Omar Freilla - Building Community Self-Determination Through Cooperatives

<p>Omar Freilla is co-founder and steering committee member of Collective Diaspora, a global community of Black cooperatives &amp; Black-led cooperative support organizations.&nbsp;</p><p>Omar is a serial trailblazer, social entrepreneur, and movement builder dedicated to community self-determination and regenerative economies.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p><strong>What We Discuss</strong></p><p><strong>What we discuss&nbsp;</strong></p><p>00:00&nbsp;Intro&nbsp;</p><p>02:50&nbsp;Who is Omar?</p><p>03:50&nbsp;Who or what made him?&nbsp;</p><p>06:50&nbsp;The impact of Neoliberalism on marginalized Communities&nbsp;</p><p>08:50&nbsp;A defining memory that affected his life direction&nbsp;</p><p>17:50&nbsp;Nature or nurture impact on his development&nbsp;</p><p>21:30&nbsp;Early activism against apartheid</p><p>25:20&nbsp;Early ambitions&nbsp;</p><p>27:30&nbsp;Becoming environmentally conscious&nbsp;</p><p>30:50&nbsp;Activism triggered by the Rodney King beating&nbsp;</p><p>34:35&nbsp;Seeking out new economic alternatives in Cooperatives</p><p>40:50&nbsp;The lack of Venture funding for cooperatives</p><p>43:40&nbsp;Creating new Benchmarks for Return on Investment</p><p>45:10&nbsp;What Omar is working to achieve with Collective Diaspora</p><p>49:45&nbsp;Forming a Cooperative Business&nbsp;</p><p>54:00&nbsp;Becoming a Fellow of Echoing Green&nbsp;</p><p>1:00:30&nbsp;Imperative for Black and Latin Cooperatives&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>1:07:54&nbsp;Omar’s ambitions for 2030&nbsp;</p><p>1:10:00&nbsp;Raising funding&nbsp;</p><p>1:16:00&nbsp;How to become part of the Collective Diaspora&nbsp;</p><p>1:18:00&nbsp;Remaining resolute&nbsp;</p><p>1:19:45 O