The Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) helps run a cooperative loan fund project called Reinvest in Our Power. Reinvest in Our Power is a collaborative vehicle aligning groups, including CJA, to address inequity and democratize wealth by moving capital and governance from the extractive to regenerative economy.
Asheville, North Carolina
PODER Emma develops community ownership in the Emma neighborhood of Asheville, North Carolina. PODER Emma creates tools and strategies to prevent displacement and preserve the tight-knit nature of mobile home communities which keep their families safe.
Emma residents have a deep love for where they live, and PODER Emma and partner grassroots organizations have been working for more than a decade to build deep relationships; strengthen leadership skills and capacity in ourselves and our neighbors; and to cultivate a sense of place, belonging, identity, and culture. Over the years they have created community solutions to problems in their neighborhood that have created a collective belief that when community comes together it can improve their lives for themselves and future generations.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Co-op Cinci creates an economy that works for all — that supports family-sustaining jobs, provides business ownership opportunities for underserved and historically marginalized people, and is accountable to the communities that drive it.
$130,000
December 19, 2019
Refinancing and expansion
$20,000
October 18, 2019
A second startup loan for a cooperative daycare
$15,000
October 11, 2019
Startup capital for a residential cleaning cooperative
$32,500
March 9, 2018
Equipment purchase loan
Richmond, California
Cooperation Richmond builds community controlled wealth through worker-owned and community-owned cooperative businesses and enterprises by and for low-income communities and communities of color in Richmond whose wealth has been extracted.
They encourage, incubate, and facilitate the launch and successful operation of diverse cooperative enterprises in Richmond operated by local residents, especially those of us coming from legacies of systemic marginalization and barred opportunity.
$15,000
November 21, 2017
Store inventory line of credit
$20,000
September 25, 2017
Pilot loan for bike store improvements.
Detroit, Michigan
The Detroit Community Wealth Fund supports grassroots projects in the Detroit area that desire to become worker-run cooperatives. In addition to offering non-extractive loans, they run workshops and a ten-week cooperative academy.
Buffalo, New York
Cooperation Buffalo is a community-led resource center, a team of cooperative business developers and educators, and a community-controlled non-extractive loan fund. They mobilize workers to achieve economic security through cooperative business ownership, generating wealth and power in communities most affected by inequality.
$87,500
December 22, 2017
Loan for the conversion of a childcare center
The South
The Southern Reparations Loan Fund (SRLF) is a network of non-extractive loan funds that make loans to community-based businesses anchored in the most marginalized Southern communities. All of SRLF’s work is done within a reparations framework, with the goal of building self-reliant, resilient, and just cooperative solidarity economies in marginalized communities in the South.
Los Angeles, California
L.A. Co-op Lab is a collective that builds capacity for worker ownership in Los Angeles. They host a variety of workshops and events where aspiring worker-owners can learn how to start and sustain a cooperative business, together.
Their aim is to advance worker-ownership as one way to push back against inequality, gentrification, and the gig economy by helping people who are often excluded from good jobs to collectively create their own and meet community needs.
$19,247
August 6, 2018
Bike store improvements
$19,000
August 6, 2018
Bike shop inventory line of credit
New York, New York
The Working World puts finance in the hands of working people without making them put down collateral or take on the burden of debt that may threaten their well-being. They do this by using applied research to promote a more inclusive form of ownership — businesses that are collectively run and owned by their workers and community — and tying loan returns to project success to minimize risk, both for their fund and the enterprises they help thrive.
$25,058
May 15, 2020
Contract financing for childcare network launch and outreach
$100,000
May 18, 2019
Line of credit
$18,200
May 1, 2019
Expansion of the daycare cooperative into a new location
$60,000
April 25, 2019
A bridge loan to improve profitability
$517,055
January 23, 2019
Supporting operating expenses as the business grows
$50,000
August 24, 2018
Line of credit for raw materials
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy (BRED) helps worker co-ops in the greater Baltimore area get the capital they need to start and grow. Their non-extractive lending process prioritizes inclusion and equity rather than locking communities out of the funding they need to start owning their economy. By combining the financing they offer with technical assistance and cooperative mentoring they support worker-owned businesses and give them a chance to thrive.
$66,000
May 8, 2020
Pint production expansion loan
$350,000
April 30, 2020
Real estate acquisition loan
$150,000
July 29, 2019
Line of credit loan
$177,093
May 17, 2018
Expansion into a new space
$25,000
February 5, 2020
Expanded line of credit
