Democracy without economic participation is a portrait of freedom rather than its practice. This plenary argues that the most durable remedy to racial inequality is the deliberate construction of economic democracy: capital systems designed so that ownership, not just opportunity, is broadly held. The session shares the architecture of GroundBreak Coalition, a Twin Cities-based effort mobilizing $5.4 billion over ten years across banking, philanthropy, and civic institutions to close the racial wealth gap through homeownership, entrepreneurship, and commercial development. It offers a blueprint that other regions and cities can adapt , and proof that gravitational disruption for good is possible when a community decides to build rather than wait.

Session Participants: 

1. Adair Mosely, CEO GroundBreak Coalition

2. Melvin Carter, Former Mayor, City of St. Paul

3. R.T. Rybak, Minneapolis Foundation and Former Mayor, City of Minneapolis