Cleveland Freedom Dreams Coalition

The Coalition is not merely a “marriage of convenience” but the first step in an iterative collaborative design process, participatory exploration and critical interrogation of important guiding principles and questions

Establishing a more robust civic ecosystem that is accountable to Black, Latinx, AAPI communities and Indigenous people

Building the technical and administrative/HR capacity of partners to ensure the long-term sustainability orgs explicitly focused on serving BIPOC people: creating an organizing framework for cross-sector collaboration rooted in a shared analysis of race, class, history and dominant narrative (i.e. The Groundwater Analysis)

Reimagining community and economic development and the constellation of actors needed to meaningfully address the racial wealth gap in Greater Cleveland

Identifying the enabling conditions for racial equity-informed strategies to gain traction within Greater Cleveland’s civic ecosystem.

Our mission

The CFDC consists of local partners dedicated to fostering distributive, community-centric leadership within Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and AAPI communities.

While sharing principles and values, the Coalition is in the initial stages of collaborative visioning. We are engaging in a participatory exploration to address critical questions such as establishing a more accountable civic ecosystem for marginalized communities, building the capacity of infrastructure partners focused on BIPOC services, and designing a cross-sector collaboration framework rooted in a shared analysis of race, class, history, politics/policy and power to address the racial wealth gap in Greater Cleveland.

Without new visions, we don’t know what to build, only what to knock down. We not only end up confused, rudderless, and cynical, but we forget that making a revolution is not a series of clever maneuvers and tactics, but a process that can and must transform us.

Robin D.G. Kelley
Freedom Dreams, The Black Radical Imagination

OUR GOALS

What we aim to achieve

Result Statement

All BIL (Black, Latino + Indigenous) people in Cleveland will lead thriving lives, and work and age with dignity.

Civic Infrastructure:

Physical and organizational systems supporting community functioning and development.

Civic Infrastructure

Community Economic Development:

Collaborative efforts to enhance economic wellbeing and opportunities within a specific community.

Community Economic Development

Housing:

Providing access to shelter and living spaces for individuals and families.

Housing

Equitable Civic Engagement + Democracy Building:

Inclusive and participatory process empowering marginalized voices in decision-making and promoting democratic principles.

Equitable Civic Engagement + Democracy Building

It means knowing that coalition, like unity, means the coming together of whole, self-actualized human beings, focused and believing, not fragmented automatons marching to a prescribed step. It means fighting despair.

Audre Lorde
Author, Poet + Civil Rights Activist

WHO WE ARE

Local partners from Black, Latinx, Indigenous + AAPI communities

Coalition Members

Key Supporters

Our Vision, Story & Impact

Explore the substantial progress our Coalition has achieved in and learn how we work towards a shared vision for allocating federal and philanthropic funds by fostering a collaborative, consensus-driven framework across our diverse coalition of partners. Through ongoing discussions, participatory decision-making, and an equity-centered approach, the Coalition has begun to create a structured process to ensure funds are distributed in ways that advance racial and economic justice.

GET IN TOUCH

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Chavone Nash – Project Director, ThirdSpace Action Lab
chavone@3rdspaceactionlab.co