Watch Episode 7 of The New Normal with Rodney Foxworth, CEO of Common Future
How can we rebuild our local economies? Episode 7 of The New Normal features a conversation with Rodney Foxworth, CEO of Common Future, on paths forward for local businesses despite structural inequalities in the new normal.
Our lively conversation with the CEO of Common Future, Rodney Foxworth, produced many key takeaways and adaptation strategies. Here are a few:
Listen to and invest in folks who were already adaptive before the pandemic struck. These businesses and communities tend to be led by women, people of color and other subordinated groups who are used to responding to difficult circumstances and demonstrating extraordinary creativity and imagination.
Bust myths. Build relationships. Tell the stories. Many people still aren’t aware of the realities of economic injustice or they assume that grassroots solutions won’t work. We have to uplift the stories of mutual aid and solidarity economies, from CommonWealth Kitchen to Cooperation Jackson, and keep building relationships rooted in place.
There’s actually a few strategies embedded in the last bullet point alone, so we’ll leave it at that and hope you watch and enjoy the show!
Rodney Foxworth is CEO of Common Future, formerly known as BALLE, a network of leaders (re)building an economy that includes everyone. Common Future’s work unites wealth-holders and wealth-builders across the U.S. and Canada to advance a more equitable economy.
Previously, he was CEO and Founder of Invested Impact, a consulting firm focused on economic development, philanthropy, and social innovation, and co-founder and Strategy Advisor of Impact Hub Baltimore. Prior to founding Invested Impact, Rodney was community manager at BMe, a national network of black male leaders and entrepreneurs. Rodney has also served as program manager at Job Opportunities Task Force, a policy advocacy and workforce development organization. Additionally, he has been a consultant to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Calvert Impact Capital, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, among others.
Rodney is a BALLE Fellow, Next City Vanguard, and Baltimore Business Journal “40 under 40” honoree. He is featured in the Washington Post bestseller, “Reach: 40 Black Men Speak on Living, Leading, and Succeeding.” Rodney serves on the board of Justice Funders, SOCAP, and NFF.
We are in an era-defining moment. What will be the New Normal?
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