How might local money and local finance work in the Cleveland context to bring needed opportunities to our neighborhoods and small-scale entrepreneurs?  What might we learn from the experiences of other cities and regions whose residents have instituted local money and local finance systems? Join us on April 27, 2017 as we initiate a timely and strategic community conversation drawing upon diverse experiences from around the US showing how innovative citizen-led currency exchanges and mutual credit systems can serve to promote economic democracy and local resiliency.

Local money affords people the power to participate in the creation of currency by instituting a system of mutual credit, supporting economic exchange on a human scale while mobilizing undervalued community assets on a debt-free basis. Cities around the world have created local currencies to supplement (not replace) existing government issued money, promoting sustainable economic development at the neighborhood level.  Similarly, community banking, cooperative loan and capital investment funds, and worker-owned enterprises serve to promote neighborhood-level investment according to principles of economic democracy.  A Cleveland local money initiative can mobilize local talent and local resources in support of human-scale economic development; expanding opportunities for residents in the areas of investment, entrepreneurship, job creation, and cooperative ownership!