Co-ops, Community Wealth Building—and a quick guide to community building careers

1. Co-ops, Community Wealth Building—and a quick guide to community building careers Steve Dubb The Democracy Collaborative University of Maryland, College Park sgdubb@yahoo.com www.community-wealth.org NASCO Institute Ann Arbor, Michigan November 2, 2013

2. Community Wealth Building • democratizes wealth: promotes common ownership of productive assets (businesses) • anchors capital and jobs locally • stops the leakage of dollars from communities • contributes to local economic stability• comes in many forms — co-ops are one form of community wealth building among many (broader solidarity economy)

3. 30,000 U.S. Cooperatives 73,000 Places of Business Economic Impact of U.S. Co-ops: Assets $ 3 Trillion Revenues $ 654 Billion Wages & Benefits $ 75 Billion 2 Million Jobs 857,000 direct

4. Co-ops in Canada • 9,000 cooperatives and credit unions in Canada • 18 million members (more than 50% of population) • Employ 150,000 people • 100,000 volunteer directors and committee members • Highest per capita credit union membership in the world

5. What is a CDC? • Community development corporations are community-based non-profits that work in low and moderate income communities (typically, 80% of area median income or below). • Founded as part of civil rights movement in the 1960s; goal is to allow low-income residents to exert economic control over their communities.

6. CDC National Groups • LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) • Enterprise Community Partners • NeighborWorks America These groups are known as intermediaries because they funnel dollars either from banks and private donors (LISC & Enterprise) or the federal government (NeighborWorks) to local CDCs. They also provide technical assistance & education.

7. What is a CDFI? • Community Development Financial Institutions include credit unions, loan funds, banks, and venture capital firms that finance development in low-income communities. • Many CDFIs were founded as part of civil rights movement to combat red-lining. Loan volume has climbed from $2 billion in 1999 to over $60 billion today. • Although not certified as such by the government, the Kagawa Fund is effectively a miniature CDFI.

8. CDFI National Groups • Opportunity Finance Network represents banks & loan funds (including Northcountry, NCB Capital Impact & Cooperative Fund of New England) • Association for Enterprise Opportunity represents micro-lenders. • National Federation of Community of Community Development Credit Unions (Natfed) represents low-income community credit unions.

9. What is a community land trust? • Non-profit board typically has one-third residents, one-third non-resident community members, and one-third government officials (can vary). • Most commonly “shared equity”—for instance, residents may get 25% of the equity gain while the other 75% of the gain is held by the trust. • Trade association: National Community Land Trust Network

10. National Community Organizing Networks Church-based • Direct Action for Research & Training (DART) • Gamaliel Foundation • People Improving Communities through Organizing (PICO) Individual membership based • Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) • National People’s Action (NPA) Washington DC advocacy-based • Center for Community Change (CCC) • National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC)

11. Co-op Websites(courtesy of Nicholas Harvey) • Quite a long list of job openings at Organic Valley • Farmers Cooperative jobs • Jobs with Energy Cooperatives • NCBA/CLUSA big list of job openings • US Federation of Worker Cooperatives job board

12. Nonprofit Job Sites(courtesy of Nicholas Harvey) Philanthropy News Digest job classified page Nonprofitjobs.org nonprofit-jobs.org Idealist.org Bridgespan - nonprofit job board Common Good careers (mostly management) opportunityknocks.org ("Jobs that change the world") DeepSweep - a small nonprofit job board Nonprofit Opportunities site

13. Educational Resources • COMM-ORG - http://comm-org.wisc.edu Lists community organizer and university-based community development education programs. • Saint Mary’s University (Halifax, Nova Scotia) http://www.smu.ca/academic/sobey/mm/ Provides cooperative and credit union management education. • Highlander Research and Education Center www.highlandercenter.org Based near Knoxville, TN and in operation since 1932, known for its civil rights work. • Midwest Academy www.midwestacademy.com Provides training in direct action organizing. Trainings held regionally throughout the United States.

14. Leading Graduate Schools for Community Change Work • General Community Economic Development: U of Illinois at Chicago, Concordia (Montreal) Building nonprofit organizations; Nonprofit management Community economic development; Housing development Community Organizing and Public Policy • Planning and Urban Studies (MIT, Cornell, UCLA) GIS (Geographic Information Systems) mapping Housing; Economic and social planning Participatory planning and participatory research Study of roles of public, private, and nonprofit sectors Source: Andrew Mott, University Education for Community Change (2005)

15. Leading Graduate Schools for Community Change Work •Schools of Social Work (U. of Maryland-Baltimore, U. of Michigan-Ann Arbor) • Analysis of social problems and programs • Community organizing; community process skills • Organizational development; study of race and diversity • Public Policy (Carleton U. (Ottawa), U. of Maryland-College Park) • Critical analysis of democratic practice • Community organizing; participatory techniques Source: Andrew Mott, University Education for Community Change (2005)

16. Thanks! Questions? Steve Dubb Research Director, The Democracy Collaborative sgdubb@yahoo.com www.community-wealth.org