Episode 56: Economic Democracy through Community Capital with Mica Fisher

What would it take to achieve economic democracy? On this episode of the Capital Insight Podcast, hosts Jenny Kassan and Michelle Thimesch chat with Mica Fisher, the Managing Director of the National Coalition for Community Capital (NC3) about how to create a healthy economy for all.

Mica’s journey to economic democracy started with food justice activism in college. This work eventually led to her role as managing director at NC3, which works to educate, advocate, innovate and activate community capital. “We see community capital as a set of strategies that brings the power of investment back to regular people,” Mica says, “whereas right now, it’s normally just sectioned off to accredited investors or very wealthy and powerful people.”

NC3 views community capital through the lens of four principles: it is inclusive, provides wealth-building opportunities for all, empowers and serves all stakeholders, and facilitates shared prosperity. Explains Mica, community capital “provides opportunities for people of all levels of wealth and all demographics to fully participate in the economy as investors.”

Mica advises that getting involved in local cooperatives and investing circles can be a great tool for diversifying your investment options and gaining knowledge of the organizations in your community. Listen below to the full conversation.

Mica Fisher is an organizer and advocate for economic democracy living in New York City. She is the Managing Director at the National Coalition for Community Capital (NC3), which aims to educate, advocate, and activate community capital, a set of tools that allows people of any economic status to invest in their own community. Prior to joining NC3’s staff, she managed NYC’s Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative, the most significant municipal investment in the country to support the development of democratic, worker-owned businesses. There, she also helped launch Owner to Owners NYC, a hotline and technical assistance network to connect existing business owners with the resources they need to sell their business to their employees.

The Capital Insight podcast intro and outro is voiced by Marina Verlaine. She can be contacted at reel.peach.vo@gmail.com