Convening, Recruiting, and Connecting People Who Repair Local Economies
CategoriesCatalytic Capital Innovation StackPhoto Courtesy of RI Community Investment Cooperative This post follows Kevin’s introduction to Diversified Community Investment Funds The DCIF model is not a standalone tool. Its popularity has caught on because of its unique portfolio anchored by real-estate investments likely to appreciate and its accessibility to non-accredited investors as a pathway toward sustainable local investment. […]
CategoriesCatalytic Capital Innovation StackImage courtesy of NC3 Tracy Loh studies community capital at Brookings Institute, Metro. When she talks about the Diversified Community Investment Fund — the DCIF — the first thing she says isn’t about returns or impact. “It’s already legal,” she told me. “It doesn’t require any action on the part of Congress, or a state […]
CategoriesOwnership MattersLast year’s Neighborhood Economics conference in Chicago proved to be a pivotal moment for New Majority Capital (NMC)’s expansion to the midwest, reinforcing both the power of place-based engagement and the growing momentum behind entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) as a pathway to inclusive ownership. NMC participated in the event as both an attendee and a […]
Photo courtesy of East Tennessee Farmland Commons Food justice is often talked about in the context of addressing food deserts, with the goal of getting a grocery store or setting up a community garden to increase access to healthy options. But at The Farmers Land Trust, a national nonprofit transacting farmland into community ownership, food […]
CategoriesEcosystem AnalysisFor years we have been teaching the Field Guide to Transformation as a forensic player map. Who is on the field? What role are they playing? Is there a System Entrepreneur calling plays? Is there a Finance Wizard devising funding innovations? Has the local Prophet been co-opted by the institution they were supposed to hold […]
CategoriesEcosystem AnalysisI’ve been working on a book with Rosa Lee. Our working title is This Shit Works — And Why It Matters. One of my tasks has been compiling case studies of economic justice solutions, projects like Buy Back the Block, which enables average people in poor neighborhoods to become owners of commercial real estate in […]
CategoriesAccess to CapitalA group of CDFI and other innovative finance professionals who attended the recent Neighborhood Economics conference in Chicago have been hard at work. They’re building a playbook to address a thorny community investment problem: CDFI capital often doesn’t reach entrepreneurs from marginalized communities, who are more likely to lack collateral or the friends-and-family funding to […]
CategoriesCollective TurnFor years, Neighborhood Economics has focused on the mechanics of local repair: entrepreneurship as a path to wealth for marginalized communities, community-owned real estate, housing that’s “more affordable than affordable,” faith-friendly participation, and the catalytic capital that makes all of it possible. But a new chapter is opening—one that goes beyond individual ownership or single […]
CategoriesInnovation StackThere’s a particular kind of magic that happens when people who are repairing local economies find each other. Not in an abstract, “let’s collaborate someday” kind of way — but in a real-time spark that produces something new. At Neighborhood Economics, we’ve started to call that the place where solutions have babies. From Libraries of […]
CategoriesChicagoEarlier this month, the Neighborhood Economics conference came to Chicago – a city alive with energy, creativity, and a fierce commitment to building stronger, more connected neighborhoods. Opening remarks from Alison Clark, the Associate Director of Impact Investing at the MacArthur Foundation, and one of the event’s key sponsors, set the tone with reflections on […]
