SEEDING THE NEXT ECONOMY
A GRASSROOTS AND FUNDER ORGANIZING COLLABORATIVE
The Solidarity Economy Initiative (SEI) is a Massachusetts-based project that creates space for grassroots organizers working in working class communities of color to lead a Just Transition to a Solidarity Economy.
In SEI's first phase (2015-2018), a small group of founding funders supported a cohort of grassroots leaders to learn and experiment with movement strategies that address capitalism as a root cause of social and ecological injustice.
SEI's second phase (2019-2023) includes the launch of a funder learning cohort, establishment of both grassroots and funder governance groups, expanded fundraising, and grassroots-led grant-making.
CURRENT GRASSROOTS COHORT
All of the Solidarity Economy Initiative's grassroots cohort members are widely respected POC-led base building groups in Boston and Massachusetts. These groups lead the fight for working class people of color in our communities, and many of them have been doing so for decades.
During SEI's first learning phase, grassroots leaders built shared analysis around the need to drive political, economic and cultural transformation in tandem, in order to move towards a shared vision for an equitable and abundant future that does not replicate capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy. In practice, this meant healing justice retreats alongside trainings about community land trusts, meetings that integrate alters and circle process alongside democratic decision making and lifting up process learning and experimentation alongside outcomes.
In SEI's second phase, in addition to carrying on their regular work, each group has committed to integrating Solidarity Economy projects and campaigns into their work and messaging. Find more details and examples of their field leadership work under the Grassroots Cohort tab.
CURRENT FUNDER COHORT
The Solidarity Philanthropy Learning Circle, launched in April 2019, and brings together a group of funders committed to transforming their philanthropic practices in support of a Just Transition and building a Solidarity Economy. The cohort's learning centers reparations and regenerative giving, promoting democracy and collective decision making, and shifting power to those most marginalized by systems of oppression.
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