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
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. 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
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 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.
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)
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 MarylandCollege Park)
•
Critical analysis of democratic practice
•
Community organizing; participatory techniques
Source: Andrew Mott, University Education for Community Change (2005)
Thanks!
Questions?
Steve Dubb
Research Director, The Democracy Collaborative
sgdubb@yahoo.com
www.community-wealth.org