Harvesting Economic Democracy in Times of Change

It's a season of change and harvest. The trees delight us with their momentary spectacle of warm hues and the weather starts inviting us to burrow. At the same time, tomatoes and other crops are still overflowing with their last bounties of the year. At Cleveland Owns, change and harvest is amidst us as well. It's been an exciting and busy fall for us, filled with celebration, education, hard work, launches, and welcoming new team members.

As our political and social spheres are also undergoing change -- 1 in 8 Americans are still in danger of not having SNAP funds to buy food with this month and election upsets have rocked the boat of status quo parties -- we hope that our harvest of economic democracy wins here in Cleveland will help us make some small contributions towards transforming our economy to work for all. Read on to learn what we’ve been up to!

Dolphin Tank

Do you hear those clicks? It’s the dolphin pod getting back together to celebrate the newest cohort of graduates from Cleveland Owns’ 16-week co-op incubator program, Co-op U, at the second annual Dolphin Tank*! On December 4th at 5:30pm at Pilgrim UCC (2592 W 14th St), seven local teams will be unveiling their plans to launch amazing new cooperative businesses in Cleveland. (*Dolphin Tank is like a post-capitalist Shark Tank 🐬, hosted by Co-op Circles). RSVP by December 1st at www.clevelandowns.coop. Below is a sneak peak of the teams!

• Central Kinsman Wellness Collective – farm stop working on addressing food apartheid
• Community Spa – community oriented wellness facility
• GWENS Group – helping tenants save on their rent and find better housing
• HistoCraft – histology laboratory (studies tissue samples for medical and research centers!)
• Nightlight Books – disability justice bookstore
• Plant Partners – regenerative landscapers
• VeneRiquenos – Puerto Rican and Venezuelan fusion restaurant

Each team will share some avenues through which the community can support and through which you can make a difference in the future of these co-op projects! You’ll also have the chance to ask questions during Q&A and write valuable feedback for each! Come cheer ‘em on! RSVP here.

Co-op-a-cue in August

In the midst of chaos, we choose community. We gathered with our folks to keep economic democracy cooking at Cleveland Owns’ annual event, Co-op-a-cue. It was a joy! Prerna, Najah, Craig, Bogdan, and Jonathan shared their work on co-op housing, People’s Budget Cleveland, energy democracy, cooperative workplaces, and community-owned co-ops. We awarded this year’s cooperator of the year award (more below)! Demetrius served amazing food, Cleveland Rueda salsa instructors brought the moves, and Flequer of Sustainergy shared a keynote address about the links between immigrant justice and cooperative ownership. Our sponsors and Sustaining Supporters helped make it happen. Special thanks to the Democracy Collaborative and Fairmount Presbyterian Church for sponsoring us at our “Party Starter” level!

As the shell of neoliberalism crumbles all around us, much love to the many people in Cleveland and beyond fighting to build a new economy. You can watch a recording of our team sharing program updates or help us meet our goal of $1,500/month by becoming a Sustaining Supporter.

Ms. Mikki Smith is Cleveland Owns’ 2025 Cooperator of the Year!

At our Co-op-a-cue, we could not have been more honored to award the 2025 Cooperator of the Year title to Ms. Mikki Smith! This is a tradition we started last year to celebrate individuals or groups for their contributions to the Cleveland cooperative ecosystem over the past 12 months. 

The reasons to celebrate Ms. Mikki are too many to count! Ms Mikki is one of the driving forces of Little Africa Food Cooperative, a community-owned food cooperative working to expand access to healthy food in the Mt Pleasant neighborhood of Cleveland's East Side. She’s one of the founding members of Co-op Circles, the bimonthly event series organized cooperatively by many of the co-op groups in Cleveland. In these roles and more, she always brings her characteristic positivity and deep insight into how to discuss and share the principles of cooperation with Clevelanders. Thank you Ms Mikki for all that you contribute to our cooperative community. We're very lucky and grateful to be doing this work with you!

PB CLE Launches Pilot in Slavic Village!

People’s Budget Cleveland has officially launched its Slavic Village pilot project! During the annual Trick-or-Treat on Fleet (Ave) event, the PB CLE team hosted an open house to invite neighbors to start imagining how they would use $100,000 to better their neighborhood. Youth and families walked through an example People’s Budget process from idea imagination to voting on what they believe is best for their neighborhood. In 2026 this process will be run for real. 

With the start of the pilot, the Neighborhood Steering Committee application is live! PB CLE is seeking 15 community members ages 16 and up who are committed to guiding the process, bringing resident power, and representing the diversity of Slavic Village. Apply or nominate someone to join the committee by November 17th!

Introducing Cassie Park!

We’re so excited to introduce you all to Cassie Park (she/her), the new Program Coordinator for People’s Budget Cleveland! In that role, Cassie is embedded within the Cleveland Owns team along with Najah Muhammad, so we work together closely. Here’s her intro in her own words:

Through People’s Budget Cleveland, Cassie is excited to practice more holistic and just systems of democracy while strengthening relationships amongst common people. She brings a persistent curiosity for different ways to listen deeply to Cleveland residents to build a more equitable and resilient society. In this role, she strives to empower victims of disenfranchisement to reclaim their personal passions, community, land, labor, and capital. Read her full bio here.

Lakeside Bible Church makes historic move towards community solar

The Cleveland Solar Co-op passed a huge milestone in August when it signed a Power Purchase Agreement with Lakeside Bible Church in East Cleveland! With this contract in place, the co-op can hire an engineering firm to do the final designs and start raising funds to build Ohio’s first community-owned solar array. This moment is a result of years of organizing, education, and development groundwork. We’re so grateful for the dedication of our amazing partners. Lakeside Bible Church, CSC board members, our member-owners, amazing lawyers, and very own Energy Democracy Organizer Craig Ickler, we could not have done this without you!

There’s never been a better time to get involved with Cleveland Solar Cooperative! Learn more about CSC and how to become a member-owner here or sign-up for the CSC newsletter here to get updates on the Lakeside project and more.  

More News

• (November) On Monday, Nov. 10 the Cleveland Owns office will be open 6-8pm for office hours! Come chat with Craig, Prerna, Ayat and Zoe and meet cooperators from across co-op housing, energy democracy, and cooperative workplaces! RSVP here
• (October) Our whole team took a trip to the Union Co-op Symposium in Cincinnati along with partners from Rust Belt Riders and the Northeast Ohio Worker Center. This biannual conference hosted by Co-op Cincy, was inspiring on many fronts! Particularly, it allowed us to connect with labor and co-op leaders who have pioneered the union co-op model. Stay tuned for report back invites on this front in the coming months as well!
• (October) Nine Cleveland co-op housing supporters visited Bloomington Cooperative Living in Bloomington, IN. This network of five cooperative housing buildings cooperatively owned by over 70 live-in members graciously hosted us for 3 days, providing us meals, beds, and lots of inspiration. Stay tuned for an invitation to learn from our experience through a future report-back opportunity!
• (September) We made our first ever startup co-op loan to Suddy Buddy’s Grooming, our newest co-op that is grooming pets with style in Massillon, OH.  This $23,000 loan is allowing the team to access health insurance and pay off some plumbing improvements. Now you can pamper your pets and support a new co-op all at the same time!
• (July) Co-op Circles hosted a non-partisan candidate forum that brought 15 candidates for Cleveland City Council together to discuss economic policy and the upcoming election. Moderator Trevelle Harp from the Neighborhood Leadership Institute facilitated an extensive conversation on how candidates plan to respond to federal policies, how to better align the city budget - a moral document - with their values, and how to engage with economic democracy strategies like housing and worker-co-ops and community land trusts, and many more topics. Watch the full forum recording here.