Maricela from Opportunity Threads and Keyla from Poder Emma
The Problem We are Addressing + Our Solution
Our vision is based on many years of organizing in two communities where we see clear success in rooting wealth in Western North Carolina, especially in BIPOC communities.
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Our path to impact:
Identify common worker or cooperative challenges
Work together to identify paths forward
Seek allies, trainers or leaders who can help
Hold space for shared learning and problem solving
Document our learnings for the next generation of leaders
Community Partners
Our work is deeply based on community organizing approaches, many learned from the Highlander Research and Education Center - a stalwart organizing training center in the rural south. We work with the voice and will of our community to build towards identified collective solutions and transformational change.
Emma is a specific community in Asheville, NC, which is quite urban; however, the more rural nature of Burke County resonates with the Emma community because it is home to many immigrants who, like rural people, have been left on the margins to build their own economy.
Both The Industrial Commons and Poder EMMA have spent many years leveraging existing assets and traditional institutions to bridge new economic ideas into old and entrenched systems. Our ecosystems have successfully worked with public school systems, local and state governments, universities, federal agencies, community college systems, local law enforcement and civic and business groups to transform local economies from ones of extraction to ones of wealth creation. We have also built things that are autonomous and parallel to those institutions.