The US economy is out of balance.

As basic expenses climb and public programs shrink, “the economy” – the ways that money flows in and around our society – can feel beyond our control.

In debates around housing, taxes or interest rates, the rules of the economy remain myopic, and the voices with the most money consistently have the most say.

Fortunately, there are questions we can pose – and models we can adopt – that offer fresh ways to think about the economy. Across the US, people are reclaiming decision-making power over the financial forces that shape their lives.

Welcome to Proximate Investing

That’s what this editorial series will shine a light on. Welcome to Proximate Investing, a new project at Proximate Press that explores how capital moves through communities.

In this project, we'll look at the upstream forces – the capital flows and investment decisions – that shape everything from housing to food systems to public infrastructure in the United States.

And we’ll ask: what happens when investment decisions are made by those most proximate to the investment's impact?

We've seen the harm caused when investment decisions are disconnected from proximate voices. Private equity firms build housing that displaces longtime residents. Foundations invest in portfolios that undermine the work of their grantees. Universities fumble town and gown dynamics.

The good news is that there are models in place for how we might move our money differently – models grounded in proximity, compassion and lived experience. They look like:

• A group of neighborhood residents negotiating a community benefits agreement with a housing developer

• A community-owned loan fund with democratic governance, created to back local cooperative businesses

• A nationwide network of grassroots activists working with a major foundation to influence its investment strategies

An antidote to extractive economic forces

Over the next few months, this editorial series will shine a light on existing and in-progress models for bringing people ever more proximate to the dollars that shape their lives.

Participatory investing isn’t just the “right” thing to do. It makes sense: throughout history, communities operating in resource-constrained environments have shown themselves to be innovative and creative when it comes to resilience and renewal. 

So follow along. Proximate will publish original journalism on participatory models, and this newsletter will feature insights from the field; updates from those doing the work; and tidbits we’re collecting across the Internet and around the globe.

Thank you to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for supporting this series. And reach out anytime to hello@proximate.press with story ideas, links we should see, or updates from the fifield.

We may not be able to control everything in our world. But if we only focus on what’s beyond our grasp, we miss opportunities to learn from what’s right in front of us. That’s where Proximate Investing comes into play.

-- Sonia

Featured Story

Beyond Hollywood – what happens when artists invest in other artists?

Proximate has already published a few articles on participatory investing models – including this story about the creative economy published during the 2023 writers actors strike in Hollywood.

The story is about the Midnight Oil Collective, a unique production company that has invested in a portfolio of creative assets (theatrical productions, TV shows, music studios) through a model that centers the voice of artists.

Structured as a cooperative, the collective uses a peer-driven investment model to make investment decisions, and also helps artists retain ownership over what they create. 

Read the story here.

Field Notes

Readers beware: here’s where we’ll get into the wonkier aspects of proxonomics!

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had conversations with organizers, investors, intermediaries, and community members who have been grappling with what our current political climate means for them.

On the one hand, everyone in the social impact space is taking note of where there might be fewer funds available. On the other hand, it feels more crucial than ever that decision-making power over those funds is shifted to people with lived experience.  

Here are some updates we’re seeing take shape in the participatory investing space:

• This movement-controlled loan fund is a great example of shifting not just the “what” -- getting non-extractive (i.e. 0% loan) capital from foundations into communities that need it, rather than those dollars going to Wall Street, but also the “how”: through designing a democratic process to rethink the entire investment process.

• Alongside political strategy, the civil rights movement also focused on expanding economic access. Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) were created in the 60s to specifically serve communities of color. This article from the Stanford Social Innovation Review explores significant gaps -- and therefore significant opportunities -- when it comes to those those institutions are centering the voices of their community constituents.

• Community land trusts are one of those examples: across the country, communities are preserving affordable housing by purchasing land that individuals can then buy a house on via an affordable, long-term renewable lease. Many land trusts are governed by community boards comprised of neighborhood residents -- proxonomics in action.

• At SXSW in Austin, impact investors spoke about moving forward commitments to mission alignment, as well as how to center integration of community voice and perspective within this swirling political climate. 

• Shifting foundation’s institutional investment portfolios to be mission-aligned as well requires taking a look at investment fund managers as an entrypoint: this article outlines how one foundation has shifted who brings investment opportunities forward.

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