“Bringing It Home” Economic Development Conference

Professor Jessica Gordon Nembhard

City University (of NY) Professor Jessica Gordon Nembhard will be the keynote speaker at the “Bringing It Home” conference at the YMI Cultural Center, on Tuesday, March 15, 2016.

The free conference begins with breakfast at 8:30 a.m. followed by four sets of workshops. Lunch is from 12 noon to 12:45, and Dr. Nembhard will speak at 12:50 a.m.

Dr. Gordon Nembhard is the author of Collective Courage: A History of African-American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice and a contributor to the forthcoming collection Engaging Contradictions (ed. Charles R. Hale, University of California Press).

She speaks of her role in the study of alternative economic structures with both the rational view of a political scientist and the passion of an activist. In her words:

“I study political economy because I believe that we can fashion economies that are transformative, liberating, democratic, and equitable rather than limiting, oppressive, and reinforcing of archaic hierarchies and inequalities. Informed proactive people are the agents of such change. Engaged scholarship and transformative economics are catalytic tools. Grassroots economic organizing and democratic ownership are some of the mechanisms to effect such change.”

That work has permeated many levels of American culture and is particularly visible in progressive economies like Asheville’s, where nonprofit support organizations like Eagle-Market Streets Development Corporation and Mountain BizWorks thrive and economically viable business models like French Broad Food Co-op, Green Opportunities, and Firestorm Books find a foothold.

The conference at the YMI will reflect this area’s business diversity. It includes speakers, local connections, and practical financial tips designed to help attendees gain practical financial knowledge; workshops that explore cooperative business models; and networking opportunities to learn about local resources and neighborhood economics. In addition, there will be a tour of historic local African American neighborhoods and the opportunity to register and vote.

Among the organizations participating in workshops are OnTrack Financial, Self-Help Credit Union, Firestorm Books and Café, Eagle-Market Streets, Green Opportunities, Hood Huggers International, Moog Music, Mountain Bizworks, and Children First. Moderators and panel participants include retired professor and active business adviser Dr. Joseph Fox, Elder John Hayes, Rev. John Grant, Rev. Scott Rogers, Rev. James E. Lee, III, Stephanie Swepson-Twitty, and numerous others.

This conference is free, but does require advance reservation. For additional details and to register, please visit www.bringingithomewnc.org.

Political economist Jessica Gordon Nembhard is Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Africana Studies Department at John Jay College, part of the City University of NY. Her areas of expertise and writing cover cooperative economics, community economic development, credit unions, wealth inequality, community wealth, and black political economy. She is also a member of the Shared Leadership Team of Organizing Neighborhood Equity (ONE) DC (a community organizing organization in Washington, DC), the mother of two and the grandmother of two.