Sydney Lorraine Davis
Hometown:
Michigan
Connect: LinkedIn
Sydney is excited to organize and stand up the legal, technical, and training expertise needed to support local investing that has been markedly absent. Her goal over the program is to demystify and reduce these challenges, develop a curriculum that can serve as a roadmap for communities across Michigan, and promote community capital investment success stories to help others embrace this vision.
Sydney is a proactive Economic Development Leader, Community Catalyst, and Change Agent, dedicated to driving sustainable growth, fostering unity, and leaving a lasting legacy of progress. She has passion for empowering communities and has unwavering commitment to innovation making her a dynamic force for transformation in the field of economic development.
Sydney has notable experience raising over $150,000 in community capital for a non-profit real estate project during a 45-day local campaign as well as securing $650,000 in equity-free capital funding through national sources to fund small businesses & startups. To date, Sydney has been recognized as one of 30 Influential Women Advancing AI and a Forbes Next 1000 Entrepreneur Honoree.
ERC Project
Project Title:
Community Capital Accelerator
Host Community or Region:
Michigan
Host Organization:
National Coalition for Community Capital (NC3)
Over the past 50 years, communities have largely lost the ability to make significant decisions about the kinds of businesses and projects happening in their communities. State and federal regulations limiting local investing, the decimation of local banks, and the shift to big box stores along with online shopping have driven out local enterprises—all dramatically reducing local capital recirculation and related wealth-building opportunities. This project will address the loss of power, control, and wealth-building opportunities through the activation of local investors utilizing NC3’s “Community Capital Accelerator.” Federal changes in 2016 unlocked local investing possibilities, but the limited legal and technical expertise remains a challenge. Through comprehensive research, statewide collaboration, and integration into Michigan's existing Community Capital Accelerator pilots, the project aims to demystify local investing and create a replicable, scalable model to restore local decision-making and wealth-building opportunities. The ERC Fellow will develop technical resources, refine curriculum, conduct outreach and media strategies, and advance the community capital movement.
Interested in supporting this project or learning more? Contact the ERC program team here.
