Category: News and updates

One of the things we do here at BRED, is help workers keep their jobs when a business is being sold. How do we do that? It’s called a cooperative conversion. This is when we help the business owner sell the business to the employees, and they all become worker-owners, and the business becomes a co-op! A while ago, WYPR wrote an article about employees taking over their businesses, you can read it here —> Toss your boss to the curb. What happens when workers take over?

We are very proud of the work we did last year and would like to share it with you. Below is our 2024 impact report highlighting projects, collaborations, outreach and funding. As always, thanks for supporting BRED and our mission to help create a more equitable future for Baltimore City residents and business owners. Happy 2025!

If you have ever come to our events or seen an IG Reel, you’ve heard us mention Seed Commons several times. Seed Commons is the national network of non-extractive loan funds that BRED belongs to. If you want to learn more about Seed Commons, this video created during the All Network Gathering is perfect for you. We hosted all our peer funds here in Baltimore for three days of learning from and supporting each other. Enjoy!

Fresh Cup Magazine wrote an article about coffee cooperatives in Baltimore City and how the co-op ecosystem has grown over the last six years. It’s a good light read for these heavy times. Read here!

Picture this.

It’s Saturday morning. You’re drinking a cup of coffee, maybe eating a light breakfast, and learning all about cooperatives with curious minded people. Where are you? BRED’s 2025 Jumpstart taking place at Impact Hub!

Who is this event for? If you are co-op curious, a business owner that wants to sell to your employees, have a co-op and are interested in learning more about cooperative tools to implement in the day to day structure of running a co-op, this event is for you.

Join Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy for a fun-filled day of conversations and workshops about co-ops! Starting up, co-op basics, day-to-day decision making, business models, and so much more! We are ready to help you on your journey. March 8, 2025 10-4pm register here. Childcare available – apply here by March 1st.

Giving Tuesday is fast approaching and we’re hoping you support Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy! BRED was founded in 2015 to provide much-needed technical support and funding to support the cooperative economy here in Baltimore, and beyond. We know how important sustaining and growing a healthy business ecosystem is here in Baltimore City, and we know that cooperatives are a vital part of that health. We ask friends, supporters, and comrades to share this post and donate to our Donor Box today. We want to keep providing services and resources to Baltimore and you can help us do that.

Throughout the day we will be sharing and tagging stories of cooperatives in our network that we would also love your support. So check us out on Instagram , give us a follow and share these co-ops with your people!! Thanks for all your support!

We recently helped The Wine Source convert from a traditional business into a cooperative. We are so happy for this group of amazing workers and what they have accomplished! Please take a moment to read this Baltimore Fishbowl article to learn more about The Wine Source’s process and about us!

https://baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/from-red-emmas-to-the-wine-source-baltimore-a-hotbed-of-local-worker-cooperative-financing/

Are you interested in learning how you can pursue real estate but want to know what your options are to stay grounded in the community?
We are hosting this free 3-part series to help cooperatives and cooperative centered communities learn more about what it takes to form, maintain, and and build different types of real estate models such as:
-Community Land Trusts
-Real Estate Cooperatives
-Community Investment Vehicle

*** This is a 3-part series so feel free to attend one or more session ***

Join us May 23, June 6, and July 11 from 5-7 pm. Register HERE

May 23rd: 5-7 pm

Red Clover Collective – Housing Collective
Red Clover Collective is a small intentional community and cooperative, with horizontal democratic governance. For 20 years they have been dedicated to building relationships and lifestyles centered around sustainable living, social justice, and centered values in artistic creation. Christina and Nicholas, members and residents of the community will be presenting this session to dive deeper into the history of Red Clover and how this structure has been a resource for their community.

South Baltimore Community Land Trust (SBCLT) – Community Land Trust
Founded in 2019, SBCLT is a community-led organization that believes in dignified housing. Their focus is on environmental justice and housing in the process of developing homes to be owned in the Cherry Hill and Curtis Bay areas. They develop quality homes that stay affordable and offer support to homeowner applicants to prevent involuntary displacement within communities that face risk. Makayla, who is involved with the Housing Stewardship will be sharing the in and outs of what this organization does, and offer other resources to connect people to education on Land Trusts within their communities.

June 6th: 5-7 pm
Network for Developing Conscious Communities (NDCC)
A spiritually based leadership and community development network organization. Their focus is in creating strategic-planning efforts to lead a diverse perspective in strengthening the Black governed community development ecosystem. Ron Hantz will be leading this conversation and it will focus on low-income cooperative housing strategies.

July 11th: 5-7 pm
Invest York Road (IYR)
A local project to create community-owned commercial real estate for the purpose of revitalizing the York Road corridor and building community wealth. Join Stephanie Geller and learn about how this Community Investment Vehicle helped the surrounding neighborhoods of York Road as they developed and maintained this project

Have you ever wanted to propose a bill for something that you are passionate about, but don’t know how to talk about it in front of officials? Public Justice Center has you covered! BRED has partnered with PJC to bring you an event called Giving Public Testimony. The event will show attendees how to give effective public testimony to elected officials by using a bill that BRED introduced in Annapolis earlier this month as an example. The event will take place in the Baltimore Free School located in Red Emma’s. No registration is required.