What We Value
Positive Deviant: someone who deviates from their peers to find better solutions to shared problems. Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD): the practice of empowering community members to improve their lives through their unique knowledge, skills, talents, and social networks. Human Capital: the knowledge, skills, and opportunities that enable a person to improve their personal an
d social well-being. Social Capital: the links, shared values, and understandings that enable individuals and groups to trust each other and work together. What We Believe
We believe that everyone has unique knowledge, skills, and talents regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, and social status. We also believe that the key to improving the lives of the poor and marginalized is to reduce economic inequality. What We Do
We use the ABCD approach to provide poor and marginalized Americans with the training, business opportunities, and social networks necessary to become positive deviants. First, we provide them with ABCD training centered on critical consciousness, inclusive innovation, and praxis. This empowers them to recognize their inherent value, collaborate with diverse stakeholders, and pursue actionable solutions to shared problems. Second, we provide them with the business training necessary to become entrepreneurs. ABCD Business. Third, we provide them with ABCD Marketplace's free branding, marketing, and eCommerce services in order to start their own business and gain entrepreneurial experience. Support Network. Fourth, we connect them with ABCD Marketplace's network of entrepreneurs in order to share knowledge and resources and support one another. Startup Funding. Fifth, we reinvest profits to help them create new inclusive and equitable businesses that improve human and social capital for themselves and their communities.
