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  • How the Knox County Land Bank is affecting local communities

    The Knox County Land Reutilization Corporation, also known as the Knox County land bank, takes abandoned properties that are vacant and tax delinquent, revitalizes them, and then sells them to new owners. This eliminates blight around the county and encourages economic development. The Land Bank President estimates that for every $1 the land bank spends, they generate $33.82 in redevelopment. Operating in earnest since the fall of 2018, the land bank has brought $3.5 million in reinvestment into the county. They are now looking to acquire even more buildings and financially support individual homeowners.

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  • How design-build coops are creating a new economy in New England

    Design-build coops are employee-owned businesses operated under a democratic business model that "considers people, planet, then profit." These coops have steadily increased in New England resulting in workplaces that have a smaller pay-gap between the highest and lowest paid employees of a company, motivates employees who are invested in the long-term success of a company, result in companies better equipped to weather recessions and in turn, allow for more focus on green design models.

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  • Leveling the Playing Field

    Black Girl Ventures levels the playing field for women of color who seek capital for their business ventures. Entrepreneurs are invited to pitch their ideas at crowdfunded sessions, which means the funding varies depending on the size of the crowd and its willingness to invest. In addition to capital, BGV recognizes the need for minorities to access a network, mentoring, and business coaching to navigate the systems necessary to build a business. The nonprofit has chapters in several cities and works with local organizations that are already in place helping black businesses.

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  • Growing together: Mansfield microfarm cooperative heads into second year

    An urban sustainable food system project at the Ohio State University enabled 10 newly established farmers to start microfarms, which produce crops year-round, at only the cost of their time and labor. The individuals formed a cooperative so they can sell to larger institutional buyers together, while the cooperative handles marketing and finding buyers. With the potential to make up to $30,000 a year, the program aims to provide economic options to city residents, including formerly incarcerated individuals. The coop needs to find extended funding, but 6 microfarms were already built with 4 more planned.

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  • Money trees: U.S. cities find new ways of valuing urban forests

    Policymakers, nonprofit leaders, and corporate heads have recently undertaken efforts to increase urban forestry. Urban trees decrease energy use, protect storm drain infrastructure, decrease noise, and help boost wellbeing. City Forest Credits in Seattle assesses urban tree projects for carbon credits that companies can purchase, while Baltimore has recycled trees into park furniture, and Sacramento continues to uphold its reputation as the “City of Trees.”

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  • Poor credit is a barrier to affordable housing. Lending circles are a tool for those in poverty

    Lift to Rise, a Coachella Valley nonprofit that pushes for housing and poverty policy change, launched a local lending circle program aimed at serving minority residents break the cycle of poverty. Partnered with San Francisco-based Mission Asset Fund, the lending circle helps those with poor credit or no credit at all to build up a spending history, have access to loans, create a savings account, improve their score, and more. Since 2008, Mission Asset Fund has partnered with more than 50 organizations across the U.S. to provide lending circles to more than 9,000 clients.

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  • Solving crimes, acing tests, building bridges. What this Fresno school program does right

    A career technical education program in California exposes children to work in fields including biotechnology, business, marketing, and psychology, and has been shown to improve test scores. The twist? The program is run and funded jointly by two districts with widely varying socioeconomic demographics.

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  • In solving high costs of childcare, Alberta should look to Quebec

    By expanding childcare access and reducing costs, Quebec has seen a steep increase in the percentage of women actively involved in its workforce. Could this system, which has been financially sustainable as a result of the increase in the number of employees paying taxes, work in other parts of Canada?

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  • Conscious catwalks: Brazilian fashion label harnesses the creative energy of the favelas

    Empowering young entrepreneurs fosters new, sustainable, and inclusive approaches to design and fashion. In Brazil, designers from Aglomerado da Serra, a favela in Belo Horizonte, are using up-cycling to make a more sustainable—and inclusive—fashion brand. The brand, Remexe, represents just one of the projects undertaken at Lá da Favelinha, a cultural center and showcase of novel ideas from the favela. With the support of grant funding, designers from Remexe also held a workshop in Bristol, helping their colleagues in the UK create a sister social enterprise group, Re:Wurk.

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  • Family business: the women starting afresh in Cairo's creative sector

    An initiative run by the UN Refugee Agency in Cairo called NilFurat teaches women in countries around the Nile and Furat rivers creative skills for them to make a living. The women learn skills like hand sewing, machine sewing, product design, startup management, and financial literacy. The program focuses on supporting artisans who come from disadvantaged or underemployed backgrounds and works to foster a supportive community amongst women coming from Egyptian, Syrian, Ethiopian, and Sudanese backgrounds. The group is growing quickly and still faces challenges, but its members are optimistic.

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