Community Benefits Agreements emerge as top issue in Spring 2023 election cycle

February 20, 2023 Community Benefits Agreements emerge as top issue in Spring 2023 election cycle   A new group of more than 100 residents, developers, business owners, philanthropists, and local organizations have announced the Community Wealth Action Group to advocate for community-owned wealth, quality jobs, and livable wages for Black and Latinx residents of St.…

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BJC Makes Anchor Investment in WEPOWER Capital

January 24, 2023 BJC Makes Anchor Investment in WEPOWER Capital   BJC’s anchor investment will go toward focused, revenue-based funding (RBF) investments in Black- and Latinx-owned businesses with strong growth trajectories. WEPOWER Capital works to ignite equitable economic growth and prosperity in St. Louis by building wealth in under-resourced communities.   Today WEPOWER Capital announced…

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What it Takes to Thrive: The Importance of Investing in Everyone

November 29, 2022 What it Takes to Thrive: The Importance of Investing in Everyone By: Amina Abdul-Malik WEPOWER’s Director of Investments and a native North St. Louisan, Amina Abdul-Malik, reads on the steps of her former middle school, a place where she saw “the possibilities of educational equity come to life” in her childhood. Photo…

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We Dream, We Build, We Win

November 29, 2022 We Dream, We Build, We Win If Harriet Tubman didn’t dream, if Dr. King didn’t dream, if Dolores Huerta didn’t dream–where would we be?   Dreams are sacred and necessary. They reveal possibilities, and affirm the necessity to create a different future. Dreams allow us to unleash ourselves and our families from…

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Meet WEPOWER’s Fall Cohort of Biz Owners!

November 16, 2022 MEET WEPOWER’S FALL COHORT OF BIZ OWNERS! We are SO HAPPY to share that we have welcomed our fourth cohort of amazing Black and Latinx founders to the WEPOWER family! Take time to get to know each company and checkout their products, services, and venues!   Jamila Boone | Scene Event Space…

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St. Louis County Council Votes to Allocate $5.6 Million in ARPA Funds to Improve Local Early Childhood Education

October 25, 2022 St. Louis County Council Votes to Allocate $5.6 Million in ARPA Funds to Improve Local Early Childhood Education   The vote follows months of public testimony and advocacy from The Early Childhood Power & Policy Action Group members and supporters.   After months of negotiations and hearings, the St. Louis County Council…

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Protecting STL Children

October 24, 2022 Protecting STL Children Photo by David Carson, Post-Dispatch On Monday, St. Louis experienced one of the greatest fears of our time: a school shooting.   The Central Visual and Performing Arts High School community faced an active shooter situation which led to multiple deaths and injuries of students and educators and immeasurable…

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WEPOWER Announces First Investment in St. Louis Startup, Bold Xchange

September 22, 2022 WEPOWER Announces First Investment in St. Louis Startup, Bold Xchange Bold Xchange, curator of corporate gifts from Black-owned brands, receives the first investment from WEPOWER’s new fund, whose goal is to accelerate community owned wealth and create economic growth in historically divested communities.   Today WEPOWER announced Bold Xchange was selected as…

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For Us, By Us, with Love

August 25, 2022 For Us, By Us, with Love By: Coral Bello-Martinez Meet Coral Bello-Martinez, an alum of WEPOWER’s Power-Building Academy who just joined the WEPOWER team as the new Economic Justice Organizer. Photo by Nyara Williams.   What drew me to work in education? I wanted to become the teacher that I had needed…

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We Have More Power Than We Recognize

August 4, 2022 We Have More Power Than We Recognize By: Jacqueline Person Jacqueline Person, a recent Power Building Academy and Chisholm’s Chair alum, as well as a recently retired teacher from St. Louis Public Schools, stands in her former classroom. “I decided to pursue being a teacher…so I could have a lot more interaction…

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