In the fall of 2022, building on previous research, advocacy, webinars and grantmaking to supportcommunity ownership models, SPARCC convened a four-part series that brought together leadersfrom all six SPARCC metro areas for shared learning and support. Through workshops, peerpresentations, and discussion, the series sought to distill key aspects, challenges, and lessons fromthe field related to […]

By Sasha Forbes and Nick Collins At SPARCC’s inception, we knew policy—local, regional, and national—would be a critical component for long-term systems change. But that was met with the hard reality of the 2016 election, which put many policy advocates on the defense. Where we had high hopes for an administration to work with us […]

By James Yelen Just what exactly is “community ownership”? Depending on who you ask, the answer may differ, with some emphasizing how an asset or entity is controlled through decision-making and governance structures, others focusing on the proposed goal or benefit (such as permanent affordability), and still others interested in the degree to which community […]

By Sean Campbell The current financial system rewards the well-resourced and fails most BIPOC and low-income Americans. It simultaneously throws billions of dollars at unprofitable Silicon Valley companies while making capital inaccessible for small businesses and Main Street entrepreneurs. It has also done nothing to close our shameful racial wealth gap–indeed, it has made it […]

Even with the best intentions, disinvested communities–most especially communities of color–may be harmed by commonplace procedures established by institutions like banks and municipalities. Often, this is because these procedures are created to benefit institutions and not the communities that need assistance.

By Devin Culbertson and Sondra Ford In 2019 the SPARCC initiative was making plans for a second phase, but capital deployment was slower than we had hoped for. More importantly, our local partners were frustrated by our inability to lend to projects in their communities—which was the initial promise of SPARCC: changing the way we […]

Over the last 5 years, we’ve been working closely with our site partners to fund projects that center communities–from transit stop adjacent soccer fields to community owned housing, how we allocate money has evolved. As part of that evolution, we work closely with community leaders in identifying opportunities, helping develop them further, and structuring flexible […]