Investments in communities from outside investors may create some benefit, but rarely build long term power for communities. We promote investment efforts that share decision making with communities: Participatory Investment.
Investment into communities is one of the most dominant forces in shaping lives, particularly for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and working class communities. When we think about issues relevant to place-based investment, we often think about how real estate investment leads to rising rents and displacement, how finance favors large corporations over Main Streets, and the lack of investment for positive projects like affordable housing and small businesses. But even mission-aligned capital can often contribute to those issues.
A major issue with place-based investments is that they are largely out of the control of those whom it affects. Investment efforts should not happen “to” communities, but “with” them; they should respond to, address, and be accountable to the visions, needs, and aspirations of the community itself.
There are many initiatives around the U.S. that are charting a new way for how to place communities at the center of investments. We call this practice Participatory Investment (previously referred to as Grassroots Community Engaged Investment, or GCEI), or the process of investing with meaningful input, decision-making power, and/or ownership from grassroots stakeholders. Participatory Investment projects are building power for their communities, demonstrating an alternative to business as usual that bakes in ownership and democracy into place-based investment.
We've studied and worked with these initiatives to gain an understanding of how communities can govern capital and build the things they need. One theme that comes up over and over with community leaders is the need to build ownership though community real estate vehicles, home equity, and housing development. This work is addressed more in depth in our Community Owned Real Estate (CORE) Program.
We are spreading the narrative around the need for rethinking power dynamics in investment. So far, we’ve released a report on Participatory Investment, launched a multi stakeholder Discussion Series, and created a Learning Hub that describes what PI is and what each stakeholder can do to support the ecosystem. We're continuing our research and talking to projects and their supporters to learn more about emerging projects, so we can continue creating materials and educational experiences.
For organizations (like foundations, lenders, or government agencies) who want to dig deeper into supporting Participatory Investment approaches, we have developed a modular curriculum to introduce Participatory Investing and develop recommendations for action. Recent examples of such educational engagements include a three-part training for funders that we delivered with the Center for Cultural Innovation, and a three-part workshop for the Beneficial State Foundation on how the banking sector can adopt Participatory Investment as a strategy for wealth and power building in the communities they serve.
We are always open to conversations with partners who are interested in bringing a Participatory Investment workshop to their organization or team.
We support collaboratives that are moving capital in alignment with Participatory Investment. We're able to leverage our knowledge on Participatory Investment to support grassroots leaders develop investment strategies, connect and convene relevant actors, and ensure that institutional support is done in appropriate and thoughtful ways. Currently, we are working with Colorado’s Office of the Just Transition, the Natural Resource Defense Council, Harvard Initiative for Responsible Investment, and other partners to develop community-led investments in post-coal communities in Colorado, and are exploring more opportunities.
Learn all about Participatory Investment and specific GCEI projects that are developing innovative ways to involve community members in investment decision making.
The Participatory Investment Learning Hub
