About Us
We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that builds solidarity economy ecosystems using data science, story-based strategy, and action research. We work at the intersection of racial justice and solidarity economies.
Our values are based on those of the solidarity economy, articulated by our mentor and board member Emily Kawano as including:
- Solidarity
- Participatory democracy
- Equity in all dimensions
- Sustainability
- Pluralism (not a one-size fits all approach)
We were founded in 2014, initially as the research arm of the Industrial Workers of the World. We supported worker-led organizing campaigns, such as incarcerated workers, with strategic research.
We then broadened our scope to partner with grassroots groups outside of the union, such as farmworkers, and to take on applied research consulting work with organizations, such as the Food Chain Workers Alliance.
We became very interested in what we were for, not just what we were against. And, how we can create the conditions within our organization to carry out fulfilling work.
We established an affiliated worker cooperative, Solidarity Research Cooperative, in 2015. That cooperative was dissolved in 2017, and some of the members went on to create a new entity, Research Action.
Today, we are committed to resisting and building, opposing and proposing, and to building a new world in the shell of the old. In addition to our social movement building work, we partner with community organizations, cooperatives, advocacy groups, worker centers, and labor unions to provide quantitative and qualitative research. We invite you to contact us if you are interested in partnering with us.
We are proud members of the New Economy Coalition, Symbiosis, US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, US Solidarity Economy Network, and the Wellbeing Economy Alliance. We endorse the Global Tapestry of Alternatives.
