bold idea
Build collective wealth for Black communities throughout the African diaspora by organizing a transnational mutual support network for Black cooperatives and Black-led cooperative support organizations.
organization overview
Collective Diaspora builds regenerative economies grounded in racial and gender equity through the development and growth of Black cooperatives around the world. It is building a member-led online community for Black cooperatives and Black-led cooperative support organizations to exchange information and resources. This includes forums for direct communication, shared resource libraries, online courses, Black-centered co-op promotional materials, and exchanges of goods and services. By building a tightly woven ecosystem of support around Black cooperatives, Collective Diaspora increases the wealth and resilience of the co-ops themselves, their members, and the communities they belong to.
Personal Bio
Omar Freilla, co-founder and steering committee member of Collective Diaspora, is a serial trailblazer, social entrepreneur, and movement builder dedicated to community self-determination and regenerative economies. His work is grounded in his experience growing up in the South Bronx amid fights for community self-determination. His years at the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance and Sustainable South Bronx led him to cooperatives as a tool for building economies that are just and regenerative. He founded Green Worker Cooperatives, created the first business accelerator for worker cooperatives in the United States, and pioneered new approaches to cooperative development. He also co-founded local and national cooperative support organizations: the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, the Democracy At Work Institute, and the NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives. He is an adjunct lecturer at the City College of New York, serves on the City of New York’s Environmental Justice Advisory Board, and is a member of New York State’s Just Transition Working Group. He enjoys family time with his two children and wife at home in the Bronx.
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Impact Location ?
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