Our History

The Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy (BRED) was founded in 2015 when workers from several local cooperatives identified the need for revolving financing and technical assistance that reflected the ways their businesses actually functioned.

What started out as a group of folks volunteering in their spare time from their coops has blossomed into a team of 3 full time employees and 6 part time employees. Our team still primarily is made up of current and former worker-owners, who provide bespoke technical assistance and financing to Baltimore metro area cooperatives. You can read more about our history and impact here.

Non-Extractive Finance

We help worker coops in the greater Baltimore area get the capital they need to start and grow. Our non-extractive lending process helps prioritize inclusion and equity, rather than locking communities out of the funding they need to start owning their economy. By combining the financing we offer with technical assistance and cooperative mentoring, we can support worker-owned businesses and give them a chance to thrive. And by joining with other community loan funds around the country as a member of the Seed Commons community wealth cooperative catalyzed by The Working World, we can unlock bigger investments and more knowledge for Baltimore cooperatives.