Ann Rogan (right), in conversation with Felicia Wong, Principal, Roosevelt Institute. Photo Credit: Alex Toro
CA FWD is thrilled to share more about some of our California Economic Summit sponsors and supporters, including the work they’re doing in California and how that aligns with our collective vision to build a resilient, sustainable, and inclusive economy. Today we feature a guest post by Ann Rogan, co-founder and CEO of Edge Collaborative (Edge), a civic incubator whose mission is to incubate and invest in demonstration projects that can build a more participatory, inclusive economy.
By Ann Rogan, CEO, Edge Collaborative
We were thrilled to support CA FWD’s 2025 California Economic Summit in Stockton, as CA FWD is dedicated to supporting a regions-up economic development agenda that works for every corner of the state. At the Summit, one theme echoed across plenaries, breakout sessions, and hallway conversations: civic infrastructure matters.
There’s no question that roads, bridges, libraries or parks are important foundational elements of our civic infrastructure. But our neighborhoods and cities across the state are demanding more of their economy. And rightfully so. Our team at Edge believes that building new forms of civic infrastructure is a means to unlock the collective imagination of communities and the institutions that are designed to serve them.
Throughout the Summit, we heard this concept come alive in unexpected ways. Whether in sessions on democracy, advanced manufacturing, or regional economic development, we heard many attendees grappling with the pull between economic development and community-driven solutions. And it’s not surprising: while California sits as the 4th largest economy in the world, growing inequality remains a structural challenge.
According to the Public Policy Institute of California:
- 2 percent of the population holds about 20% of California’s wealth, and
- the income gap in California grew 14% from 2019 to 2023
We don’t have to choose between the economy and community. But to bring those two closer together is going to require a significant shift in how we think and operate. Especially now. During this particular civic moment characterized by growing economic and political polarization, there is a deep uncertainty and mistrust that is reverberating across the country. Against the backdrop of this heightened economic anxiety that has taken hold, we believe that investing in civic infrastructure is a way to express the long-held agency of our communities.
Across California and the country, we are long overdue on the need for capital to catch up with the imagination of the communities that are demonstrating what they want to see in a new California economy. For us, these insights reinforce why innovative public-private-community partnerships are challenging to cobble together, but critical to show us what’s possible in the face of growing inequality.
Across Edge’s portfolio, early proof points and examples of this are at once both deceptively simple and transformative for communities that have experienced decades of disinvestment:
- a commercial kitchen for women entrepreneurs – that is advancing new food businesses
- a county-wide electric vehicle carshare program operating in historically underserved public housing and affordable communities across an entire county
- a 20,000 sq ft green economy lab that brings together climate technology industry and workforce training under the same roof
- a community nonprofit’s foray into real estate acquisition and development, that is spurring a new community climate resilience hub to address public health needs
- the opportunity to co-locate a multi-acre urban farm with expanded public access to waterways, that is integrated with a community land trust
This is what investing in civic infrastructure can look like: market building for projects that provide access to new opportunities, shared governance, and community ownership. What else might be possible when community aspirations drive the shape of what our economy prioritizes? If California is to lead, we must ensure that it’s demonstrating an economy that we can all believe in.
Ann Rogan is co-founder and CEO of Edge Collaborative – a civic incubator whose mission is to incubate and invest in demonstration projects that can build a more participatory, inclusive economy. It does this by helping to turn community partners’ visions and priorities into a project portfolio and a range of innovative public-private-community partnerships. She can be reached at ann.rogan@edgecollaborative.org
