Welcome to CWB-COP
Welcome to the first Community Wealth Building - Community of Practice post!
This is a brand new opportunity to share information across our Community of Practice - or COP - ensuring we all stay informed and connected.
As our inboxes continue to be inundated with attention-worthy information, please spare a moment to consider the efforts of those we labor with and whose goals are aligned with our own. Together, we seek to utilize the tools of CWB to build an economy that reinforces the values of fairness and justice.
WEPOWER launches “Playbook”
This month, Community of Practice Members at WEPOWER launched “The Playbook,” a guide to establishing Community Wealth Building as the way to move St. Louis forward. The guide addresses issues such as poverty, employment, infrastructure and community.
“Our economy is like a river that has been dammed and diverted, forced into channels that serve extraction over collective well-being. But when obstacles are removed, rivers find their way back and life returns: fish spawn, plants root, wetlands breathe. We can restore the natural flow of a St. Louis economy that nourishes rather than depletes, that heals rather than harms.”
News from The Democracy Collaborative
Our principal focus at The Democracy Collaborative over the past few months has been on positioning our work in the current global and US context. This has meant an emphasis on the systemic nature of the crisis and pushing the real solutions we have available. It has meant especially focusing on the immediate and practical steps that people, and state and local leaders can take to protect their livelihoods and communities, as well as forging a medium-term path out of crisis by using Community Wealth Building methods and approaches.
Our weekly news aggregator and round-up, Tracking the Crisis, continues providing up-to-date information regarding current events in the United States. Its success has even led to a write up in Co-op News.
TDC staff and fellows have also been accepting more speaking engagements and invitations - an indication of the increased interest in Community Wealth Building and democratic economy solutions to the crisis.
These have included:
Creating a just economy through shared ownership – speech to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) Just Economy conference in Washington DC
Black philanthropists remember: What we need is system change – thoughts on the ABFE Harambee Annual Conference of Black philanthropy professionals
Community Wealth Building to Economic System Change – session at the recent online convergence towards Next System Teach-Ins in November 2025
Courage is key to unlock a democratic economy in Northern Virginia – speech at the DNOVA Summit
Trump and the Crisis: System Change from the Right? – opening remarks to the Resist & Build Summit in Atlanta
A Great Trump Crash? – online speech to a group of US labor organizers on prospects for an imminent financial crash
News from elsewhere
Awareness and use of the term ‘community wealth’ in government, policy and in the work of activists is becoming increasingly common in many places around the world. Often signifying general development and/or effective redistribution of wealth, this use of 'community wealth' is obviously the sign of a growing movement. However, use of a term is not in itself a sign of actual deployment, or an advancement of the CWB agenda.
That said, it's evident that ‘community wealth’ as a term has real power when matched with ‘Community Wealth Building’ and the Five Pillar model.
Of note is work conducted in Scotland. Following the Five Pillar model, Scotland has adopted CWB as a national program, with many local councils and organisations taking CWB forward. Furthermore, the Scottish government recently announced its intent to enact national CWB legislation - a world first!
In Australia, interest continues to grow and The Democracy Collaborative's Global lead for Community Wealth Building, Neil McInroy, recently conducted a five state tour, meeting with hundreds of activists, policy makers, politicians and economic development practitioners. Particular interest in specific places is being advanced.
Work on Community Wealth Building in South Korea is being led by the think tank Hope Institute, who have championed CWB and are now working with local councils to advance the model. A delegation of South Korean mayors and officials are visiting Scotland this July to further this knowledge exchange. And TDC will be launching a joint publication with the Hope Institute on CWB practice in South Korea come August.
And, of course, interest and work on CWB continues in many other places across the globe. TDC has recently engaged in interactions with colleagues working on Net Zero and CWB in Canada and UK, as well as Neighborhood CWB activity in Nieuw West In Amsterdam, England, Ireland, Europe, and New Zealand.
Upcoming events
Thursday, July 24 - Together We Thrive: Journey to Employee Ownership
Tuesday, July 29 - Next CWB-COP Meeting
What’s happening?
Share what is going on in your neck of the woods by clicking here.
