As cities wrestle with the growing challenge of wealth inequality, more and more leaders are looking to broad-based ownership models as tools to create jobs and build community wealth. These models are highly effective, with a positive impact for low- and moderate-income individuals and communities. This report looks at six such models—ESOPs, Worker Cooperatives, CDFIs, Social Enterprises, Municipal Ownership, and Emerging Hybrids—with examples of best practices, and explores how these models can be used in community economic development.

The report is the first part of the new Building the Inclusive Economy series, three groundbreaking reports funded by Citi Community Development, that set out new, cutting-edge economic development models for city leaders and community development practitioners interested in embedding equity, community wealth, and sustainability into their local economic growth plan. The series, with reports from The Democracy Collaborative, The Democracy at Work Institute, and Project Equity, lays out key tools and building blocks for equitable local economic growth.