Bioneers 2025 Conference

Community Wealth Building: A Conversation with Beloved Economies, Full Spectrum Capital Partners, and The Guild 

Hosted by the Beloved Economies Collaborative for Narrative Infrastructure

Community wealth extraction refers to the process by which resources are taken out of a community to benefit external parties, without adequately reinvesting in or benefiting the local population. As summed up in the book Beloved Economies (2022), its impacts can look like waves of small businesses closing in a community and never reopening, followed by dollar stores and chain stores that send their profits to distant corporate headquarters mushrooming; no decent grocery stores for miles; hospitals closing down; public schools having to switch to a four-day week due to declining property taxes; cash-strapped local authorities selling a local public park to raise revenue, etc. The good news is there is an alternative. The community wealth-building movement demonstrates how we can build and keep wealth in our communities in equitable ways to build vibrant, reparative, and regenerative local economies in balance with the natural world. In this session, leaders from cutting-edge efforts engaged in this work share their perspectives and experiences. With: Taj James of Full Spectrum Capital Partners; Jess Rimington of Beloved Economies; and Nikishka Iyengar of The Guild.

March 29th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm

Panelists


Jess Rimington
Co-Leader
Collaborative for Narrative Infrastructure
Nikishka Iyengar
Founder and CEO
The Guild
Taj James
Co-Founder and Curator
Full Spectrum Labs