Community Venture Studio
This is where we prove the Shared Prosperity Model in action. It’s not just about starting businesses — it’s about building the infrastructure that makes them viable, scalable, and community-owned. By rolling up small, profitable enterprises and equipping them with shared services, AI-enabled tools, and strong governance, we create an economic engine that demonstrates how worker-to-owner pathways can succeed at scale.
Design Sessions & Sprints
Too many founders and small businesses hit a ceiling when trying to grow — struggling with capital, capacity, or strategy. Our approach is simple: Never Build Alone. We partner with organizations, cities, and leaders to design ownership pathways that align with their missions and give entrepreneurs the tools to level up.
Narrative & Movement Building
Ideas only matter if people believe in them. We tell the story of economic democracy through writing, podcasts, events, and partnerships that spark collective imagination. By shaping the public conversation, we help communities, funders, and policymakers see ownership as the foundation of lasting prosperity.
Meet the A-Team
We each contribute deep experience across education, entrepreneurship, strategy, and systems design. Together, we are building the infrastructure, partnerships, and pipeline to launch the first Community Corporations and Worker-to-Owner Pathways.
Alfredo Mathew III
Founder & CEO
Alfredo is a social impact leader, entrepreneur, and former educator with over 25 years of experience building initiatives at the intersection of education, community wealth, and economic justice. He sets vision and strategy, leads capital development, and steers multi-sector partnerships. Previously, he co-founded ESO Ventures and secured over $22M in public and philanthropic funding for the CA Capital in the Community Initiative.
Amy Chan
Chief of Staff
Amy is an experienced educator, DEI facilitator, and strategic advisor with a 25-year track record supporting mission-driven organizations. She provides day-to-day operational leadership, project management, and strategic alignment across our work streams. Before joining SPCC.1, she founded Social Catalyst Consulting and guided national organizations through periods of rapid change, expansion, and innovation.
Alfred Solis
Chief Catalyst
Alfred is a social entrepreneur and learning strategist with 25+ years of industry & nonprofit experience in innovative service & product development and systems redesign. He leads the creative direction of the SPCC model, supports narrative strategy, and designs tools and frameworks to bring the platform to life. His background spans Fortune 500 consulting, public education reform, and nationwide digital strategies.
Design Principle #1
Ownership First
Everyone who contributes—workers, renters, students, patients—should also build ownership. Wealth must flow back to the people creating value.
Design Principle #2
Predistribution, Not Just Redistribution
We don’t wait to fix inequality after the fact. We build equity in from the start—when rent is paid, when care is delivered, when skills are learned.
Design Principle #3
Inclusion by Design
Equity isn’t an add-on. Our systems are built to include those historically left out, with structures that ensure voice, access, and fair participation.
Design Principle #4
Human-Scale, High Standards
We keep programs small enough to stay personal, but hold them to the highest standards of quality, transparency, and accountability.
Design Principle #5
Shared Services Backbone
Community enterprises thrive when they don’t carry the burden alone. Finance, HR, IT, and compliance are pooled so small ventures can compete with big firms.
Design Principle #6
Profitable and Sustainable
Shared prosperity isn’t charity—it must stand on its own. Every venture is designed to generate real returns or measurable public savings.
Design Principle #7
Radical Transparency
Open books, clear scorecards, and public reporting keep trust at the center. Families, workers, and partners should always see where dollars flow.
Design Principle #8
Democratic Governance
Ownership comes with voice and responsibility. Multi-stakeholder boards and mission-locked structures ensure that decisions serve the community, balancing economic vitality and social benefit.
Shared Prosperity for Economic Democracy
For communities who want to build real ownership, we offer a practical framework—including proven business tools on a shared backbone—for aggregating small businesses in fragmented industries, circulating capital locally, and transitioning workers into owners.
Our Partners
We work with investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers, ecosystem builders, and community practitioners to move beyond passive endorsement toward active co-building. The Shared Prosperity Model is not theoretical—it’s a dynamic, evolving system created through strategic experimentation, rigorous testing, and real-world refinement.
The Challenge
Beginning in the early 2000s—with the rise of the digital economy—and sharply accelerating after the 2008 financial crisis, labor’s share began a steep and persistent decline. Wealth accumulation increasingly accrues to owners of technology, digital platforms, and financial assets, leaving wage earners further behind. Meanwhile, the traditional social safety net, designed to redistribute opportunity, faces mounting fiscal pressures and demographic strain, revealing its structural limitations.
For generations, hard work was supposed to lead to stability and security. But today, the math no longer adds up. Wages stagnate, costs rise, and ownership — not effort — determines who prospers.
Four numbers tell the story:
↓ 13%
Labor’s share of national income held steady for decades, then began a steep decline in the 2000s — leaving workers with a shrinking piece of the economy.
100+ Years
Corporate concentration has risen steadily for a century, as industries consolidate and platform monopolies dominate markets.
2033
The Social Security Trust Fund is projected to be insolvent by 2033, triggering a 23% benefit cut for retirees — proof the old safety net is no longer sustainable.
7 Tech Giants
A handful of companies (Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Tesla) now capture a disproportionate share of AI-driven gains, concentrating wealth and power at historic levels.
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Manifesting Shared Prosperity for Economic Democracy
by Alfred Mathew III
At the core of the American Dream lies the belief in self-determination. For generations, this promise was simple: work hard, play by the rules, go to school, and a job would lead to homeownership, stability, and opportunity for your children.
That pathway is now broken. Wages have stagnated while the real costs of survival from housing, healthcare, education, energy, to groceries continue to climb. Millions of families live paycheck to paycheck, renters paying someone else’s mortgage instead of building equity. Prosperity today is determined...
Shared Prosperity Model
The Shared Prosperity Model, guided by our 8 Design Principles, offers a practical framework for aggregating small businesses in fragmented industries, circulating capital locally, and transitioning workers into owners. Instead of leaving families stuck with rising costs, it flips housing, healthcare, and education into engines of wealth. By linking small businesses, community organizations, and proven business tools on a shared backbone, the model creates new pathways for people to move from wage earners to owners. The result is prosperity that compounds in communities and a stronger foundation for democracy.
