Field Note: 5 Questions with Real People's Fund

Participatory investing doesn’t exist in a financial bubble. It’s closely tied to political power and organizing.

REAL People’s Fund is a $10 million, community-controlled investment fund governed by grassroots organizations in the East Bay Area. They offer non-extractive capital to local small business owners, and combine that with a healthy dose of political organizing and power-building work.

We spoke with Jessie Nguyen, the fund’s organizer, about why she sees developing solidarity between entrepreneurs and local organizers as a necessary lever for democratizing capital.

How did the REAL People’s Organizing Collective come to be?

‍The first year that we launched we focused on understanding the pain points of small businesses, and creating safe spaces for folks to just be in conversation with each other. A focus for us was: how do we build solidarity among the organizations that we’re trying to reach through the fund?

That led to us creating our small business solidarity circles. We [held] listening sessions about challenges that small business owners, entrepreneurs, and worker-owners are facing in Oakland. How do we create room for those folks to share their experiences, and begin to imagine solutions?

How is the Collective fighting traditional investment structures?

We want to remove barriers that these small businesses have historically faced when it comes to growth or lending. We've learned that we can create a container for these business leaders to dictate what is most valuable to them… and serve as a voice that is an alternative to more conservative corporations that are in front of Chambers of Commerce.

We as the REAL People’s Fund can’t always be leading – the work needs to also be led by small businesses and co-ops and entrepreneurs. We see the REAL People’s Organizing Collective as having a say in how our city is being transformed.

You invested in an initial cohort of small businesses after launching in 2021. In 2023, you secured small business wins after the Collective participated in Oakland's budget process. What's next for you all?

We want to lay out points of unity between the grassroots organizations that have led this vision [to date] and the small businesses we're organizing with – what are our shared values for serving communities of color in Oakland.

We want folks to see a pathway to be decision-makers... ultimately, the goal is that small businesses and co-ops are also governing members that can dictate the vision and values of this roadmap

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