2023 Fall Funder Series: A Vision for Economic Democracy

The US economy and democracy are in crisis. Our economic system based on free market strategies has created a legacy of underinvestment, corporate consolidation, and massive concentrations of wealth resulting in widespread economic insecurity, limited opportunities for small businesses, persistent racial wealth and wage gaps, and record income inequality —  especially for workers and families of color. Vast disparities in economic power have also been translated into vast disparities in political power, and public policies that no longer serve the public.

Join us for our 2023 Fall Funder Series to explore efforts to redistribute power among government, businesses, workers, and communities to build a more democratic economy that works for all of us. 

This series is for funders and philanthropic advisors whose primary activity is grantmaking. Staff from philanthropic serving organizations are also eligible to join. Contact us with any questions about your registration eligibility at csiegel@eofnetwork.org.

Virtual Webinar | 2:00 – 3:00pm ET

Public options are goods or services that are publicly owned, available to all, and paid for collectively through taxation. Over the last few decades, increasing privatization has eroded the availability of public options and excluded Americans from actively engaging in our economy and decision-making. Public options offer an opportunity to distribute ownership, and decision-making power across the tax base and ensure that power is not concentrated among the wealthy few.

Join us to learn more about recent efforts to expand and reframe how we define public goods and ensure that those goods and services are fully funded, community-owned, and accountable and how these efforts improve the economy and public engagement.

Speakers:

• Harish Patel, Vice President, Build the Field, Economic Security Project (Moderator)
• Angela Hanks, Chief of Programs, Demos
• Deyanira Del Río, Co-Director, New Economy Project

Virtual Webinar | 1:00 – 2:00pm ET

Corporate concentration has increased persistently over the past century, channeling power away from people and communities into the hands of the wealthy few and creating competitive disadvantages for smaller, entrepreneurial businesses, especially in Black and Brown communities.

Join us to learn more about a range of promising interventions — including modernizing antitrust legislation, restoring agencies’ regulatory and enforcement power, and establishing a more equitable tax code — that are working to rightsize corporate power and foster a private sector that works in tandem with a thriving public sector to serve the public good.

Speakers:

• Niko Lusiani, Director, Corporate Power, Roosevelt Institute (Moderator)
• Stacy Mitchell, Co-Executive Director, Institute for Local Self-Reliance
• Eric Harris Bernstein, Policy Director, We Make Minnesota

Virtual Webinar | 1:00 – 2:00pm ET

Distance between those who set the rules and those who work by, live by, and are impacted by the rules creates an opportunity for distrust, disengagement, and potentially abuse. With the decades-long decline of unions, erosions in regulations supporting employee power, and greater inequality between the compensation of owners and employees, worker influence over and engagement in workplace decisions may be at an all-time low. At the same time, the voice of everyday people is increasingly undermined by the influence of money in our political system. At all levels of government, elected officials face pressures from paid lobbyists representing corporate interests, while people in communities lack both the resources and transparency in the process to weigh in on critical decisions over public resources. Co-governance and shared ownership models allow people to directly participate in decision making at their workplace or in their community.

Join us to learn more about innovative solutions being implemented across the country to counter decades of declining power and engagement among workers and citizens.

Speakers:

• Lauren Jacobs, Executive Director, PowerSwitch Action (Moderator)
• Shari Davis, Co-Executive Director, Participatory Budgeting Project
• Alex Papali, Director of Regional Economies, Center for Economic Democracy

In-Person Meeting | 10-3pm | Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, New York
Hosted by: Economic Opportunity Funders, Funders for a Just Economy, Ford Foundation 

Industrial policy is making a comeback in the United States. Sweeping legislation — including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act — present a once-in-a-generation opportunity to advance worker and community-centered investments and help lay the foundation for a more just, inclusive, and democratic economy. The ability of the federal government to perform after decades of underinvestment, particularly for workers and families of color, is about to be tested. Charitable foundations have an important role to play in ensuring that this opportunity is widely understood and equitably implemented.

Join us to learn more about philanthropic efforts taking place at the national, state, and local levels to support the effective and equitable implementation of these historic federal investments. Through sharing and facilitated conversation, participants will have the opportunity to provide updates on their funding strategies and priorities, explore how their work is evolving in response to the current environment, and work collectively to identify opportunities for alignment and collaboration.

Registration Opening Soon!