 Good morning So can we actually get people to fill in to the top? Can we bring it in a little bit make it a little bit more intimate since we've got enough space? exactly Get closer So thank you So we're gonna have a really lively conversation already I can tell because of all the laughter and everything going on this panel We're among friends My name is Rodney Foxworth. I'm executive director of Bali the business Alliance for local living economies And I'm pleased to be able to you know sort of try to host and moderate this conversation between these great people Investing in local economies for racial equity I'm going to just try to set the stage a little bit for this conversation because I think all of us On the panel everyone here for this conversation Probably has lived this quite a bit And understands the importance of why racial equity is important for having a thriving local economy so just for some you know just some some Staging and to ensure that we understand where we are in terms of the need for addressing the question of racial equity And addressing racial inequality particularly in the US. We're going to focus on the US for this conversation But some troubling data that I think is really Sort of driving these conversations particularly of late one of the things that we really have Sort of thought about and it was real I think two years ago by prosperity now when They did they issued a report that indicated that if the current economic trajectory continued in the United States that by 2053 the median household wealth for African-American households will be zero And in obviously in many communities for example in the city of Boston were a number of the folks that we work with at Bali are situated the median household wealth for African-Americans is already at eight dollars and According to the Federal Reserve, so I just wanted to like provide some context for this and also to recognize that we're going to be a Majority people of color country by 2040 2043 or so depending on what kind of data that you're looking at And so one of the questions that I always have that I always like to pose is what happens when we have a majority people of color country in which African-Americans Latinos and other communities of color are actually Below parry lawn that have zero to little wealth. What does that look like for all of us? So I like to make sure that we talk about this conversation and from the perspective of that It's not just an African-American Latino and indigenous communities challenge. It's actually a challenge for all of us So I wanted to set that grounding for why the work of the folks on this panel and many of the folks at this at Socap is so vitally important So I'm actually going to start to Go from my rights and introduce a maca Agbu She is actually I mean a maca Agbu consulting which really means that she is incorporated She has numerous subsidiaries of of wood of impact is one way to put it. I'm sorry I'm speaking truth like you speak truth on this panel. Okay So a maca is amazing has been a great inspiration for me I'm going to let her kind of kick off the conversation But before I do that, I'm just going to quickly introduce the other panelists I'm going to introduce Maria lesson donor who is at Mandela partners. He's also a Bali fellow enthused about As well as Alan Woods from mortar in Cincinnati, which is actually also run one one is partners Is Derek Brazil who's one of the Bali fellows as well and last but not least Ingrid Jacobson ICA fun. Good jobs, which is of course an amazing organization We've got quite a few folks here from ICA fun. Good jobs here today and some alumni as well But I want to kick off with the maca because I she has this as I told her the other night The other night I revealed that I have her on almost every pitched deck that I have and having a conversation about wealth and equality because One of the reasons why she's such a great inspiration for me is because she has this concept around restorative economics And I think the concept is really a great segue for having this conversation So a maca, can you explain a bit about what restorative economics means to you? Sure? Sure. Thanks Rodney, and I want to make sure you have my updated headshots for for all those slide decks, but It's just what I get from the Google search, so I don't know what I have But in all seriousness, thanks you all for making our conversation today I am really excited to be amongst friends talking about some really important work I'm also tough by sharing I come to this sector this field to this conference from someone who's worked in social justice work And the projects that I support we have experienced moments where we have gone to some foundations and on one side They'll actually say you know your project is really innovative really exciting We're gonna give you some money and then I'm like great Can you introduce us to your investment officer and within the same institution? That conversation with the investment officer will be one of your project is actually too risky And I lift this up to actually say I don't know that our movement actually our movement has not Done enough to actually address the deep divides around the racial wealth gap that Rodney spoke to earlier And I think we've seen through the subprime mortgage crisis in the recent tax reform that that gap is only continuing to widen And so restorative economics is a framework that calls us into being really intentional about how we reinvest resources and Center the most impacted communities right those that had been locked out left behind those that have been marginalized I'm talking about formally incarcerated people low-income communities of color trans women Undocumented people how do we actually invest resources into the projects that need the capital in a way that helps to also move us away From an extractive economy rooted in a model of individual riches and towards shared prosperity and creating spaces where we're actually allowing those same communities To come together and have more self-determination Determination autonomy and power around how their communities are designed and governed And so this framework is very much rooted in the indigenous practice of restorative justice where we focus in on accountability Reconciliation and repair to those communities that have been most harm and it's grounded in a reparations framework acknowledging that our economy has been systemically intentional about making sure that Communities of color and particularly black communities are not able to participate in a lot of the benefits that our economy has to offer and so Doing investments in a way that helps to repair that harm that incorporates an element of healing from trauma And that also helps to figure out how do we start to transition out of an economic model that has been harmful and into something That can be more hopeful. So that's why I call my work restorative economics Thank you Just really quickly because I I want to get a sense of you know why everyone comes to this work Oh, and so that would be a great way to introduce everyone and I one of the things that Comes to mind for me when Amaka sets things up is you know, the question of reparations, which I think is something that has been elusive And this entire conversation The idea that we have to heal To get equilibrium right to make sure that things are adjusted and also want to make sure too when we talk talk about reparations that for a lot of folks That also the oftentimes is really grounded in particularly for African-Americans simply talking about like slavery, right? but the reality of it is and I was reflecting on this recently myself when you think about the number of African-Americans and Latinos and others obviously indigenous communities Who have been completely excluded from a historical perspective post slavery? You know think about the history of sharecropping in the south for example that kept a lot of African-American families in debt To white landowners thinking about the conversation in myself reflecting on this my grandfather fought in Korea And it was denied his GI benefits because he was African-American right and the ripple effect that impacted my own family So it's we're not that far away When we have this conversation about reparations is actually a generation two generations And so the impact is real and I know that a lot of folks in this room understand that but I just want to make sure That's pronounced because that's certainly the reason why I do this work right is because it's actually it's very real to me It's very Immediate and so I just would like to start off with everyone else is to get a sense for example, Mariela Alan Ingrid, you know what really brings it to this work which has Driven you to do this because it's very difficult as we know so I would love to get a sense of what brought you here Everybody my name is Mariela Sedeño I'm the director of Vince development and lending at Mandela partners where nonprofit right across the bridge here in Oakland So The larger context stepping outside of Mandela. I'm from Venezuela. I'm from Latin America I moved here when I was around 10 years old and I come from a family that is very much rooted in this concept of equity and political voice and It's really I feel it's for me The work that I do now is very much grounded on both my history in Latin America as well as my experience as a new immigrant here in the United States And also recognizing my privilege. I had family here. I had a depth of networks I was able to get residency and citizenship and all these things that other folks have access to and even with that all that privilege I have very near Memories of some of the things that impacted me as I grew up here So I think for me what grounds me in my work is just the recognition that There is a wealth of asset base in these communities that we're talking about these communities that we come from and that the reason that we aren't able to Fully capitalize on the asset base is because of barriers barriers to entry barriers to investment barriers to language all all of these kinds of things that keep us in a Situation one that we didn't create and two that we don't want to continue to sustain ourselves in So that's what really grounds my work and I would say also that Whenever I think about this I work with entrepreneurs of color Who are coming to us for connection to resources connection to capital just you know therapy of walking through the entrepreneurship process and it always really stands out to me of with everybody that we talked to that there's this really intrinsic Hustle that we all have to have because we have to have it right Because we aren't coming from families of affluence where there's this very clear Road map of where we started and where we're gonna end up And so just by nature folks in our communities are incredibly entrepreneurial because that's how they have to be That's how they are able to survive and that's how we will be able to continue to build our own communities So yeah, so that's what brings me to this work I'm based in Cincinnati, Ohio, so I'm in the middle of the map And what brings me to the work that we do at mortar is that we understand that there are people with talents gifts And hustle they don't necessarily have the opportunities that other people have And so we started our work primarily working in communities that were on the brink of gentrification Specifically in a neighborhood called over the Rhine Which is based in the middle of Cincinnati Not far from the Ohio River and Imagine across the river is Kentucky. So There was slavery on one side of a river and then there were a lot of people who lost their lives Attempting to cross the river to get to Cincinnati. So we are on the brink of a lot of things And so in this community of over the Rhine About 20 years ago was 90% African-American 15 years ago. There was a police involved shooting which led to riots and destruction and surprise property values dropped and then People purchased those properties and the people who purchased those properties were not the people who lived in the community Nor did they resemble them And so 15 years later, we have a situation where now the neighborhood is 60% African-American The Urban League in a recent study said that we were the number one Neighborhood for income disparity the building where the mortar office is is section 8 housing above us across the street. There is condo units that are $750,000 So there's this dichotomy that happens when you walk down the street and this coexistence that happens In this neighborhood and I think that the thing that really was the kicker for us was when the gentrified soul food restaurant opened and Nothing does it like mac and cheese, you know So you have these these these aunts and these grandmothers and all of these people who have been making soul food for Generations and maybe even selling plates of soul food after church They just don't know how to convert that hustle into a legitimate business And they're trying to figure that out and for us walking down the street and realizing that About at that time about 2% of the businesses were owned and operated by African-Americans In a neighborhood that was at that time about 75% African-American was the that was the the thing the spark that we needed to get started And so we just started reaching out to people all of the my past collections of entrepreneurship Finally are being used at this point. I started my first business at 12, you know I met Gordon Parks and I said I want to be a photographer And then I understood that from just that really brief interaction How valuable it is to see people do something that maybe you never seen them do and then understanding that there Was a spark that happened but then also being from a point of privilege where my parents could do something about it So they went out and bought me a camera But then understanding that there are people who have that spark But then they don't have someone to assist them to get to that next thing And so we have become the people who assist them and getting to that next thing So once they have that idea or they have that spark and they're trying to figure out How do I get to the next thing we've become the bridge for them to get them to that next thing? Jordan Parks Gordon Parks JT JT there's a children's book JT about a little boy that finds a little cat and Gordon Parks as the pictures is amazing. Anyway children's book kids lit. Hi everyone I It's taken I've taken a long and windy road myself getting to this work and I think in the quest to identify the opportunities to support and community self-development efforts understanding that that's where the solutions lie in the community already and Recognizing the The ways in which systems from The beginning of our our country have influenced the tamping down of those solutions Ability to bubble up. What's the way that those solutions are are undermined and and and not brought to life So I was an elementary school teacher seeing the school as a beacon for that seeing no child left behind And the way that that eroded that And and and looking at you know, what's the way that small business can be that? particularly Building off of what's been spoken here, which is that there's such a hustle and entrepreneurial spirit in disenfranchised communities and What is the way that small business can be the the concepts of small business can be demystified it is not? rocket science and What is the way that? Business small business can be a vehicle for wealth creation I mean, that's that's what we're here talking about What is the way that what is the role that small business plays in? Generating wealth and beginning to break this cycle where the systems have put in place to keep people from having assets agency a seat at the table and so I at once live in Some days I wake up Swedish Lydian, so we're a dark thinking people I sometimes wake up and feel like I'm living in a post-apocalyptic world and You know can kind of spin out about that and then at the other Moment I can be feel really inspired by work. That's happening in solutions that are being lifted up and the what I think of as Emerging strategy around what are the inch-wide mile-deep solutions that are here in this At this conference in our communities Even amidst what I think we can all acknowledge is a bit of a contradiction You know you have I'm now spinning out about my My hope to be my friend Anand G Winner's sake all he's totally spun me out Reading the Duke report that Rodney who always has like his finger on the pulse of the latest report talking about what are the myths of What are the myths of what is creating the what the racial wealth gap? And it's interesting because you read the report and and please read this report Maybe we can I don't know somehow share it But it talks about sort of the thought false causal Relationships and those those myths are being brought up even here at this conference as real And I think what's the way that we all can lift that out and and what are the spaces that we can have those? conversations I think that's What's exciting or it's depressing right so I you know what brings me to the work understanding that we can live in a contradiction we can Live in a place where we're seeing such disparity What is the way that our work can contribute to that and how can we learn from each other? Thank you for that guys So you know obviously we could talk about the challenges all day But the purpose of this is actually we've got some solution is right so we want to have a conversation about that And I want to point out a few things like to emphasize the fact that Particularly, I mean we talk about communities of colors and empowering communities of color I mean as has been said a couple of times folks have been hustling have been entrepreneurial. This is not It's not something like we have to bring entrepreneurship to a community And so I want to make sure that we're framing it in that way And noting that this is something that I you know like thinking about what Ingrid pointed out This isn't new right? There's a lot of false and false things and also myths and I want to point out that it's not just historical It's it's current day right and so that's why it's important to have these solutions I mean how many banks recently Wells Fargo Bank of America and others have been having to pay fines for their racially discriminatory practices when it comes to lending to and supporting communities of color Right. This is active. This is today Right and thinking from the fact of when I see my my my friends like Jessica Knowwood and Nina Robinson here and looking at how Jessica was able to identify the racial wealth gap as a barrier to Creating businesses for African-Americans, right? This is situated again 140,000 median wealth for white households about 12,000 for African-American And so you talk about a profound gap, you know It costs according to Kauffman Foundation 30,000 dollars a star in the business In 2015 SBA noted that 70% of white applicants to their 780 living lending program White applicants were receiving Loans and only 2% of African-Americans again active today Right. So I just want to make sure that we're when we situate this conversation about inequities. It's not like it's yes It's historical But it's Faulkner said the past isn't dead. It isn't even passed. We live in the past. We the past comes with us So I just want to continuously uplift that now that said What are some of the things that you guys are working on? That give you that inspiration and that hope the anger it was talking about to be optimistic about the path moving forward For for us in mortar, I'm thankful that you reframed the conversation because As we all know Uber is not brand new There was a black dude doing Uber at the grocery store like 40 years ago, you know, well, yes For those of us who don't know There was a black dude doing uber 40 years ago at the grocery store He just stayed at the grocery store all day and when he saw you coming out with too many bags He's like, do you need a ride? So we've been doing car sharing like it was you know We just didn't have the app and so I think that on our end what we're trying to do is help people Figure out how to legitimize the hustle. We don't want them to change the hustle We just want them to polish the hustle so we look at the the hustles that they have right now as the the raw diamonds and When they go through our processes of our 14 week entrepreneurship accelerator our 18 month Alumni program we are taking them through the process of cutting facets and then polishing the stone But we want them to keep that hustle so for People who are coming to us after they're returning from prison I always tell people a what you did to get there We get a lot of people who were selling dope that requires a lot of math I don't know how to do that kind of math. It's like metric system. It's I'm like, no So I'm like, you're really really smart, but let's take that ingenuity and let's flip it into something else You know and so don't lose all of that intellect. Don't lose all of those abilities Don't lose that hustle But now we take the hustle and we reprocess it into something else that can be Something that benefits your family something that builds a legacy in your community So for us it's figuring out how to reprocess those things those gifts those talents those abilities and those hustles and Make sure that we can reprocess that Reprocess them so that they are something that is legitimate where they are paying taxes Where they don't have to look over their shoulder every five minutes And they can they can live a life of of peace where they're actually giving back to that community I would I would tag into this framework of legitimizing the hustle to also just explicitly name that the ways in which Communities of color have also tried to legitimate like legitimize their hustle has been criminalized, right? Like having the police called on a young person selling water in front of their house, right? Like not allowing undocumented Immigrants or immigrant communities to actually be food vendors because they have to go through all these steps and processes To fill out forms that aren't in their language that they can't get to the off So I'm just lifting that up to say like the levels of hurdles that people have to even cross to be able to dream And hope that their business could be a brick-and-mortar is It's just something to take stock of in the work that we do and so for those communities that have been able to To get over those barriers Is something a testament to itself? So that one piece I think I'm some of the businesses that I would love to lift up because I would love you guys to like Bumrush these people at the end of the panel. I think the partnership between the Runaway project self-help and Uptima Business incubator is really exciting because but they're not just supporting Entrepreneurs and first getting access to capital but also thinking about how do we how do we set up an infrastructure? The scaffolding of technical assistance Providers that also make sure that these businesses are successful. I'm the last panel I was speaking on there was a conversation around like well We just need to put out a call for more entrepreneurs to apply to get the capital But to even like go through the process of making sure that you're ready I'm your business ready for investment it takes some time And so I think that is a model that does a really good job in ensuring that we're setting people up for success So if Annie and Jessica Nina you guys want to raise your hand learn more about them afterwards And then I would also highlight I am a proud board member of thousand currents and thousand currents is a grant maker That has done amazing work in bringing together their partners in the global north and in the global south to actually Rethink the terms into which we invest capital into communities, right? And so they've actually structured a fund the one vavir fund focused on creating good lives for all people Right and structuring it in a way in which they bring together Investors and people looking to receive capital to recognize that while investors may be bringing financial knowledge and Resources to the table the partners are also bringing a lot of knowledge expertise I'm an experience in how do we actually share capital in a way that is not Doubling down on harm right but is actually creating some hope and I think their model around doing a portase where you actually pay The profit that you make above the principal back into the funds that you can reinvest it back into your community as opposed to Looking at interest where we actually take it back into the investor I think there are great models out there where people are really trying to tinker tinker with I'm how do we structure our businesses in a way that like actually helps to transform our communities I'm the last project I'll lift up is a project that I've been able to support for a few years the restore Oakland project So two organizations in the Bay Area the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Restaurant Opportunity Centers united Coming together to actually create a restorative justice and community advocacy Training Center and really jumping through the hurdles of what it means to purchase real estate in this wild market of the Bay Area To secure a loan and to actually be able to create a safe and sacred space where there are members Formerly incarcerated people workers in the restaurant industry can come together to engage in restorative justice programs To get training in the restaurant industry as part of the ways we actually start to build Institutions that help to create strong and vibrant communities. So those are a few different models that I think are really inspiring and exciting oh And Rajiv is with a thousand currents so you can bombard him about the one with your friend Yeah, they're all sitting next to each other. So just fine one and you'll get all of them I just wanted to add something that I think we've all touched upon And and ground it in my work at Mandela is that we actually came from this originally not from the economic development side It was more around health and access to food and in that work in engaging with community and trying to figure out how do we As an entity as a nonprofit as a partner help lift up those solutions what really came out of that was that the The crucial piece I need to be addressed was economics, right? And also in that that there were a plent there was plentiful solutions that were coming out of these groups out of Residents around how they could address health disparity, but also economic disparity. And so and I say that to say that in in all of this and all of our work I think one of the things that's that has grounded me is again to really uplift that there's already assets there And there's already solutions in communities like entrepreneurship is not new the idea of like having a challenge thinking it through and coming up A solution is not new and that what also that may that comes as a maybe a different point that we all do is that we're Not coming at it from the capital side of trying to like get sales leads and trying to get money out there We're really coming at it from the community engagement side and from the technical assistance provision side And so whenever I think of the folks that we work with like sometimes they don't come for us They don't come to us for capital law, right? It's like they're trying to think about how to formalize an idea or just how to expand an idea or what not and the reason That we ended up getting into capital was because we kept finding that as we got folks ready Even with mission-aligned lenders and especially in being in this kind of conference Which is about impact investment not seeing impact, right like continually hearing these like really large global Disruptive ideas around how you build in impact, but that was missing in this backyard in the Bay Area So a lot of our work has been around trying to figure out where we plug in to Supporting folks getting through that sort of ladder, right? And so the reason we got into capital was because we were finding mission-aligned investors and saying like here's this person who is From the community that has this like longevity of history of entrepreneurship That has all these different folks around them who are providing the technical resources and still they weren't getting funded, right? And the reasons they weren't getting funded were grounded in the reasons that there isn't money in the communities to begin with right? There was a lack of collateral which has to do with this investment with fracturizing communities There was a lack of credit history like how do you get credit if you don't have money to begin with? And then there was a lack of just belief that communities of color could do these things, right? This idea that these investments were riskier So we ended up taking on and building our own loan fund our community capital fund Because there was a need to do that and I say that to sort of push back to some of you who are here as investors to say that We actually we've had a hundred percent repayment And I don't want to set that as a standard because I don't think it should be But we've had it because we've come through this channel of community engagement first Technical assistance second and then capital right and that our entire community fund is not built around trying to get interest rates And trying to capitalize our operations. It's built around reinvestment. Like how do we reinvest in communities? And the last thing I'll say and have sort of these things have come up is one of the things that we found especially in more anchor projects like working to open a cafe working to open To partner with folks who are wanting to open a grocery store or a food hauler or at least all these different sorts of solutions around access and economic development is that even when folks are very Technically sound and capital ready that this idea of equity and I mean actually financial equity still comes to play Right like why do people not have collateral? There's long historical reasons of why they don't and so we've actually started to think about how do we pair sort of free money? That should have always been there with capital, right? So if folks are testing an idea and they want to get formal How do we help them just get a grant or give them a grant to get a permit to get them to test that and then bring Them into the capital pipeline because the reason they don't have money for permits again is historical So I just want to sort of talk through that process because I think the fact that we aren't leading with this idea of Generating profits for an entity that needs to get loans out puts us in a very different position and also to say that really being Mindful of the asset base also puts us in a different position like we have lots of folks We're calling coming through the door all the time. There's just not a lack of it. There's so many things to talk about together I think we need another hour after I So so one thing that in preparation for this Conversation that got lifted out was the way in which we can learn together and Lift up what's working? And so there's just a lot of seeds that are being planted that I hope we can continue talking about and and I and I think that that's reflected in in work that You know in the organization that I work in ICA fund good jobs and also with partners that have already been shouted out, but no sense in not shouting. I'm like shouting them out again Runway project for one here in the room So we have been around for 22 years and I think came out of this place where Michael Porter's initiative for competitive inner city and that At a point in which inner city was a geographic location. It was the inner city not code for disenfranchised communities of color and I and and and so jobs were at the forefront of that, you know, if you if you put Resources high caliber resources into the the centers of cities which didn't have a lot going on 22 years ago then Jobs would be created and that would have its cascading impacts in the community Well, we now know jobs aren't wealth-creating vehicles and that the erosion of job quality Especially entry level is also eroding you have, you know that you can look at employment levels and and see that You know the the percentage of unemployment is dropping, but what are those jobs that are that are Qualifying and who's actually just given up on looking for a job because then you don't get counted anymore either And so then it's so we look at we came looking at okay. Well, let's work with companies that are generating lots of jobs Okay. Well, then we began to because we're sort of never satisfied group of people Well, what's the quality of those jobs and then actually who's getting those jobs and what are rather than centering Individuals as the you know pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and hearing language like oh you have a barrier To get a job. No, no, no, no the job has a barrier and what's our role in? supporting entrepreneurs to become better employers and how do you begin to measure and the the ways in which job quality can improve even when you're at an early stage of business and So we you know we take a crack. We have this thing. We call it the good employer matrix It's an internal tool that we measure baseline so that folks don't get sued You know HR compliance, but all the way up to you know What are the free cheap things that you can do that improve the culture that improve? Opportunities to grow whether inside the job or outside, you know, but still not quite satisfied with that and so then when you hear all about and Understand and it sinks in that a job actually isn't enough and Individuals, you know, it's really about a system. What is the way that our work? Can begin to lift out solutions that are creating Closing the wealth gap. So what what do we do there and That's when it goes to this capital bit But it's a big bit It's a big bit. So so so the work that we do we have a we do we do entrepreneurship education We have an accelerator. It's a it's an advisory accelerator Tailored per business. We work with businesses in operation. It's like an it's like a six to nine month engagement Koran's here repping for the accelerator. She's a bad She's a badass. Okay, so that's just there's so and then we have we're a very small CDFI a community development financial institution So we're able to invest but we really also leverage Capital in the community and there's a lot of capital in the community And there's a lot of people doing amazing work micro loans and people who are who get it It's just incomplete. It's incomplete. And so you've got solutions to lift up like runway Which is saying well, what happens and what's the place in which we're meant to Insert capital at the right time and the right amount and with the right support And so our accelerator and our services aim to do that. We want to be perfect at that We want to be great at that and we also want to Identify the partners that we need to do it because we can't know one person's gonna do it alone And then how does that influence the system? Yeah Sorry, I just wanted to like explicitly tease out something that I think is embedded within everything We all just shared and the work that we all do that I think is really important to lift up Is that the businesses that we're all supporting and speaking about Are in our base for organizing right our base for organizing around political power And so we actually get to the ability to work with small businesses where you could potentially have a small business Council that wants to work alongside movement groups movement organizations to figure out How can we work with your small business to understand the right timing and sequencing of actually phasing in a living wage? Standard right rather than being in opposition And so when we have social enterprises and businesses that share the same values of a lot of the social movements as well We can start to think about how to be strategically organize each other So that as activists and business owners side by side we can start to shift what's happening in our local ecosystem To also create more equity right and change the conditions for people on the ground And then the other piece which I think is also super important to tease out about the capital and again is Oftentimes the projects that we support the businesses that we're really trying to advocate for are going to investors that have already set the terms Right, we actually need to understand if you were an investor that's invested and deeply cares about social impact Let's first understand what is a social impact this business is trying to make on the ground What is the capital that they need what are the what are the terms under which they need it? And then let's structure the capital from that rather than come coming top down with the terms, right? What does the grass the grass roots? You know inside up work look like as we're trying to right-size capital with social impact Thank you for that and I would just segue to say that Social impacts one thing and Believe in it and what we're really really talking about though is Acknowledging and closing the racial wealth gap right so having a specific and explicit Purpose and when I even then it's it's kind of eliminating because we're talking about really building wealth and power for folks So I just want to be explicit about that conversation because a lot of times I think in these spaces social impact doesn't actually connect to To driving this sort of economic transformation that the folks on this panel and a lot of folks in this room are working on And so my final question not everyone has to answer because I want to make sure we have time for like one or two questions But I want to also talk about this concept of risk And in two phases I know this came up in the in the pre-call But risk in the sense of you know African-Americans Indigenous communities Latino entrepreneurs are risky and I want to provide a framework that's I've been fascinated by Because I know tech was a part of the conversation and in in tech It's okay to fail and in fact when you look at the numbers you're talking about about 80 billion dollars in the US alone for VC venture capital 73% of VC backed Companies are founded by white founded by and owned by white men and about 75% of them don't return capital to their investors So in this framework and then Mariella is talking about she's got a hundred percent you know rate of Return and I was with Bill Bynum from Hope Credit and Jackson. He's talking about he's got a 3% default rate working in the Delta where he's investing in black and brown folks in the Delta where we've been told that you Cannot invest in folks like that so I just want to think about just flip the conversation a bit and like talk about risk and Following up in terms of what? Maka was pointing to who's actually bearing the risk Right because it seems like black and brown folks are bearing all the risk really We talk about the terms of investment. So I Will like you guys to respond to that again not everyone has to but would love to get your So, you know, I live in the Bay Area And I'm always and because you know when you live here, you're just touched by tech constantly and it's always been so Impressive in a good and bad way. How many times they hear of the same person failing a tech company, right? Failing it the building something it fails. They build they fail They build they fail they build the fail and they continue to get VC funding, right? They continue to get some funding from someplace because there is a inherent belief in that person that if they fail They will iterate they will innovate and they will do again and one of those iterations innovations will succeed Then I have sort of the other side Which is you know when we're working with the folks that we work with in our communities that look like us Where that system is set up very differently, right? If somebody fails one time then money is no longer available in that community at all And also to say that if they failed one time Imagine if they were given the same runway to continue to innovate iterate fail innovate until they come up with something That really works and that looks like the community and that serves the community So that's always that's been on my mind for a really long time and when I was saying that you know Yes, we have a hundred percent repayment But I don't want to set that precedent is that part of the reason that we did was because we when we capitalized our loan Fund we got capital with terms that were not ours Right, and so we set terms that were not also ours and we had Bars partners clients community residents who knew that this was opportunity They would get nowhere else and so and also that like I see them all the time I know where they live. I like see them when I walk from Bart That they didn't want to fail us. They didn't want to fail me and that was something that I Just found so intrinsically like in opposition Because at the same time I was looking at P&L's I was looking at cash flows and thinking to myself if they didn't pay this Loan this this term debt they have they could be investing in staff. They could buy this equipment that could make their life easier And so, you know, I think that those are two things that we really have to think about when we think about Impact is one who's burdening the risk Why we think that people are risky and the importance of failing right the importance of having Space for failure in in in any space in any industry And then the last piece that I'll say to that too is what you just brought up, which is dope is that We're coming, you know that the micro finance industry the CDFI industry like mission investment has been around for a while Right, and so there's a lot of sophistication that's happened in that time and a lot of systems that have been in place That everybody just takes on you start a new MFI and there's a sort of like Tool kit of how you're supposed to do it right like what your top You know your top line is on loans what the term should look like what the interest rate should be like what your default rate could be like all these things and They're not meeting who they're supposed to meet right So we keep building the same thing over and over and over again not thinking about the actual borrower about the person Who we're trying to capitalize and so that's another piece too that I think about all the time is like when people You know we started putting together like a policies around our lending it never looks the same Right, it doesn't look the same to a farmer because they have very different needs It doesn't look the same to a restaurant It doesn't look the same to somebody who's trying to like make some dope vegan cookies It just never looks the same and if you make it look the same you're setting up folks for failure Right, and so you're creating the failure they're trying to mitigate to begin with so I think for us The best way that we mitigate risk one is relationship-based and two is creating terms that actually serve the borrower So I just think about the cascade of undercapitalization and what does it mean if you're coming to the You're coming to the table and you've been operating your business with the hustle and that might mean Over-extending your credit cards and then therefore you fit the perfect risk profile of not getting any more money from anybody else And then you know you have on the other hand, which I think Mariela You know alluded to but I just want to take a second longer to say then there's scrappy organizations like ours and we have investors and you know foundations and donors that that That want us to shoulder risk and do innovation things but actually hold us to market world standards of return and That's not gonna work out and that's not how it works But it does it you sort of see the churn and being What it feels like to to be held to a standard not just the entrepreneur who's looking at you saying I don't want to let you as an organization down and and how is it that that social capital is really strengthen through the relationship, but also Thinking about you know, we've made some seed investments with PRI dollars and PRI dollars, which is project related investments that's essentially a loan to an organization and then we have to pay it back and what does it mean in terms of how That creates terms for that we have to set and and and so We can say that sort of practically speaking we also tailor tailor those investments through convertible notes and Shoulder the greatest risk so then others can participate and get their return and It still isn't a perfect system, you know So you could that's great that we play that role and maybe that's a stepping stone and It's not the solution right it just puts us on a path to show what solutions could be Thank you for that because I think it's it's really important to understand the organizations like runway project I say fun good jobs Mandela partners, etc. Mortar Are under capitalized themselves and actually reflect the kind of entrepreneurs That they're working with and supporting and you know, I have this realization You know our friends that AEL Association enterprise opportunity they did this report last year about the fact that business ownership for African Americans in particular has surpassed Homeownership is the vehicle for closing the wealth gap, right? So I just want to send the fact this is why we're having these conversations And to note that when we talk about technical assistance or trusted guidance as AEL will call it The reality of it is that when we look at if we were to compare to the venture capital world where I think something like 50% of VCs with the Stanford or Harvard when you go to those sort of universities you have that built in technical assistance and Trusted guidance, right? You're actually paying what 60 70 thousand dollars a year to get that And so I want to point that out because when you look at the kind of organizations that are represented on this panel And in the audience there has to be a similar capitalization vehicle to ensure that we have and flexibility To ensure that we're able to support the kind of entrepreneurs that we're talking about so that said I think we have enough time If people ask questions succinctly To have a few questions So if you raise your hand, we have a volunteer that will walk around with the mic so that they can identify you Thank you very much. I Was I just have a question around Well yesterday I was having lunch with a friend of mine and stool Dreher who's the director of financial justice for the city of San Francisco She's doing a lot of work in criminal justice reform And she said something really interesting about how she has found in her work that Kind of bridges the aisle she has found that the Koch brothers or Grover Norquist who she sat on a panel with actually are very interested in this topic so I'm just curious kind of putting aside all the other issues that we have with them. Have you guys found in your work that you? Have seen interest from the right as well around some of these issues that you're trying to address with the work that you're doing I'd love to know more I'm I'm curious to know more and I'm curious to know more because I'll raise it like this what we've also seen in the movement around mass incarceration is that the right has wanted to engage in that Conversation because they've actually figured out it's not a smart business decision right for the country right for government And so they're coming to it from a fiscal analysis position and less from a human rights civil rights just these people deserve some dignity because they're human beings and so I I while I think it's great to find ways in which we can meet in the middle meet across the aisle I Am I'm deeply invested and interested in solutions that? lift up the humanity and dignity of all people and recognize the importance that our Recognize the importance of ensuring that there's equitable equitable distribution of resources So I would actually be curious to know more about how I'm curious if Grover norquist is going to help us reform proposition 13 Right, are they actually going to help us fix the tax and fiscal policies that have made it so that People who have lived in Oakland deep east Oakland for decades now have to move out into the valley because they can't afford Afford it anymore. Whereas, you know, other people are just transferring property. So I think the the underline the underlining beliefs behind why people engage in this work is actually important and this gets back to this piece one of the panelists had also mentioned around the habits and patterns of what we're in right if we actually don't call out our habits and patterns Even if even in our event to do something that we think is Socially good or socially right we may actually end up replicating the same harms and ills because we haven't actually wrestled with and been accountable for the way We have hurt and impacted communities. So I'm curious to learn more And I know a couple people at the financial justice Institution so I would be curious. I would love to have that conversation So, um, I can look at it from the perspective at Bali where We have a pretty wide range of political affiliation So I'm going to take away Grover norquist for example because that's one thing and I'm going to take away the Koch brothers And I think when you look at communities when you get local People are able to really be in a relationship with folks so I would note that there are folks in our network that I would say are certainly more on the Certainly right of center It might be the best way of putting it that are investing in african-american latino entrepreneurs because they see it as they're They're in relationship with folks, right? So so I think if you're if you're talking about like the bigger like that that that larger infrastructure of conservative Movement versus like the individual action that I can see happening in local communities Those are two different conversations, but I do see there are folks who You know relate to a more conservative politics that I see that are invested in these kind of issues Anyone else? Oh, sorry. They want they want to make sure they capture it for I'm trying to find the way to phrase this because It's interesting Do you come into contact with struggles of different cultural? Well cultural diversity because when you we're talking about indigenous Resilience and taking that restorative justice Have you witnessed the conversations around decolonization? because When it ties into how it hits our communities there are ways that I'll call it colonial entitlement that tends to Dominate mainstream society that we must capitalize off resources that we must see things as assets and we are a very extractive consumeristic We are at a capitalistic approach and When it comes to the systemic change, it's not just business, but I think education and I'm wondering have you encountered that in your work so for us it's it's A lot of deconstruction of things that have been built But also it is understanding how to play the game and rewriting rules for our community So in a lot of the sessions that I've been in it's been about, you know community ownership and You know, we we've kind of developed a pathway that Works for us So far so it's you know going to the accelerator then going to the alumni program, which is technical assistance then We have the iron chest fund which is capitalization Then our next phase is to purchase properties So that our entrepreneurs can actually live and work in their communities and they actually have ownership of these spaces Which allows them to Be in a position where they can hire from the community where they can Continue to grow the wealth of the community in general and personal wealth and build legacy So for us, we are taking people who are oftentimes more focused on the survival of today and teaching different systems and teaching different thought patterns of shifting from surviving to thriving and thinking of long term when A lot of people don't have the luxury of time to think about What is the future going to look like so I probably didn't answer your question But yeah, I love your I love your question I think Nina my sister friend. She's in the audience. I love you so much Pointed out at some point in our work together that you know transformation comes from well transformation What's the opportunity for transformation? It either If I'm to reduce it down to two things for the purpose of this conversation comes from within the system Like how do you work from within the system to change it? Or do you break the system? And I don't think it's a I don't think it's an either or I actually think it's a both end And that's that whole thing about the inch wide mile deep Which is we have to be able to lift out these things that may not these solutions this this work that might not be visible to How do we lift it up? Because then we can see the ways that that there actually are these bridges between that. I also mean specifically language like the narrative That we all are participating in simply by even just being here Right the contradiction in the language, you know the win-win the doing well by doing good And that that's false right, that's false and So what is the way that we that we do our work and continue to question And I think it's by having these kinds of questions being asked and then being open to saying yeah, wow How is it that I'm using words that are actually Falling into the power structure like what's the way in which by saying yeah capitalizing on or talking about I think that mean even You know, what does it mean to have a model and is that not a a tool of of colonialism right and so It's these conversations that allow us to even look at that. I mean it's it's it's That question makes Opens an opportunity for us to all think about how do we break free of that Um, and then I would quickly add that I think this is a great place to actually engage with the folks of the one bovier fund So the work that nina and rajeev are doing the one bovier fund has Has experienced Investors who want to come and support it and they're actually really clear about we actually need to be in deep Relationship with you know who you are as a person and if you want to come to the table, correct Before you can actually even invest into the fund. So they spend time building the relationships And really vetting people to ensure that people aren't bringing their baggage Or their practices of colonialism into how the fund is structured and invested in And so this is a place where even Even taking taking the time to do that relationship building takes takes money, right? It costs money But that's money well spent because we're actually ensuring that we're not replicating the same harm back into our communities And so they've gone through They've gone through amazing process That has actually humbled a number of people in all different spaces including myself to actually challenge This notion of collateral that mariella brought up this definition of risk How we look at interest rates and have embedded that into how they actually set up the terms of their investment capital So the one of your fund it would be a really concrete project to look into I just wanted that's such a Amazing and huge question that we could talk about forever One of the things I did want to talk about a bit is you know We've always wrestled like one of the first businesses we supported was a cooperative and people always think of us as like a Co-op developer and it's definitely something that's in our ethos and we want to continue to talk about But when we've brought it, you know two folks who are thinking about putting a project together that doesn't doesn't always resonate with them Right, or at least maybe that word doesn't but the The innate ideals do and I bring this up to say that I think that part of I don't know if it's like quite as as heavy as decolonization which is a big one but part of sort of shifting that those systems of continuing to extract or Or systems that continue to cause harm is who you invest in and I actually think that because we're investing in community and community residents There's already that there And I see that very often right like when we have sort of education or conversations around Sourcing locally like your food Totally open to it, right? It's just about knowing how to or when we talk about we just had a conversation with one of the businesses We work with that has a cafe About hiring recently incarcerated folks or folks that have had been touched by the criminal justice system Totally open to it and a lot of the reasons for that around specifically around hiring people who have barriers to entry or whatever You want to call it is that they are directly touched by it every day in their own neighborhood So just to say that I think that in that same way that we're talking about assets already being in communities and that sense of hustle is that sense of Investing in your community and doing good for your community is also there And that a lot of it is just about how you speak to it and what you elevate, right? And so that when we're working with local businesses We are by nature also elevating some of those things that disrupt that system that we're talking about Well, I just want to thank our panelists not only for the taking the time to have this conversation But actually their daily work. So we could have this conversation all day. Unfortunately. We can't Um, but I would encourage everyone to actually look these folks up Look up the runway project look up thousand carats, right? Because these are folks that are already out there doing the work They have a lot of stuff on their websites And you can actually if you do some work around Identifying some of the things that they're up to you'll be able to find I think a treasure trove of information and opportunity in terms of how we can live off some of these values So thank you for attending and thank you to the panelists