On Oct. 13 & Oct. 20, I had the pleasure of co-hosting two ABCD Global Gatherings that were focused on this question: How Can Community Residents and their Associations Be Leaders of Economic Development in their Communities? I'd like to thank Gord Cunningham, from the Coady Institute in Canada, for being my co-host for both Gatherings. 

Resources

Leaky Bucket (Gord Cunningham and Coady Institute)

• Gord's first “paper” on the leaky bucket http://116.90.61.84/~jedercom/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/TheLeakyBucket.pdf
  
• Link to a video recording Gord did recently for an ABCD online course Coady ran where I talk about Demystifying Community Economics and the Leaky Bucket Leaky Bucket YouTube Video – Gord Cunningham, Coady Institute
  
• Digital Leaky Bucket https://coady.stfx.ca/digital-leaky-bucket/
  
• An Integrated Farm and Household Leaky bucket guide Gord co-developed with partners in Kenya a few years ago: https://coady.stfx.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/IS14.pdf
  

Resources from Yogesh Ghore, a Coady Institute colleague of Gord's, has developed quite a body of work (now being used widely in many countries) with groups that support small producers in discovering opportunities for them to squeeze more value out of the supply chains in which they operate.

• A papers on this subject Yogesh has written: https://coady.stfx.ca/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/IS3.pdf
  
• A facilitator’s guide https://coady.stfx.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IS3c.pdf
  

Other Community-Driven Resources and Stories  (Thank you, John Hamerlinck for sharing!)

• Building the Mercado Central
  https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute/publications/Documents/Building%20the%20Mercado%20Central.pdf
  
• Economic Renewal Guide: A Collaborative Process for Sustainable Community Development
  https://www.amazon.com/Economic-Renewal-Guide-Collaborative-Sustainable/dp/1881071065
  
• The intro to the above book is available as a pdf here:
  https://library.uniteddiversity.coop/Money_and_Economics/Economic-Renewal-Guide-Chapter2.pdf
  
• Good economic development stories from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance
  https://ilsr.org/ilsr-reports/
  
• Renewing the Countryside
  https://www.renewingthecountryside.org/
  
• Garden Girl Foods - (from Deb Wisniewski) A story about a woman working to provide food and so much more in one neighborhoood in Louisville KY.
  • Garden Girl Foods website: https://www.gardengirlfoods.com/
    
  • Video interview with Whitney Powers from Garden Girl Foods, who's "just a girl with a garden trying to save the world one jar at a time." https://www.wave3.com/2021/06/25/garden-girl-foods-adds-water-food-desert-with-personal-garden/
    

Do you have any resources, stories, etc about Community-Driven Economic Development? Feel free to share below!

From Deb Wisniewski, ABCD in Action Lead Host