WePower is a left-of-center community activist group focused on the St. Louis region that runs an investment fund and a small business accelerator program for the benefit of Black and Latino communities. The group claims that economic inequality is the result of “systemic oppression” and white supremacy. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Philosophy and Goals

WePower’s long term goals include the adoption of guaranteed-income schemes and job guarantees for Black and “Latinx” households, and reparations for the descendants of slaves. The organization’s education goals include the adoption of curriculum that cultivates what it terms “liberatory thinking.” The organization works to abolish prisons and replace them with a “restorative/transformative justice system.” The organization’s philosophy and strategy of social change is built on the premise that America and its institutions are founded upon white supremacy and that these white supremacist institutions must be destroyed and rebuilt entirely anew by “oppressed communities.” ¹ The organization’s founder and CEO, Charli Cooksey, has stated that “power is a human right.” ⁶

Activities

Power Building Academy

WePower operates a training program for St. Louis community members who receive education in “social justice” and the ways in which today’s allegedly white supremacist social system works, along with activism techniques. ²

One such policy campaign is designed to pass a community benefits agreement ordinance. ² Such an ordinance would force developers to support nonprofits and implement various provisions regarding wages, housing, and other activist priorities in exchange for the approval for development projects. ³

WePower Capital

WePower provides loans to Black and Latino owned businesses in the St. Louis area. The loans are repaid by a revenue sharing agreement between the business and the fund. There are no collateral requirements or credit checks. The loan program is designed to increase the number of ethnic-minority-owned businesses and to generate wealth in ethnic-minority communities. ⁴

WePower Capital also administers WePower Accelerator, a 10-week development program for Black and Latino business owners who have $50,000 to $250,000 in sales revenue. The program includes mentorship, access to professional services, and a stipend to pay for therapy or wellness programs. ⁵

Other Programs

WePower also runs additional programs, including the Chisholm’s Chair Fellowship, designed for “self-identified” women who also “self-identify” as being Black or Latino that is focused on training the participants to be leaders dedicated to “equity” and overturning what the group considers to be “systems of oppression.” ⁷

WePower was also involved in the Black Census Project, which encouraged Black residents to fill out census forms to secure more political representation. ⁸

Finances

In 2021, WePower reported $1,807,746 in revenue, almost entirely from contributions and grants. It had $1,787,165 in expenses, of which $165,038 was allocated towards salaries and compensation, a drop from $280,880 in 2020. Additionally, $38,500 was spent on contribution and grant disbursements, with the remaining $1,508,094 being classified as “other expenses.” It ended the year with $27,934, up from $12,334 at the beginning of 2021. ⁹

Leadership

Charli Cooksey is the founder and CEO of WePower. She is a former member of the St. Louis school board and worked as a teacher for Teach for America from 2009 to 2011. She was the executive director of inspireSTL, an education focused organization based in St. Louis, from 2011 to 2016. She was the interim executive director of Forward Through Ferguson, founded in the wake of the protests surrounding the police-shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. She founded WePower in 2018 with the goal of increasing the power of Black and “Latinx” communities in St. Louis. ^{6 10}

1. “Theory of Change.” WEPOWER. Accessed June 12, 2023. https://wepowerstl.org/theory-of-change/.
2. “Power-Building Academy for Policy Change.” WEPOWER. Accessed June 12, 2023. https://wepowerstl.org/powerbuildingacademy/.
3. “Community Benefits Agreements.” PolicyLink. Accessed June 12, 2023. https://www.policylink.org/resources-tools/tools/all-in-cities/good-jobs/community-benefits-agreements.
4. “WEPOWER Capital.” WEPOWER. Accessed June 17, 2023. https://wepowerstl.org/wepower-capital/.
5. “WEPOWER St. Louis | Bridging the Racial Wealth Gap.” WEPOWER. Accessed June 17, 2023. https://wepowerstl.org/wepower-accelerator/.
6. “Meet Charli Cooksey, Activating Her Community as the Founder of WEPOWER in St. Louis.” Leadership for Educational Equity. Accessed June 12, 2023. https://educationalequity.org/blog/meet-charli-cooksey-activating-her-community-founder-wepower-st-louis.
7. “WEPOWER St. Louis | Chisholm’s Chair Fellowship.” WEPOWER. Accessed June 17, 2023. https://wepowerstl.org/chisholms-chair/.
8. WEPOWER. “WEPOWER St. Louis | Black Census Project | Visioning Our Futures.” WEPOWER, September 12, 2018. Accessed June 17, 2023. https://wepowerstl.org/2018-9-12-visioning-our-futures-through-courageous-conversations/
9. WePower, Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2021, Part I.
10. “Charli Cooksey.” LinkedIn.com. Accessed June 12, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/charli-cooksey-4569067/.