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

careers

Steve DubbThe Democracy Collaborative

University of Maryland, College Parksgdubb@yahoo.com

www.community-wealth.org

NASCO InstituteAnn Arbor, MichiganNovember 2, 2013

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)

30,000 U.S. Cooperatives30,000 U.S. Cooperatives73,000 Places of Business

Assets$ 3 Trillion

Revenues$ 654 Billion

Economic Impact Economic Impact of U.S. Co-ops:of U.S. Co-ops:

Wages & Benefits$ 75 Billion

2 Million Jobs 857,000 direct

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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)

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

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

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 Centerwww.highlandercenter.org Based near Knoxville, TN and in operation since 1932, known for its civil rights work.

• Midwest Academywww.midwestacademy.com Provides training in direct action organizing. Trainings held regionally throughout the United States.

Leading Graduate Schools for Community Change Work

• General Community Economic Development: U of Illinois at Chicago, Concordia (Montreal)Building nonprofit organizations; Nonprofit managementCommunity economic development; Housing developmentCommunity Organizing and Public Policy

• Planning and Urban Studies (MIT, Cornell, UCLA)GIS (Geographic Information Systems) mappingHousing; Economic and social planningParticipatory planning and participatory researchStudy of roles of public, private, and nonprofit sectors

Source: Andrew Mott, University Education for Community Change (2005)

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)

Steve DubbResearch Director, The Democracy

Collaborativesgdubb@yahoo.com

www.community-wealth.org

Thanks!

Questions?