[Editor's note: Below are three interviews from CommonBound 2016, held in Buffalo, NY earlier this year. Interviewers Laura Flanders and Esteban Kelly talk with three women who are working to build financial and economic structures that empower people and communities. Click here for more videos from the conference. CommonBound is a project of the New Economy Coalition (NEC), a network of 150-plus organizations including PeoplesAction, 350.org, and the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives. NEC partnered with the Buffalo-based Crossroads Collective to put on the conference.]

How Native CDFI's Transform Communities

Chrystel Cornelius is the Executive Director or the First Nations Oweesta Corporation in Longmont, Colorado. In this video, she speaks about the impact the native CDFI movement has had in transforming rural native communities, as well as the power of community-controlled finance.



Ms. Cornelius has worked with Native communities for most of her professional career, with than 16 years of experience working in the Native economic development field. Chrystel is of Chippewa and Oneida descent and has a BS in Business Management from the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND.

Economics of Fear

Tawanna Petty of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center talks about the intersection of the racial justice and #BlackLivesMatter movement with the current economy, and how that influences the movements taking place in Detroit, Michigan today.

The Power of Community Banking

Stacy Mitchell is co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and leads its Community-Scaled Economy Initiative, which produces in-depth research and partners with a range of allies to implement public policies that curb economic consolidation and strengthen locally owned businesses.



Stacy is the author of the acclaimed book Big-Box Swindle, has produced numerous influential reports, and has written articles for a wide range of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and The Nation.

All videography by The Extraenvironmentalist

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