News

Legacy Business Fund Announces $30 Million First Close

With support from the Rockefeller Foundation, DAWI’s Legacy Business Fund by Apis & Heritage Capital Partners (A&H) has announced its first close at $30 million, doubling its target of $15 million. Launched with a planning grant from Citi Community Development, funding from the Kendeda Fund, and additional support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Fund and A&H have been incubated at DAWI to address the widening racial wealth gap by transitioning businesses with large workforces of color into employee-owned firms. A&H aims to purchase eight closely held companies from retiring founders, turning 500 workers into owners over the next five… more

The Democracy at Work Institute, EOX Urge Support for Employee Ownership in Treasury Program

The State Small Business Credit Initiative program could catalyze significant business retention and broaden business ownership at the same time. In early June, the Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI) and the Employee Ownership Expansion Network (EOX) both sent letters to the Department of the Treasury in response to the Treasury’s notice and request for information concerning the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), to encourage implementation of support for state employee ownership centers and more broadly for employee ownership transitions. These transitions are when business owners sell part or all of their company to their employees. The most common forms… more

DAWI Summer Schedule Update: Rest, Recovery, and Reopenings

This has been an exhausting year, and DAWI is taking a Recovery Summer for our staff to rest, restore, and partake in the gradual reopening of our world. For the next three months, our offices will be closed every other Friday (that’s 6/4, 6/18, 7/2, 7/16, 7/30, 8/13, 8/27). As a worker-directed nonprofit organization, we prioritize the well-being of our members. We know investing in staff is an investment in the impact we’re able to make. We’ll be working and generally responding at a slightly slower pace. Our time at work will also be concentrated on the areas we’ve prioritized… more

Business Ownership Key for Economic Recovery in U.S. Cities, New Report Shows

Oakland, Calif, May 20, 2021 — The National League of Cities (NLC) and the Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI) released today new guidance for U.S. cities to pursue equitable post-COVID economic recovery through the use of employee ownership. The new report, titled “ Economic Recovery and Employee Ownership,” walks city leadership through the use of employee ownership—businesses owned completely or partially by their employees—as an essential tool in efforts to support small businesses, their employees, and local communities at a time of great need. Small businesses, which employ nearly half of the U.S. private workforce, have been impacted by COVID-19… more

A Message to Stop AAPI Hate

A rise in hatred against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community has led to heartbreaking violence across the country. We are devastated at DAWI by the year-long increase in violence against AAPI elders, women, businesses, and workers. We stand in solidarity with our staff, family, friends, and neighbors against these violent manifestations of hatred and those whose silence enables them. From scapegoating AAPI communities throughout the pandemic to the racially motivated murder of six women in Atlanta this month, there is no room for racism in our communities. We must condemn hateful speech at every turn, as it leads—time… more

The Democracy at Work Institute Announces Equitable Economic Recovery Initiative

The Democracy at Work Institute Announces Equitable Economic Recovery Initiative OAKLAND, CALIF. — Equitable economic recovery requires strategic focus, innovation, and new partnerships, The Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI) says in announcing a new initiative helping communities address accelerating economic crises through worker ownership. Ownership Now for Equitable Recovery matches needs of workers locked out of good jobs and business ownership opportunities with the ambition and urgency demanded by the scale of our economic crisis. “Right now people are hurting, small businesses and local economies are on life support. A sustained effort to rebuild and recover lies ahead, but simply… more

Data Library

To support shared understanding, learning, and growth, DAWI shares de-identified research tools with eligible individuals, institutions, and organizations. In 2019, we released preliminary findings from the first national survey of individuals in democratic workplaces across the U.S. Sponsored by DAWI and conducted in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS), Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations, and the U.S Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC), All About the Workers presents high-quality baseline data about the workplace attitudes, experiences, and demographics of individuals who work at democratic worker-owned firms. Findings from this new data are… more

A Message About DAWI's Work in Uncertain Times

"The worker cooperative sector needs your ambition to be not merely a tool or an alternative, but the bones, blood and muscles of a just and healthy economy." Dear colleagues, I’m writing to share some changes in the works at DAWI, to reconnect about our shared work, and see what’s possible in uncertain but critical times. 2020 has a way of showing us stark realities about ourselves. The multiple overlapping crises in our public health, our economy, and our democracy have caused widespread acute pain, but in reality we’ve been running a fever for awhile. The economy is sick, it… more

Official Statement of Solidarity with Black Lives

Today, and every day, we at Democracy at Work Institute express our solidarity and support for Black people who are fighting racism on all fronts. Our team is heartbroken by the loss of George Floyd’s life -- and the lives of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless unnamed others. We are heartbroken by the violent pattern of disregard for black lives in America. Black lives matter. It is unequivocally wrong that people must march in the streets for the right not to be murdered. It is fundamentally unethical to have to petition repeatedly for your humanity to be recognized and… more

The Worker Co-op Conference Moves Online

As the historic effects of the nation’s COVID-19 outbreak continue to impact the businesses we know, love, and run, we anticipate this year’s national convening of worker cooperatives will be our most important conference to date. Responding to this crisis requires collective action capable of rebuilding an economy that values workers, honors collective fates, and centers equity. Therefore, we’re shifting to hosting a virtual 2020 Worker Co-op Conference, including online sessions and topical gatherings this September. The in-person Worker Co-op Conference will still be held in Philadelphia, in 2021. We will relish meeting up with event attendees in real life… more
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