Transforming African American Communities through Economic Power and Wealth
At Cutting Edge, we strive to build an economy that provides opportunities for everyone to participate, thrive, and build wealth. Unfortunately, traditional capital raising models often exclude people who want to invest in businesses and organizations that provide real value in the real world. To combat this, we are leading a movement to bring new capital — by directly engaging more people as investors — to the new economy — an economy that is sustainable, resilient, and just.
However, we cannot do this without partnering with mission-aligned clients who are committed to empowering communities that have been systemically excluded and oppressed. The organizations listed below are just a few of several clients we’ve had the great opportunity to support in their efforts to uplift African American communities by building economic power and wealth.
EcoWomanist Institute
The EcoWomanist Institute (EWI) is an emancipatory sacred space for women of color that focuses on land, power and justice. The mission of EWI is to promote the inclusion, ecological awareness, and community leadership of African American women within the ecospirituality, ecojustice, and ethics narratives. EWI was birthed out of the co-vision of two ecowomanists, Valerie Hill Rawls and Veronica Kyle, whose ancestors endured, survived, and thrived in spite of being enslaved in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, harsh southern states known as the Black Belt.
Impact Ventures
Impact Ventures works to eliminate the social and economic barriers for BIPOC communities to build generational wealth through inclusive entrepreneurship, community wealth building, and integrated capital. Impact Ventures provides direct entrepreneurial support services, equitable investing, and community wealth building aimed at closing the wealth divide.
New Orleans Business Alliance
Through inclusive and holistic economic development, the New Orleans Business Alliance (NOLABA) is working to create an economy where all New Orleanians are financially secure and prosperous through growth, opportunity and by eliminating economic disparity. A public-private partnership, Nola BA is the official economic development organization for the City of New Orleans.
Obran Cooperative
Obran Cooperative, a worker-owned cooperative conglomerate corporation, exists to grow profitable, useful, and impactful businesses that serve their members, customers, and communities. A Reparative Enterprise, Obran was designed in part as a reaction to slavery.
Obran serves those closest to the problem of economic and social oppression by empowering its workers through ownership and education.
Real People’s Fund
REAL People’s Fund is a community-powered fund and entrepreneurship program that provides non-extractive capital, holistic business support, and organizing opportunities to build power with Black, Indigenous, Latine, AAPI, low-income, immigrant, undocumented, formerly incarcerated and working-class entrepreneurs of color in the East Bay.
Real People’s Fund is part of a movement to build collective wealth and decision-making power in communities while working towards a restorative and inclusive economy.
United Home Relief
Co-founded by Art Morrison III, United Home Relief was created to inspire and educate new African American real estate investors, hire black owned contractors, and empower black youth who are looking for an alternative way of building wealth. United Home Relief aims to make real estate investing more accessible by providing several “first-step” solutions to get professionals started in selling or building their real estate portfolio.
WEPOWER
WEPOWER works with working class Black and Latinx people to build community wealth and power in order to transform education and economic systems in St. Louis, Missouri to nurture their lives rather than harm them. WEPOWER envisions a future where systems are accountable to powerful communities that have been historically oppressed, and nurture our freedom, well-being, dreams, and joy.