An Illinois Community Wealth Building Action Agenda

Ted Howard

On April 24th, The Democracy Collaborative’s Executive Director Ted Howard presented testimony before Illinois’ Governor’s Task Force on Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise. His presentation and companion brief outlined low-cost, high-return steps that could be implemented in Illinois to help build stronger communities.

This action agenda would position the state as the leader in adopting a comprehensive community wealth building strategy, effectively leveraging its assets to help individuals build wealth, creating community-owned businesses that anchor resources in communities, and linking anchor institution procurement needs and public expenditures to community businesses.