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This week we’re talking about the prospects of Economic Democracy in the wake of the latest election, the challenges facing worker-owners of color, #RemakingTheEconomy series launch and neighborhood parliaments in India. Plus, jobs and events galore!
PS: We have something they don’t have: each other. NEC is over halfway to our goal of $100,000 in our #MakingWaves fundraising campaign, and over 90% of contributions have been from individuals! There is a fierce power in many small donations. Will you make a contribution to change the current?
Stories From the Field
Progressives Are Pushing Economic Democracy: Calls for economic democracy could finally find representation in the halls of Congress. These calls should be heeded, because the grassroots is arriving and they’re carrying with them plans for a Green New Deal, Community Land Trusts, Participatory Budgeting, Public Banks, and Worker Cooperatives. They want to see the government commit to a vision where we democratize land, labor and money from the bottom up. NEC and some members are lifted up by Truthout.
20/20 Vision Coming To Baltimore: When a $20 million dollar fund for affordable housing was approved in 2016, but officials showed a lack of urgency in dispersing the money where the communities wanted it, NEC member organization National Economic & Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) supported – as part of the Baltimore Housing Roundtable – a new effort to not only democratize decision making, but create more jobs along with the housing. Read about their efforts for community ownership of homes and labor.
Reparations in this Nation: This summer, at NEC member organization’s US Federation of Worker Cooperatives & Democracy At Work Institute’s National Worker Cooperative Conference, we heard: “Just because you have a cooperative doesn’t mean that you have economic justice, but if we can talk honestly about this country’s wealth and the origins of that wealth, we can change that.” This feature piece in YES! Magazine’s new Good Money Issue, takes a deep-dive into the limits to depending on worker coops and credit unions alone to close the racial wealth gap. Read the piece by Zenobia Jeffries Warfield.
Solidarity Economies Abroad
Ranking The World’s 300 Largest Cooperatives: This report from the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (EURICSE), paints a picture of the scale and strength of the global cooperative movement. Find it here.
Neighborhood Parliaments in India: In an interview conducted by Jerry Koch-Gonzalez of NEC member organization, Sociocracy for All, Edwin M. John discusses the localized decision-making institutions arising in Indian neighborhoods amongst children and adults. Watch the interview.
Free The Land In The UK: In an effort to challenge existing power structures and gain support for the Labour Party, John McDonnell raised the framework of Community Land Trusts, the ride of which he believes “could be fundamentally important.” The New Statesman has the rest.
NPQ’s Building A Democratic Economy
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Kicking off Nonprofit Quarterly’s seven-part Building a Democratic Economy webinar series, the first piece, titled “Remaking The Economy,” includes a brief interview with Gar Alperovitz, political economist and co-founder of the Democracy Collaborative—and a panel moderated by NPQ Senior Editor Steve Dubb, in which Edgar Villanueva, author of Decolonizing Wealth; Maliki Kenyatta Yakini, executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network; and Deborah Frieze, founder of Boston Impact Initiative, who discuss the ways in which nonprofits and community groups can act to overcome structural barriers and support a more people-centered economy. Watch the first installment of the series here!
Sorry To Bother You Study Guide
Current resources and historical context on labor movements, unions and worker co-ops are critical tools amidst today’s noisy landscape. The work of NEC member organizations – like Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) United, Jobs with Justice, Coworker.org, U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, Participatory Budgeting Project, and Shareable – are lifted up in this resource to popularize the real-time movements to secure better livelihoods for all. Whether you’ve seen the new movie Sorry To Bother You or not, this Study Guide Document is worth a look.
Movement News
- Worker Cooperative Resolution Passes Unanimously in Cook County
- Fossil Fuel Money Crushed Clean Energy Ballot Initiatives Across the Country
- New Cleveland Fund Will Acquire Businesses and Sell Them Back to Workers
- From Prep School to Class Traitor
- Climate Activists to Nancy Pelosi: Go Big or We Won’t Go Home
- The Gateway Drug To Democracy
- Spreading the Good News of Worker-Owned Businesses in D.C.
- Video: Public Banking Made Simple
- A Progressive Foreign Policy Should Revolve Around Climate Change
- Freddie Mac to Offer Loan Support for Shared Equity Home Ownership
- Worker Ownership Initiative Launched by Nonprofit Lender in Nation’s Capital
- This Co-op Solar Project Will Be Owned by the Community Members it Benefits
- New Cleveland Fund Will Acquire Businesses and Sell Them Back to Workers
- Federal Communications Commission Scrutinizes Cell-Provider Disaster Responses
- Soil and Seaweed: Farming Our Way to a Climate Solution
- We Made A Free Documentary on How to Start a Worker Co-op
- The Boston Ujima Project is Working to Create Economic Equity for Artists
- If 1992 Was The Year Of The Woman, 2018 Is The Year Of Black & Brown Women
NEC on The Gram
Follow NEC on Instagram – @NewEconomyCoalition – where we’re sharing reminders of the collective liberation needed amidst the political division we live in today.
Campus Organizer, Divest Ed
Senior Digital Strategist, AFL-CIO
Various Positions, CODEPINK
Various Positions, Transform Finance
Upcoming Events
Worker Co-ops and Small Business Development Centers
Join NEC member organization, US Federation of Worker Cooperatives for a public policy discussion with the Policy and Advocacy Council of the USFWC, where we'll be discussing Small Business Development Centers, and how we can work with them to promote the Main Street Employee Ownership Act. (November 15 – Online)
First International EcoCultural Gathering of Sowers and Guardians of Water
A team of an International School of Ecosocialist Facilitators, coordinating with a local team of facilitators and translators will convene Plenary Assemblies, and Working Commissions in order to unite the struggles to change the model that affects all the watersheds of Mother Earth. (November 14-18 – Cochabamba, Bolivia)
Public Hearing on Economic Democracy
Sponsored by MIT Community Innovators Lab (MIT CoLab) in partnership with 13 New York City and State legislators representing the Bronx and Central Brooklyn, the Hearing on Economic Democracy will showcase the transformative potential of economic democracy to build a more just and sustainable city and state for New Yorkers of color. Diverse stakeholders from across the five boroughs will testify on the strategic collaborations and grassroots initiatives advancing economic democracy that are positioning New York as a national and global leader in innovative and equitable urban development. (November 20 – New York City)
Climate Finance Day
The UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative and Finance for Tomorrow, Paris EUROPLACE’s initiative on green and sustainable finance, are joining forces for three days of action on sustainable finance in the city where decisive commitments on climate change were made in 2015. Join to gain insight on the most innovative initiatives aimed to accelerate the financing of the UN SDGs & Paris Climate Agenda. (November 26-28 – Paris, France)
Sociocracy Workshop
This workshop will be facilitated by Jerry Koch-Gonzalez of NEC member organization, Sociocracy for All. In short, Sociocracy is a socially responsible system of governance that promotes power to the people and facilitates clear and just decisions. (December 1 – Worcester, MA)
The Centrality of Land in a Just Transition – A Webinar
The Climate Justice Alliance explains how a Just Transition is based on asserting the right of our communities to the resources required to create productive, dignified and ecologically sustainable livelihoods. Members of CJA are engaging in land-based interventions and strategies to build power and create the world we need. Join to learn about some of these strategies and to share your experiences. (December 4, 10AM – Webinar)
Buy less, share more: How the sharing economy improves wellbeing
This webinar features Tom Llewellyn from Shareable as the guest and will be hosted by the Network of Wellbeing (NOW). We will explore how we can work with others in our communities to create shared culture and a greater sense of place; Pathways to opting-in to creativity and connection over transactionalism and consumerism; How sharing our time, skills, and stuff can reduce loneliness while promoting social inclusion; and why we need not fear ‘others’ during times of crisis and disaster. (December 4, 6PM – Webinar)
People Powered East Bay Launch Party!
Celebrate economic transformation in the East Bay and the launch of two groundbreaking cooperatives! The East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative and People Power Solar Cooperative will engage everyday people – like YOU – to co-own, develop, and steward our community’s critical assets: permanently affordable real estate and renewable energy. Join a community leading the change and own a share of equitable real estate and clean energy in the East Bay! (December 5 – Oakland, CA)
Tools for Collective Self-Governance: A Nonprofit Democracy Network Gathering
This three day gathering will include education, conversation, and co-creation around common themes of collective leadership. The first day will focus on frameworks for organizational design and how those relate to systems change, identity, and liberation. On the second day, participants will break into smaller groups to dive deeper into specific issues and growing edges (e.g. staff/board structure, compensation policies). The third day will focus on identifying next steps and how to integrate learnings into your organizations. (Applications Due December 5 – Oakland, CA)
Center for Story-based Strategy's Regional Training: Intro to Story-based Strategy Application
This interactive session will provide participants with a practical framework to create powerful stories and hands-on tools for framing your issues. We will explore what it means to apply a “narrative analysis of power” to social change work and share the story-based strategy approach for developing campaign narratives. This training is perfect for organizers looking to ground themselves in winning framing and communication strategies, as well as anyone working for progressive change who wants to become a more strategic storyteller and story-changer. (December 10 – San Francisco, CA)
Healing Justice Podcast 1st Birthday Party & Live Show
Healing Justice Podcast is turning 1 and they’ve gathered an incredible panel of listeners, collaborators, and season 1 guests for a dynamic and interactive conversation about the state of healing in our movements, and where the work is leading in 2019. The show portion of the night will be transformed into a podcast episode to share with those who can't gather physically in Brooklyn. (December 11 – New York, NY)
Apply for the Cooperative Leadership Intensive
Join members of NYC co-ops and solidarity economy enterprises for a 5-day deep dive into how we work—individually, collectively, and in community. With curriculum developed in partnership with the Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance and delivered by skilled and seasoned facilitators. (Applications Due January 1st – New York, NY)
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