About DCWF
Established in 2017, Detroit Community Wealth Fund (DCWF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering, educating, and financing democratically and worker-owned cooperative businesses. DCWF has a strong track record as a leader in cooperative business development and financing. Our efforts have included providing extensive pro-bono technical assistance to numerous emerging and established cooperative businesses, training emerging cooperative entrepreneurs, and successfully incubating cooperative businesses through our Cooperative Incubator Program. Additionally, DCWF is uniquely positioned as the exclusive financing program in Detroit specifically designed to support worker ownership.
DCWF's core mission is to combat racial wealth inequality by facilitating democratic and shared power practices within businesses. Increasing the availability of well-paying jobs for Detroit residents is paramount in elevating wealth levels for local families, given that there is only one job for every four residents. In 2019, a mere 27% of Detroit households belonged to the middle class. The ongoing challenge of business closures, exacerbated by the pandemic, presents an opportunity for business owners to secure the legacies of their companies while preserving jobs and creating ownership prospects for Detroit residents.
DCWF collaborates with Seed Commons, a national financial cooperative specializing in providing patient and non-extractive capital to finance worker cooperatives. Seed Commons excels in identifying conversion opportunities and training workers for successful transitions to worker ownership. To date, Seed Commons has collectively invested over $39 million in worker cooperatives across the nation. Our national team of lenders possesses expertise in business valuation, legal and operational diligence, and the technical assistance necessary for a seamless transition to worker ownership.
The Team
Keyanna Silverman-Maddox, Executive Director
Keyanna (she/her) works to strengthen initiatives that supports DCWF’s growth and impact. A mission driven researcher and program developer proficient in strategy, culture building, and organizational learning she is dedicated to opening pathways for those who have been historically marginalized. Prior to joining DCWF, Keyanna served as Diversity Initiatives and Research Manager for the City of Boston. There she analyzed 20,000+ employee demographics, hiring and promotion trends to provide the Mayor key insights and equity strategies - while also managing the City’s Employee Resource Groups program. While on the east coast she also designed and implemented a college access and success program for non-traditional students in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Keyanna holds an MBA from UMass Boston and a BA in African-American studies from the University of Michigan.
keyanna@detroitcommunitywealth.org
Rosie DeSantis, Director of Community Programming
Rosie (they/them) is the Director of Community Programming at the Wealth Fund where they manage the Co-op Start-Up Incubator program and the Cooperative Economic Network of Detroit. They are also a poet, abolitionist & anarchist community event curator, and eastsider, and have curated a number of abolitionist community teach-ins, resource festivals, and “no-cop” zones. While their artistic life has taken a backseat to their work at the Wealth Fund and organizing, their 2018 professional debut as playwright and director of an immersive & audience-involved piece earned them three nominations by the New York Innovative Theatre Foundation and a place in No Proscenium’s list of Immersive Companies and Creators to Watch in New York. They were a 2020 Room Project poetry fellow, and their writing has been featured in local, national, and international publications such as Borderlands, Wasafiri Magazine, and others. Their first chapbook, Letters in the Dirt, won Moonstone Arts’ Winter 2020 chapbook competition, and can now be found at the University of Pennsylvania library. Otherwise, they are an avid forager and local plant & wildflower enthusiast, as well as a professional swing dancer passionate about the preservation of the dance form as a Black art.
rosie@detroitcommunitywealth.org
David Finet, Director of Lending & Technical Assistance
Dave (he/him) joined his first co-op in the late 1980s and has been involved in co-op operations, leadership, governance, and development ever since. During those years, he has been involved in a variety of co-ops including grocery stores, a bookstore, a bakery, a taxi co-op, a printing co-op, and a restaurant, in roles ranging from owner, worker, board member, and management, and has participated in co-op organizing on local, regional, and national levels. Dave, his spouse Marya, and their three dogs live on the west side of Detroit and their daughter lives in Battle Creek. Most recently, Dave earned a Master’s in Community Development in 2021 from the University of Detroit – Mercy, and is excited to be part of the team at the Detroit Community Wealth Fund.
david@detroitcommunitywealth.org