Common Future

It’s time to make the economy work for all. Given the outcomes of the election at the federal, state, and local levels—we at Common Future are calling on funders to step in to provide long-term investments to shift the economy towards inclusive change. Read a message from our Co-CEOs, Jennifer Swayne Njuguna, Esq. SHRM-SCP, Sandhya Nakhasi, and Jess Yupanqui Feingold. https://lnkd.in/e2czZizX

In this moment, so many of us are yearning for new models of leadership and better ways of working. In our sector, there's much that we are up against. How can we move forward with greater levels of agility, foresight, and imagination? Grateful to my Common Future, Co-CEOs Jennifer Swayne Njuguna, Esq. and Sandhya Nakhasi as we face the next chapter of our collective work. We have each other's backs and are much greater than the sum of our parts. In our latest in Stanford Social Innovation Review, we kick off a mini-series highlighting the potential of co-leadership and our own lessons learned—including our toolkit which should get you a few steps ahead in your own co-leadership journey. https://lnkd.in/eyA9-ETB

In a video clip from our webinar on liberating finance, Jaime Gloshay of Common Future explores a financial framework rooted in Indigenous values: https://hubs.ly/Q03030_00

Common Future's Bold Experiment: The 4-Day Workweek In 2021, Common Future, a California-based nonprofit focused on racial and economic justice, shook things up — implementing a 4-day workweek. The motivation? To better support their employees and live the values they advocate for as part of their company mission. 💡What They Did... Amid the pandemic, employees valued flexibility the most. By adopting essentialism — they found they could do as much or more with less time. Common Future used OKRs, surveys, and time studies to measure the impact on work-life balance, community engagement, and health. 📈 The Results... - Higher employee retention - Increased job satisfaction - Exceptional employee engagement 💬 Employees say... This is the organization of their dreams! 🚧 Challenges... At first it felt like trying to squeeze 5 days into 4. Ongoing focus on balancing individual, team, and organizational rhythms was needed to find a sustainable pace. There is not much spaciousness to create connection in 4 days mostly remote. So they implemented ‘culture buddies’ to help people connect as human beings and develop relationships. 🔑 Key Advice... Do your research. If you decide to try reduced work time, lean into experimentation with a data-driven approach. Match your experiment parameters to the culture of your organization, to the employees you have, and to the employee experience you want to provide. If you'd like more research, case studies, or advice please reach out to us WorkFour — The National Campaign for the 4-Day Workweek #changingwork #4dayweek #4dayworkweek

“Thank you so much for guiding me through this process and I am very grateful for the opportunity to scale [my] business with Community Credit Lab." Feedback like this one from a small-business owner that was not able to access affordable capital from the mainstream financial system is what keeps us going at Common Future. Credit to Yaye Maguette Ndiaye, MBA, Marianella Vicarioli, Eduardo and Bryam for ensuring our borrowers feel supported throughout the entire lending and servicing process, and to Agnetha Jaime Gloshay for leading our impact investments work. Huge recognition also goes out to Sandhya Nakhasi (Co-CEO at CF) and Ryan Glasgo, co-founders of Community Credit Lab, now Common Future’s investment entity, for their vision of fostering values-driven relationships.

At the 2024 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Gathering in New York City, we announced our Community Credit Lab (CCL) Fund—our commitment to raise $35M over the next three years. This fund will invest directly in Black and Indigenous leaders, communities, and innovative economic models like land trusts, cooperatives, and community-owned real estate. Roselle Croitoru, Common Future Director of Investment Operations shares how we’re rethinking lending operations to build a fairer, more inclusive financial system. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/esias7iw

As part of our commitment to activating deeper collaboration in the equitable economy space, Common Future is excited to launch a new coalition in 2025 that builds upon the ideas and enthusiasm sparked during our Systems Change workshops. Individuals and organizations can register for the coalition here: https://lnkd.in/ekdewAh2

Our friends at Justice Funders are excited to announce the Just Transition Investing Academy (JTIA) launch in 2025! The JTIA will support philanthropy professionals–especially those in programmatic and grantmaking departments of institutions that manage an endowment–who want to deepen their practical and conceptual investment knowledge and explore the transformative potential of applying a Just Transition lens to investment portfolios. JTIA is now seeking applications from philanthropy professionals in 2025, more information here: https://lnkd.in/emPiMefm

Join Nonprofit Quarterly this week for Remaking the Economy: Liberating Finance to Build a More Just World on Wednesday, November 20th from 2:00pm to 3:30pm ET! Register to learn how nonprofits and movement activists are advancing strategies to address our time's economic and social inequalities. Moderated by NPQ Senior Editor of Economic Justice, Steve Dubb and featuring panelists: • Agnetha Jaime Gloshay, cofounder of Native Women Lead and Managing Director of Impact Investments here at Common Future • Fernando X. Abarca is a Loan Fund Organizer for Right To The City Alliance • abdiel j. lópez is Director of Capital Activation at Justice Funders • Onyx R., Senior Communications Director at Black Farmer Fund https://lnkd.in/gQbtHRxH

In this latest issue of our LinkedIn newsletter, we asked Common Future’s People Team to share tips for addressing Time Poverty that places values and organizational strategy at the center. Here is what H.R. Director RaShanna came up with. We invite your ideas and reactions, as well as ideas for future issues!