This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. A decade ago, there were more than 50 liquor stores in West Oakland and zero full-service grocery stores. But in 2009, community members launched Mandela Foods Cooperative, a health food store…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. We often describe entrenched social issues, such as homelessness, as systemic issues. Such issues exist as part of a system, a complex network of causation and interconnection. Systems thinking recognises that to tackle…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. Investing in an America where racial equity and economic mobility rise together Dear friends and colleagues, This time last year, we at Blue Meridian began rolling out our next…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. Olivier De Schutter recently conducted a two-month mission to the European Union, where women are more likely to fall into poverty than men, a situation that has further deteriorated as a…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. Ernesto Fonseca, CEO of the Hacienda Community Development Corporation (CDC), one of the largest CDCs in Oregon, Fonseca helps provide affordable housing, youth and family services, homeownership education, and small business…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. A few weeks ago, ahead of a nor’easter that unleashed biting winds and snow across New England, Alyssa Washington, a high school senior who wants to be a nurse, made…
In this episode of Who Belongs? we look at the impacts of minimum wage increases with Michael Reich, a Professor of Economics and Chair of the Center on Wage and…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. The most common refrain in the U.S. today is that we are more divided than we’ve been in generations — not only along partisan lines, but also across racial, religious,…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. Both poverty and income strongly correlate with race in the United States. Among all racial groups, Black Americans are second most likely to experience poverty, with 21% living below the poverty threshold, following Native Americans at 25%. Black Americans in…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. A few months ago a program officer and I were talking about the lack of funding that goes to communities-of-color-led nonprofits (only about 10% of philanthropic dollars go to organizations of color).…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. Cities across the United States, and New York City especially, are dealing with explosive virus transmission rates and dwindling hospital resources. It makes sense that city dwellers are itching to flee…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. Prior to the current coronavirus recession, most U.S. economic metrics pointed to a slow but steady nationwide recovery amid an 11-year post-Great Recession run of economic growth. But prosperity was…