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In this month’s newsletter, we continue to explore themes of democracy, hope, and resilience as we navigate our current political climate. As many of us tap into rapid response efforts to support targeted communities, we are reminded of the powerful reflections in Shaping Change in Uncertain Times by our Co-Executive Director Shari Davis, which reminds us of the liberated future we’re building together. Our team is hard at work, now more than ever to build a future rooted in economic democracy that centers the livelihood of all people and our planet. Join us in these moments of reflection, connection, and action as we continue to co-create a more resilient future.
CED joins the Anti-War Contingent at the People’s March in Washington D.C.!
On January 18, a coalition of organizations marched in an anti-war contingent at the People’s March for an end to genocide and investment in life! CED joined groups like Rising Majority, Jewish Voices for Peace, Movement for Black Lives, Adalah Justice Project and more to stand against militarism, climate destruction, anti-immigrant policies, transphobia, homophobia, and sexism — and for collective liberation.
Later in the day, folks gathered for a people’s assembly and training where activists from across the country fighting on various issues drew lines of connection and solidarity. At CED, we know that in order to resist authoritarianism, we have to draw the dots between all of our struggles – from Palestine to the fight to end racist policing, the attacks on immigrants, climate disasters, corporate greed, and more.
Join us in the fight for the future we deserve. We will not stop resisting fascism — it’s our duty to fight and birth a new world. Hopelessness is a privilege we can’t afford, and we remain steadfast for our people and communities.
A couple of weeks ago Partners for Dignity and Rights released their Co-Governance and Participatory Democracy in Action Map, detailing powerful examples of community and government working together to build power. This tool aims to uplift powerful examples of co-governance strategies. While not comprehensive, it demonstrates a wide spectrum of work being done across the nation to build community governance structures, exercise decision making power, and engage governing institutions in various cities and communities.
Highlighted on the map, the Massachusetts region includes CED’s work done in deep collaboration with both our Better Budget Alliance and the Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power. We encourage you to read more about the way we have been working to build structures for deeper co-governance in the realms of municipal budgets through participatory budgeting as well as workplace democracy through lobbying for increased state funding towards employee ownership efforts.
Union and coop solidarity is on the rise in New England - check out the three part series!
Unions and worker-owned cooperatives are two branches of the labor movement. They are forms of working class self-organization towards economic democracy and collective liberation.
Strategic coordination between unions and worker-owned coops is on the rise in New England. Unionized workers have started their own worker-owned businesses, union organizers are helping incubate coops in the emerging cannabis industry, and worker-owners are fighting alongside unions to build worker power.
These stories express the deep strategy behind integrated “resist and build” organizing – both resisting economic exploitation and exclusion, while also building the new economy we all need. Please enjoy and share these hopeful stories sparked by the Center for Economic Democracy in collaboration with New Economy Coalition and Public News Service:
Want to hear more stories about worker power and cooperation? If you’re in Boston, head over to Democracy Brewing on Thursday, February 13th for a Night of Organizer Storytelling (and all-you-can-eat tacos)! CED’s very own Sarah Assefa, organizer of the COWOP coalition, will share captivating tales.
Boston residents: VOTE among ideas to improve your community in the City's new participatory budgeting process!
The Participatory Budgeting process in Boston is now in its final stage which is VOTING! There are 14 project proposals as finalists which come from narrowing down from over 1,000 ideas submitted in summer of 2024 by Boston residents.
There are so many amazing projects being proposed, including a pilot program to increase youth jobs and their wages, rental assistance for young people, increasing access to benches in different bus stops, expanding access to fresh food, and more!
BOSTONIANS: From January 15th to February 15 you can vote online, available in multiple languages, by visiting bit.ly/BostonVote. In-person voting will unfortunately ONLY take place at City Hall through a paper ballot. However, you can visit any Boston Public Library to receive assistance casting your online vote.
In late February when voting has concluded, the projects with the most votes will receive funding totaling up to $2 million. The Better Budget Alliance, following a successful resolution passed by City council, is calling on Mayor Wu to release the additional ~$3M in funds locked away in reserves. These funds should be used towards actualizing the winning projects and doubling the impact of participatory budgeting in its inaugural pilot cycle.
CED welcomes two new staff members to our team!
CED is so happy to start the new year off joined by our two newest team members, May Pojoy Pérez and Nairuti Shastry. May joins us as our new Communications and Education Associate and Nairuti as our Director of Policy and Research.
We asked each of them to share examples of economic democracy that inspire them. Read more about what they had to say below:
May: Local and national immigrant-owned worker co-ops inspire me because, despite facing systemic and language barriers, they have created meaningful alternatives to traditional employment. Their resilience and unwavering commitment to creating the world they envision highlight the power of collective action. These co-ops contribute to a more inclusive – circular economy, challenging the extractive capitalist models in place. By continuously disrupting the status quo, they remind us that change is possible—and that solutions can be as diverse and unique as the communities they serve.
Nairuti: I tip my hat to the grueling, nerdy, and not-very-sexy-yet-so-critical work and workers of movement finance. From RUNWAY reimagining Black communities’ relationships with banks to Revalue and other radical financial planners renegotiating the concepts of risk and return to Indigenous leaders like Edgar Villaneuva decolonizing wealth via philanthropy to Jenny Kassan and other movement lawyers leading to way to better resource BIPOC communities to leaders around the country developing new and innovative community investment vehicles to CED’s very own work on social movement investing, I am deeply moved by those audacious enough to fight wealth supremacy in the United States and beyond.
Keep a look out for their formal bios on the staff page of our website, coming soon!
