Build Power.
Share Prosperity.
Free, flexible online course on community wealth building for grassroots and systems-level changemakers
Why Community Wealth Building Matters
Community Wealth Building (CWB) is a powerful, people-centered approach to economic development. Instead of wealth flowing out of communities into the hands of distant investors, CWB strategies focus on keeping resources local-owned by and benefiting the people who live and work there.
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This model prioritizes local ownership, inclusive employment, and economic resilience. It supports worker-owned cooperatives, community land trusts, and mission-driven enterprises that reinvest in their neighborhoods. Through anchor institutions like hospitals, universities, and local governments, CWB leverages large-scale purchasing and investment to strengthen small businesses and community ventures.
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CWB is not just theory - it’s a growing movement with real-world impact. Cities like Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia, LA,
​Minneapolis and New York have successfully used this approach to create jobs, reduce inequality, and foster democratic decision-making in economic life. At its heart, CWB is about shared prosperity: ensuring that communities have the tools, power, and ownership to shape their own economic futures. It’s about more than jobs or programs - it’s about shifting who owns, who decides, and who benefits.
Who Should Take The Course
This course provides tools, case studies, and frameworks for anyone curious or passionate about building more equal and sustainable communities where the benefits of all types of investment are shared fairly. Whether you're an advocate, educator, entrepreneur, funder, student, founder or worker you'll gain practical strategies to advance economic justice and create lasting, locally rooted impact in your field or community.
Grassroots Organizers
As a local organizer, seeing neighborhood people and places is truly important to you. Whether that's fighting for fair housing, starting mutual aid projects, or showing up at city hall. Sometimes, the tools you need to turn passion into lasting power feel out of reach or buried in jargon. That’s where this course comes in. We designed An Introduction to Community Wealth Building with community leaders like you in mind. You’ll gain action-ready strategies for projects like building local co-ops, mapping neighborhood assets, and leveraging anchor institutions to invest in your community. A sharper set of tools to build economic justice from the ground up - in your neighborhood, with your people.
The course provides a comprehensive understanding of how Community Wealth Building can drive inclusive economic mobility and scale high-impact strategies. It will help in proposal evaluation, emphasizing the need for clear frameworks for systemic change. You’ll learn how anchor institutions, cooperatives, and local procurement models can reinforce equitable ecosystems, and gain tools to assess grantee impact beyond surface metrics and spot opportunities where philanthropy can catalyze structural transformation. With real-world case studies and scalable models, you'll be better equipped to shape funding priorities, advise grantees, and align investment with long-term equity outcomes.
Funders
Co-op Founders / Workers
This course will give you the practical tools and strategic insights you need to grow the co-op sustainably. Running or participating in a co-op can be isolating - especially when it comes to navigating funding, governance, and partnerships. This course breaks down what works, with real-world examples from people who’ve done it. You'll learn how to build strong relationships with anchor institutions, map your local ecosystem, and structure your co-op for long-term success. We’ll cover everything from storytelling and outreach to financing and shared ownership models. By the end, you’ll be equipped to strengthen your co-op’s foundation, expand services, and connect to a broader movement focused on economic justice and community wealth.
This course will provide meaningful ways to connect theory with practice, bridging sustainable business models with real-world social impact. It brings together previously dispersed Community Wealth Building materials, offering clear frameworks and practical case studies for immediate use - in the classroom or in venture development. You'll learn how Community Wealth Building links to ESG, B Corps, cooperatives, and inclusive economic policy. With structured activities, and downloadable tools, you’ll walk away with content to integrate into student projects, advising, or even capstone design. It makes complex ideas actionable - and helps guide this next generation of changemakers toward equitable, community-rooted economic solutions.
Students & Educators
Equity Advocates
Working every day to address challenges facing under-resourced communities, can often feel like you're treating symptoms instead of root causes. This course will help you connect the dots between economic injustice and life outcomes, giving your practical strategies to align your work with community wealth building. You’ll learn how to use tools like asset mapping, cooperative models, and anchor institution partnerships to build more resilient local systems - especially around housing, food, and employment. The course is designed to be accessible and action-focused, with real-world examples that reflect the complex challenges communities face. You'll walk away with new language, new frameworks, and new ideas for aligning your organization’s programs with structural change.
