Unlocking Community Wealth

Build stronger local economies that work for everyone

Community Wealth Building is a place-based approach to building resilient local economies that align poverty reduction with community wellbeing. Community Wealth Building helps communities identify, steward, and grow the assets they already have – so that wealth is retained, recirculated, and generated for the benefit of local people and place.

This interactive workshop is designed for practitioners who are ready to move from understanding Community Wealth Building to taking practical action. Participants will build their capacity to identify assets of community value, apply collective leadership approaches, and integrate equity principles into Community Wealth Building strategies and decision-making.

Through real-world examples, interactive activities, and practical tools, participants will learn how to identify opportunities for community ownership and stewardship, strengthen local wealth, and develop concrete actions they can take in their own communities.

Workshop Pre-Learning

Reflect on your community's strengths, assets, and opportunities for Community Wealth Building.
Identify one challenge or opportunity you would like to explore during the workshop.

1-hour Coaching Session

Share progress and challenges as you begin applying Community Wealth Building in your community.
Share advice and insights from fellow learners. 
Receive facilitated support to refine your next steps and move your ideas into action.

This workshop is designed for people who are ready to move beyond learning about Community Wealth Building and begin exploring how it can be applied in practice.

It will be particularly valuable for:

Community organizations and collaboratives
Municipal and local government staff
Community foundations and other funders
Economic development practitioners
Social enterprise leaders
Anchor institutions
Place-based practitioners working in poverty reduction, community well-being, housing, climate resilience, food systems, or local economic development

No prior experience with Community Wealth Building is required, although participants will benefit from bringing a current community initiative or challenge to explore during the workshop.

In this virtual session, you will:

Understand the principles and five pillars of Community Wealth Building and how they contribute to stronger local economies.
Identify the assets, institutions, and forms of capital (e.g., financial, natural, cultural, human) that already exist in your community.
Recognize opportunities to retain, circulate, and generate wealth locally for greater community benefit.
Apply an equity lens to Community Wealth Building strategies and decision-making.
Explore how collective leadership and cross-sector collaboration can advance place-based initiatives.
Identify concrete short-term actions to build community wealth in your community.

Robin Wisener

Robin leads the emergent Community Wealth Building network at Tamarack Institute, helping communities advance place-based, community-led capital and strengthen equitable access to financial resources. Her work connects communities, capital assets, social finance, and collaborative infrastructure so local economies benefit the people who build them. A seasoned Canadian public servant with experience across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, Robin has made significant contributions to Canada's social innovation and social finance landscape. She specializes in leveraging social enterprise models, multi-sector partnerships, and emerging technologies to shape innovative policy for community impact. She holds a degree in Economics and a Master's in Public Policy.

Laura Schnurr

Laura Schnurr is Director of Strategic Partnerships and Revenue Innovation at Tamarack Institute, where she develops cross-sector partnerships and collaborative initiatives, and supports the Community Wealth Building network. From 2021-25, Laura led Tamarack's Community Climate Transitions network. She also teaches the course Building Community Resilience in the Climate Emergency through SFU. Previously, Laura supported social innovation and social finance field building in roles with the McConnell Foundation and Employment and Social Development Canada. She co-authored a book on United Nations reform and co-founded a social enterprise supporting women's economic empowerment in Uganda. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a master's in Global Studies. Laura and her family split their time between England, Montreal and rural Quebec.

Registration includes pre-workshop learning and access to the workshop itself.

Post-workshop, participants will be invited to register for a post-event coaching session. At this interactive session, learners will reconnect, get further advice and learn about additional resources to put their learning into action.

Can’t attend the workshop, but love the content? Get in touch with Isaac to learn more about how you can bring a custom version of this workshop to your organization or collaborative.

Unlocking Community Wealth: Identifying Assets for Local Impact

Build stronger local economies that work for everyone

Workshop Pre-Learning

1-hour Coaching Session

what will you learn?

meet the workshop facilitators

Robin Wisener

Laura Schnurr

pricing & logistics

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