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Community Wealth Building (CWB) is an economic development model that transforms local economies based on communities having direct ownership and control of their assets. It challenges the failing approaches that have been widely accepted in economic development for too long, and addresses wealth inequality at its core. (www.democracycollaborative.org). Join WEPOWER Founder and CEO Charli Cooksey and Professor of Practice Heather Cameron to discuss how to build community power, economic opportunity and inclusive prosperity for all of us living in the Saint Louis Region.

Presenters:
Charli Cooksey is a native and resident of North St. Louis City. After completing her studies at Prairie View A&M University, she returned to St. Louis as a Teach For America (TFA) corps member. In 2018, Charli founded WEPOWER. WEPOWER’s mission is to activate community power to redesign systems to be just and equitable for all. Through this work, Charli and her team and many excellent partners work with everyday folks to support them with building political and economic power in service of community-led systems change. Before launching WEPOWER, Charli served as the interim Executive Director/Lead Catalyst of Forward Through Ferguson, co-founded inspireSTL, served on the St. Louis Board of Education, and as an Executive in Residence focused on education innovation at the United Way of Greater St. Louis.

Heather Cameron, PhD is the Michael B. Kaufman Professor of Practice in Social Entrepreneurship at the Brown School She is also the founder of several prize-winning social enterprises in the fields of education and sports for community development, including Boxgirls and Camp Group, a winner of the Google Impact Challenge for its educational tool for refugee children. In 2010 she was recognized for her work as a social innovator with an Ashoka Fellowship. She continues to work all over the world as an advisor and evaluator of development and education projects.

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Community Wealth Building (CWB) is an economic development model that transforms local economies based on communities having direct ownership and control of their assets. It challenges the failing approaches that have been widely accepted in economic development for too long, and addresses wealth inequality at its core. (www.democracycollaborative.org). Join WEPOWER Founder and CEO Charli Cooksey and Professor of Practice Heather Cameron to discuss how to build community power, economic opportunity and inclusive prosperity for all of us living in the Saint Louis Region.

Presenters:
Charli Cooksey is a native and resident of North St. Louis City. After completing her studies at Prairie View A&M University, she returned to St. Louis as a Teach For America (TFA) corps member. In 2018, Charli founded WEPOWER. WEPOWER’s mission is to activate community power to redesign systems to be just and equitable for all. Through this work, Charli and her team and many excellent partners work with everyday folks to support them with building political and economic power in service of community-led systems change. Before launching WEPOWER, Charli served as the interim Executive Director/Lead Catalyst of Forward Through Ferguson, co-founded inspireSTL, served on the St. Louis Board of Education, and as an Executive in Residence focused on education innovation at the United Way of Greater St. Louis.

Heather Cameron, PhD is the Michael B. Kaufman Professor of Practice in Social Entrepreneurship at the Brown School She is also the founder of several prize-winning social enterprises in the fields of education and sports for community development, including Boxgirls and Camp Group, a winner of the Google Impact Challenge for its educational tool for refugee children. In 2010 she was recognized for her work as a social innovator with an Ashoka Fellowship. She continues to work all over the world as an advisor and evaluator of development and education projects.