser Permanente Vice President of Total Health Partnerships Tyler Norris, and discusses the shifting role of healthcare to improve health outside hospital walls.
“Coopify”: a new platform bringing broad-based ownership to your smartphone
Although worker cooperatives are gaining traction in many cities nationwide, one challenge they face as a movement is their ability to operate on large scales. Some argue that cooperatives can’t extend their benefits to larger audiences because of their focus on democratic participation and involvement of all individuals in proceedings of the organization. In other words, the famous cooperative tagline of “one worker, one vote” might seem to be a barrier to cooperative expansion.
A City with Opportunities for All: Toronto, Canada
Like many major metropolitan areas in the United States, Toronto is experiencing fast-paced growth. Canada's finance and business capital has more cranes in the sky than New York City—with nearly 50 percent more high-rises undergoing construction than in the big apple.