beloved economy

Through our Beloved Economy campaign, we are working to put the wisdom and resources of our diverse congregational network to work to change racist policies and to seed and promote BIPOC-owned coops and small businesses, cooperative affordable housing, and alternate investing in people of color-owned enterprise.

why a beloved economy?

In a time of obscene concentration of wealth and power in the hands of fewer and fewer people, we believe that we must work toward radical democratic ownership of our local economy and local government.  We believe that if our diverse congregations pull together our economic and social resources, we have the capacity to build wealth for Black and Latinx communities and create a more democratic and environmentally-sustainable society for us all.  Drawing on the ideas of solidarity economy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of a Beloved Community rooted in love and justice, we have called this vision the “Beloved Economy.” 

ECCO’s people-of-color-led Core Strategy Team crafted our Beloved Economy Agenda, and the full ECCO community ratified it at the 2020. Our agenda is a broad vision for racial and economic justice that will guide our work over the coming years.

Beloved economy agenda

Our Values

1. Fund Peace Not Force - In a beloved economy… Funds are reallocated from policing, incarceration and other institutions that use violent force, and toward restorative justice, social services, and other programs that promote community wellbeing, safety and peace. Click here to know our work on Criminal Justice Reform and unarmed crisis response.

2. Build Community Power and Democracy - In a beloved economy… Community members have access to information and are able to exercise power in decision-making at every level of government and in shaping the community and economy. Click here to know our work on immigrant rights.

3. Ensure Community Representation - In a beloved economy… Leadership positions and public departments are diverse and representative of the communities they serve.

4. Fund Just Economic Development - In a beloved economy… Community members invest in, and government budgets prioritize, economic development projects that build self-determination and power for poor people and people of color. Click here to know our work for Economic Justice, affordable housing, and our support of the Shine Together immigrant-women-owned cleaning cooperative.