TL:DR If you're short on time, here are seven minutes of soundbites from Omar Friella - the Bronx-based social entrepreneur, movement builder, and founder of Collective Diaspora, the growing global community of Black cooperatives & Black-led cooperative support organizations. 

If you do have the time, on a run, cycle, or drive, check out the full episode, it is evident that with desire, belief, and action, we all have the power of self-determination.

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ABOUT OMAR

Omar Freilla is co-founder and steering committee member of Collective Diaspora, a global community of Black cooperatives & Black-led cooperative support organizations. 

Omar is a serial trailblazer, social entrepreneur, and movement builder dedicated to community self-determination and regenerative economies.

Drawing from his experiences growing up in the South Bronx and witnessing struggles for community empowerment, he has dedicated himself to creating just and regenerative economic systems. 

Omar's time with the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance and Sustainable South Bronx inspired him to utilize cooperatives as a vehicle for transformative economic development.

He established Green Worker Cooperatives and launched the first worker cooperative business accelerator in the United States, pioneering innovative approaches to cooperative development. Omar co-founded several local and national cooperative support organizations, including the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, the Democracy At Work Institute, and the NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives. 

Omar is also an adjunct lecturer at the City College of New York, serves on the City of New York's Environmental Justice Advisory Board, and is a member of New York State's Just Transition Working Group.

This interview opened my eyes to the potential of new worker-led economic models for historically marginalized and economically exploited communities. It also made me re-evaluate the privileges I’ve experienced.

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