Author

We’re on a mission to turn the state of Minnesota into a place where every working person can also be an employee owner.

Ella Fassler is an independent journalist based in New York City. Their work on community autonomy, labor, technology and the carceral system has been featured in Teen Vogue, The Boston Globe, The Nation, Vice, The Appeal, Slate, OneZero, Shadowproof, Mic, In These Times, The Counter and elsewhere. Twitter: @EllaFassler.

AMIBA was founded in 2001 as part of a nationwide movement to support locally-owned, independent businesses, encourage local purchasing, and address the competitive disadvantages that independent businesses often experience due to policies and economic structures.

AMIBA has been at the forefront of a national grassroots campaign to “Buy Local” and value their community’s uniqueness. Over the last two decades, nearly 100 Independent Business Organizations (IBAs) opened in cities and rural regions, large and small, nationwide.

Alex Lopez is a board member of Ekhilur Coop, a non-profit consumer co-operative working towards a legally regulated payment system that’s controlled by co-operative members and contributes to local and social development in the Basque Country.

Based in Kampala, Uganda, Soita is openDemocracy’s East Africa reporter, working on our Tracking the Backlash feminist investigative journalism project. Contact her at: khatondi.soita[at]opendemocracy.net

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Reimagining ownership of businesses responsible for 44% of US GDP and 46% of US employment.

We are a proud Black Nationalist/Pan-Africanist community organization based in Harlem, committed to empowering Black people to "Wake up, Clean up, and Stand up!" Our mission centers on political education, Black history, and community leadership training.

Jonathan Tarleton is a writer, an urban planner, and an oral historian. He previously served as the chief researcher on Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas and as the editor in chief of the online magazine Urban Omnibus. His essays have appeared in Orion, Jacobin, Hell Gate, Dirt, and beyond.

Stefan Ivanovski is pursuing a Ph.D. at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. His research centers on democratizing ownership and management in companies utilizing remote work and innovative technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Currently, he’s involved in two projects: a comparative study on tech worker co-operative ecosystems in Argentina and the UK, and a comparison of AI’s impact on jobs in the game development industry between the US and the UK. Stefan holds a Master’s degree in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in community and economic development, and a dual degree in international relations and Spanish from Bucknell University. He contributes as a writer and podcast host for Lifestyle Democracy, exploring technology, democracy, and society.