Collective Diaspora is a global network of Black-owned businesses that seeks to improve the economic status of individuals of African descent by coordinating business ventures. ¹ It Member organizations engage in business ventures that are governed and controlled by the voting members of the Collective Diaspora network and share ownership across the members. ²

Background

Collective Diaspora is a membership-based organization consisting of businesses who seek to address issues facing individuals and communities of African descent by engaging in business initiatives where businesses share resources and ownership of the businesses within the initiative to increase the total number of Black-owned businesses. ³ Member organizations help facilitate Collective Diaspora initiatives and receive organizational and financial guidance from Collective Diaspora. ⁴

Collective Diaspora has multiple tiers of membership. Members that are majority-owned by individuals of African descent, which it states is based on how the individuals “identify,” are granted votes on Collective Diaspora’s internal policies. “Affiliate” members consist of individuals of African descent who wish to participate in Collective Diaspora’s initiatives and who seek support from its other members and are not eligible to vote. ⁵

The membership fee for voting members is .05 percent of total revenue with a maximum fee of $100 for organizations fewer than two years old. For individual affiliates, the membership fee is $50 for those from the “Global North” and $12.50 for those from the “Global South.” ⁶

Consulting

Collective Diaspora offers consulting services to businesses to advise them on how to implement Collective Diaspora initiatives, using their businesses to address economic and social issues that are faced by individuals and communities who are of African descent. ⁷

Collective Diaspora coordinates consulting services provided by its member organizations, including financial management, business analysis, and business strategy. Its consulting services have been used to advise businesses on how to allegedly reduce carbon emissions by switching trucking services to using electric trucks. ⁸

Projects

Cross Atlantic Chocolate Collective

The Cross Atlantic Chocolate Collective is a Collective Diaspora project through which Black cocoa farmers and chocolate makers across 13 countries in the Caribbean and Africa collaborate. The project is founded on the idea that Black individuals should “decolonize” by developing businesses that compete with European and US-based companies. The project was co-founded by Gillian Goddard, and in 2022 he was brought to Baltimore by Collective Diaspora to meet with Network for Developing Conscious Communities to learn the chocolate industry. ⁹

Black Co-ops for Change

Black Co-ops for Change is a webinar series hosted by Collective Diaspora that hosts speakers that discuss topics related to developing and expanding Black-owned businesses as a means of addressing economic issues faced by Black people globally. It has hosted speakers such as St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter III (D) and leaders of Collective Diaspora initiatives. ¹⁰

In February 2024, Black Co-ops for Change posted a webinar titled, “Black Women Workers of Peru: Challenging White Supremacy, Capitalism & Patriarchy in Domestic Work.” The webinar discussed how the Black women workers of Peru are using Collective Diaspora’s structure of having a network of businesses that have a shared ownership of Black-owned businesses to address race issues that it claims are a result of capitalism and patriarchy. ¹¹

Leadership

Omar Freilla is a co-founder and steering committee member of Collective Diaspora. He previously worked for the environmentalist advocacy groups NYC Environmental Justice Alliance and Sustainable South Bronx. Freilla also serves on the City of New York’s Environmental Justice Advisory Board and New York State’s Just Transition Working Group. ¹²

1. “Membership.” Collective Diaspora. Accessed August 18, 2024. https://diaspora.coop/membership/.
2. “Black Women Workers of Peru: Challenging White Supremacy, Capitalism & Patriarchy in Domestic Work.” YouTube. Accessed August 18, 2024. https://youtu.be/OrKmw29vk8E.
3. “Global Black Cooperative Ecosystem Mapping Project.” Collective Diaspora. Accessed August 18, 2024. https://diaspora.coop/portfolio/global-black-cooperative-ecosystem-mapping-project/.
4. “Governance.” Collective Diaspora. Accessed August 18, 2024. https://diaspora.coop/governance/.
5. “Membership.” Collective Diaspora. Accessed August 18, 2024. https://diaspora.coop/membership/.
6. “Membership.” Collective Diaspora. Accessed August 18, 2024. https://diaspora.coop/membership/.
7. “Cooperative Development Consulting.” Collective Diaspora. Accessed August 18, 2024. https://diaspora.coop/portfolio/cooperative-development-consulting/.
8. “Cooperative Development Consulting.” Collective Diaspora. Accessed August 18, 2024. https://diaspora.coop/portfolio/cooperative-development-consulting/.
9. “Projects.” Collective Diaspora. Accessed August 18, 2024. https://diaspora.coop/projects/
10. “Black Co-Ops for Change Webinar Series.” Collective Diaspora. Accessed August 18, 2024. https://diaspora.coop/portfolio/black-co-ops-for-change-webinar-series/.
11. “Black Women Workers of Peru: Challenging White Supremacy, Capitalism & Patriarchy in Domestic Work.” YouTube. Accessed August 18, 2024. https://youtu.be/OrKmw29vk8E.
12. Fallows, Mark. “Omar Freilla Collective Diaspora Founder.” The Impossible Network – Network and Podcast, May 11, 2023. https://theimpossiblenetwork.com/podcast/omar-freilla-collective-diaspora/.