What would it mean to build a Northern Virginia that is democratic, sustainable, just, and inclusive – and what tools do we already have to get there? These were the questions that drew together more than one hundred students, faculty, union leaders, community organizers, educators, local government officials, and community members for the 2025 Democratizing NOVA Summit: Building Community Power, Growing Community Wealth. Held on the last weekend of April at George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus, the 2025 DNOVA Summit was dedicated to helping build a just, sustainable, and democratic Northern Virginia (NOVA).
Uniting people across diverse walks of life, the Summit offered a vision for community-engaged research that addresses the crises of our times and marshalls the public universities for the public good. The DNOVA Summit entailed a two-day schedule of panels, workshops, and dialogues about system change in Northern Virginia.
On the first day of the Summit, we heard from leaders in next system thinking, including NSS Director Dr. Ben Manski, esteemed Georgetown University law professor Anthony Cook, Stephanie McHenry, CEO of the Democracy Collaborative, Yolanda Murphy of LAZERA Ministries, June Prakash of Arlington Educators Union, Nairuti Shastray from the Center for Economic Democracy, and Johanna Garay of the Seedbed of the Solidarity Economy (SECOSOL).
Professor Cook’s keynote address, “Food for Thought: Towards a Post-Capitalist Vision of Democratic Economy” set the stage for the Summit by sharing the story of Rosie’s Grocery, a budding partnership between Georgetown University and social investment capital to build a network of cooperatively owned grocery stores in Washington D.C.'s underserved Wards Seven and Eight. The project not only offers residents healthy food but also incorporates their participation into the fabric of the project, but also demonstrates the power alliances between academic researchers, community members, and anchor institutions.
On the second day of the Summit, participants rolled up their sleeves and got to work in a series of workshops about building the next system in Northern Virginia. The workshops covered a wide range of topics, including the creation of local media ecosystems, mutual aid networks, democratically controlled technology ecosystems, cooperative housing finance, communication strategies that look beyond "civil disobedience," and much more. Each of these events was related to community wealth building, an economic development model that sees communities take direct ownership and control of community assets. At the Summit, however, participants considered the notion that “wealth” encompasses more than just money; it also includes relationships, knowledge, land, institutions, and the lived experiences of community members.
While the Summit produced many outcomes, some highlights include the establishment of a Northern Virginia chapter of the Virginia Solidarity Economy Network (VA-SEN). Participants also collectively created an “Offers and Needs” databank where organizations and individuals began weaving together their contributions. April Doner of the ABCD Institute captured the event in her distinctive visual form, lending a physical reminder of the solidarity economy and next system emerging at the doorstep of the nation’s capital.
May 12, 2025