Dara Nussbaum-Vazquez is passionate about increasing wealth and ownership among marginalized communities—especially low-income communities and communities of color—as a means to increase equity and realize healthy, thriving communities and our collective wellbeing.
Dara’s professional background spans economic development, urban planning, social entrepreneurship, workforce development, government, and community organizing. She has founded several entities and initiatives over her career, including the technology startup BronXchange (with the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative and MIT CoLab), a procurement and business services platform that harnesses the purchasing power of anchor institutions and connects them to local vendors while generating community wealth. As Vice President at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Dara managed external affairs and strategic partnerships for complex real estate development projects and programs. Dara has worked at the helm of regional non-profit organizations, most recently as Executive Director of Tech Foundry, a workforce development organization in Springfield, Massachusetts that elevates under-represented groups into sustainable careers in tech. Dara was selected by the Nathan Cummings Foundation to be one of three innovators confronting intractable problems of inequality through disruptive ideas.
Dara enjoys operating at the nexus of business, community, and government to generate new models and partnerships. She is motivated by ongoing learning, playing, and seeing impact.
I lead ICA’s New Ownership Opportunities work to cement employee ownership into the standard economic and business development toolkit, including with our partners in local and state government. I also help build new collaborative models to support and resource broad-based employee ownership at scale.
I had the opportunity to visit the Mondragon cooperatives with leaders from the Bronx and NYC as an inspiration for our own regional economic development initiative in the Bronx. Mondragon’s scale (over 70,000 employees and $16 billion in revenues), diversity of companies (industrial, distribution, retail, finance, and knowledge), and resilience (survived previous economic downtowns with fewer layoffs by re-absorbing workers in other firms) shows what is possible for cooperatives when they are organized as a network with their own support institutions.
I discovered what I’ve come to think of as “dirt therapy” when I spontaneously decided to rip up a small patch of grass last summer and planted a garden in its place. This started what I suspect will be a life-long gardening practice, and a great source of personal calm, connection to the land, and joy!
I work primarily in Massachusetts and NYC.
I recently re-read Leading from the Emergent Future: From Ego-System to Eco-System Economies by Otto Sharmer and Katrin Kaufer. It is based on a social technology called Theory U which is all about shifting individual and collective awareness in order to source and co-create new (in this case, economic) systems that respond to the needs of the whole and serve our wellbeing.
Have questions about employee ownership or cooperative development? Whether you're exploring a business transition, starting a new cooperative, or seeking tailored solutions to strengthen your industry, our team is here to help. Let us guide you toward a more equitable and resilient future for your business and community.
