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BOSTON UJIMA PROJECT

FALL 2022
INVESTOR UPDATE






Shantel Miller, 2022-24 Ujima Arts & Cultural Organizing Fellow, The Ultimate Gift, Oil and Tape on Canvas (detail) 2019-2021
©  Shantel Miller, courtesy of the artist.

“You can look at the person Jesus was as somebody who practiced radical economics.” – Jamie Mangiameli, New Roots AME Church. 

“You can look at the person Jesus was as somebody who practiced radical economics.” – Jamie Mangiameli, New Roots AME Church. 


September 30, 2022 In this edition of the Boston Ujima Project’s Fall 2022 Investor Update the focus is faith. The Ujima Good Business Alliance grows. We have more news about our portfolio companies and UGBA members. The Ujima Fund Investment Pipeline expands. And we gear up for all the threatened and delicious things joining one another, our paticipatory governance themed October 2022 assembly.

You can find our updated Ujima Fund Pipeline Status and Financial Dashboard as well. ■



“From a faith-rooted perspective, investing with Ujima allows us to most profoundly live and practice our faith.” — Rev. Arrington Chambliss, Episcopal City Mission. 

“From a faith-rooted perspective, investing with Ujima allows us to most profoundly live and practice our faith.” — Rev. Arrington Chambliss, Episcopal City Mission. 


FAITH. ANCHOR. CONNECTION.


Anchor institutions – mosques, churches, synagogues, and the like, are more than sites of workshop, they make investments that matter. With missions that blend liberation theology and community building, there is no place quite like a faith institution. Faith leaders and congregation members are uniquely positioned to use their voice, time, and money to make a difference. This quarter, we sat down with faith-based anchor institutions invested in the Ujima Fund. In each interview, they unpack what it means to be a faith-based investor, and how they engage their congregations to do the same.

Click on their photos to explore the interviews.





“If anchor institutions could be made to benefit the public, that would be powerful.” — Steve Dubb. 

“If anchor institutions could be made to benefit the public, that would be powerful.” — Steve Dubb. 


UJIMA FUND PIPELINE EXPANDS



In our 2019 and 2021 list ratification process, we asked members to review 140 businesses, then 80, respectively. We learned through staff experience and voter feedback that this was too much information to ask voters to thoughtfully review in a short period of time.

In May 2022, we began an experimental voting delegate program to ease the burden of investment list ratification. The Ujima Voting Delegation is a group of super voters who work together to ratify additional investment plans with us. We identified super voters based on their participation over time and the speed at which they participated in our most recent votes.

In July 2022 seventeen delegates reviewed no more than ten businesses each, and ratified a new investment plan: the 2021 Member Investment List. This particular list was generated throughout 2021 by members through the Personalized Investment Form. Each year, members are invited to fill out a form and name up to five businesses they love in their communities.

With the addition of our latest investment plan, the Ujima Fund now counts 212 businesses as part of its pipeline. If you’ve named any of these “Businesses We Love” we’d like your support in encouraging those companies to contact our Ujima Fund Management Team!


“We looked at Ujima’s 36 Good Business Standards and decided we wanted to shoot for those. We didn't know if we'd get there, but it was important for us to have that North Star.” — Bonnie Rosenbaum. 

“We looked at Ujima’s 36 Good Business Standards and decided we wanted to shoot for those. We didn't know if we'd get there, but it was important for us to have that North Star.” — Bonnie Rosenbaum. 

PORTFOLIO HIGHLIGHTS


Ujima is driven by the belief that local businesses and cooperatives play an essential role in moving toward our vision of the future, as these entities create wealth, jobs, vital services, and spaces to gather and organize in our neighborhoods. Here, we highlight the latest news from the Ujima Fund’s portfolio companies.

JAZZ URBANE CAFE FEATURED
ON YOURS, MINE, OURS PODCAST
DORCHESTER FOOD COOPERATIVE
FEATURED IN NEXTCITY.ORG


In September 2022, we debuted our latest podcast alongside our host,
Joel Edwards of the Moonlighters Club. Watch on Youtube.

In the News: “Years before city, state and federal tax credits came into the project,
small-dollar investors played a major role in building the Dorchester Food Co-op.” Read online