Building Community Power Through Ownership
Creating equitable pathways to wealth and justice for all.
Building Community Power Through Ownership
Creating equitable pathways to wealth and justice for all.
Our Offerings
CEI Learning Community
CEI Capacity Building and Technical Assistance Fund
CEI Learning Community
The CEI Learning Community for re-orienting experienced, mission oriented financial and legal practitioners who are actively working to create new pathways and solutions in the field of community ownership and wealth building
CEI Network
CEI Capacity Building and Technical Assistance Fund
CEI Learning Community
Developing a leadership pathway and network for new and established financial and legal practitioners interested in working collectively to advance community wealth building strategies, connecting them with opportunities to support and learn from more seasoned practitioners, and contribute to innovative and emergent field-building strategies.
CEI Capacity Building and Technical Assistance Fund
CEI Capacity Building and Technical Assistance Fund
CEI Capacity Building and Technical Assistance Fund
Funding for legal, financial, operational, and narrative support, as well as assistance in matching communities with the providers they need.
CEI Bridge Loan Fund
CEI Capacity Building and Technical Assistance Fund
CEI Capacity Building and Technical Assistance Fund
The CEI Bridge Loan Fund provides 0% interest loans for community-based projects facing barriers to participating in their secured reimbursement based government grant programs. *Piloted in 2024 with an official launch in 2025
Our Team
Sihle Dinani, Founder
Sihle Dinani is the co-founder of Full Spectrum Labs and the former Chief Financial Officer at Tides Advocacy, a national fiscal sponsor that provides critical infrastructure and expertise for power building electoral and advocacy programs. She was previously the Finance Director and Interim Deputy Director of Operations at Movement Strategy Center. With over 20 years of finance and operations experience, she is passionate about supporting highly impactful nonprofit infrastructure. Sihle currently serves as board Treasurer for Thousand Currents, Board Chair for Movement Strategy Center and has served as Board Treasurer for Urban Tilth. She has also previously worked with the YMCA of San Diego County, the Garment Worker Center and other grassroots organizations. A mother, consummate volunteer and novice gardener, Sihle is dedicated to efficiency and accountability within social justice organizations. A Zimbabwean-American California native, Sihle holds a degree in Economics and Accounting from Claremont McKenna College.
Dorcas R. Gilmore, Founder
Dorcas R. Gilmore is an experienced general counsel for nonprofit organizations, social enterprises, and businesses. She is a principal of Gilmore Khandhar, LLC, a solidarity economies law firm representing social ventures, community enterprises, investors, and nonprofit organizations that create a more just and equitable economy. With 25 years of experience working with mission-oriented organizations, she brings a combination of commitment to a social and economic equity mission and clarity of strategy and approach to building strong organizations and businesses. This work includes advising nonprofits and businesses on start-up, growth, financing, and risk; structuring related organizations and businesses; facilitating enterprise risk assessments and mitigation; developing strategic partnership and joint venture agreements; and consulting on mission-alignment in organizational systems. Before co-founding Gilmore Khandhar, Dorcas was a Skadden Fellow & Staff Attorney at the Community Law Center building a youth enterprise development and equitable development practice, an Assistant General Counsel for the national NAACP and its 2,200 local and state affiliates, and a clinical law professor leading community equity development law clinics.
Shelby Jackson, Project Manager & Operations Advisor
Shelby Jackson is an operational strategist and systems designer who strengthens infrastructure for social justice movements. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Shelby designs systems that facilitate the equitable transfer of wealth and power to Native and other marginalized communities. Passionate about reshaping the role of operational systems in movement building strategies, Shelby enjoys empowering teams to harness the potential of more streamlined and strategic operational infrastructure. Shelby has over a decade of combined startup nonprofit and social justice movement building experience spanning operations, administration, finance, communications, development, data and technology. She received a BA in Anthropology from Dartmouth College.
Marie-Louise Joseph, Human Resources, Operations & Compliance Advisor
Marie-Louise Joseph is a multi-lingual, first-generation American with over 18 years of Operations and Human Resources experience. The daughter of Haitian and Nicaraguan immigrants, Marie has held leadership positions in Fortune 500 companies and grassroots nonprofit organizations, starting with her role as President of the Farmworkers Advocacy Coalition with United Students Against Sweatshops. In this role she traveled to Puebla, Mexico to provide support to striking farm workers and also served as a delegate to the Committee of US Latin American Relations. Marie has developed expertise and spearheaded initiatives in human resources, operations, vocational rehabilitation and compliance for a wide range of organizations including CBRE, Movement Strategy Center and Metropole Enterprises. Marie has a Bachelor’s in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. She also has a Professional in Human Resources – California Certification. Marie lives in Playa del Rey with her band of rambunctious Boston terriers, six fish, and three aquatic frogs. In her free time she enjoys baking, arranging flowers, traveling, and crafting.