Giving Compass' Take:

• The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies produced strategies to build and strengthen local economies so that surrounding communities can benefit. 

• Do certain social factors affect health more than others? 

• Read more about the social determinants of health and how foundations are addressing related challenges. 

The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) has spent the last 17 years working with thousands of local businesses, investors, and civic leaders who are strengthening local economies and communities across the United States and Canada.

Several years ago, we began to identify a set of strategies that consistently create local economies that work for all. We began to outline the many roles and sectors involved in establishing and growing Local Economy Ecosystems and, over years, worked with our community to distill these ideas into a Local Economy Framework.

Out of this work, they identified their own set of strategies for transforming our economy.

The strategies identified by BALLE, from a bottom-up business perspective, are nearly identical to those outlined by MIT’s Presencing Institute, from an academic perspective:

  • Act local first – Choose local and strengthen your community.
  • Prioritize equity – Activate and align for an economy that works for all.
  • Regenerate soil and nature – Use business to restore natural environments.
  • Accelerate collaboration – Build shared infrastructure to advance cooperation.
  • Share ownership – Distribute ownership to create healthier communities.
  • Shift capital – Keep more money in your community.
  • Cocreate policy – Engage all stakeholders in decisionmaking.
  • Cultivate connection – Choose connection in your business and your community.

Studies over the last few decades have shown that 80 percent of human health is determined by social factors such as income, housing quality, and education, in addition to the availability of quality medical care. What is working to build strong local economies and vibrant communities—around the world—is the same as what is improving human health and well-being in a particular community.

Read the full article about equitable economies creating healthy communities by Leslie Lindo and Amy Hartzler at Grantmakers in Health