Neil McInroy
Global Lead for Community Wealth Building
Neil McInroy is The Democracy Collaborative’s Global Lead for Community Wealth Building (CWB), where he advances systemic economic reform and inclusive ownership strategies across the United States and internationally. With over 30 years of experience in progressive economic and public policy, Neil is widely recognized as a leading international figure in democratic economic development.
Neil has been instrumental in shaping Community Wealth Building as both a practical framework and a strategic theory of change. His work is grounded in key contextual ideas — such as addressing structural inequality, democratizing wealth, and embedding resilience into local economies — and translates these principles into actionable strategies for governments, anchor institutions, and communities. He has developed the CWB Guide and Training Program, which provides a structured pathway for action, framed by his original development of the Five Pillars of CWB.
In his current role he fosters collaboration among practitioners and scholars worldwide. He has delivered training and facilitated CWB action planning across the United States, Europe, and beyond, helping localities move from vision to implementation through deep-dive partnerships and capacity-building initiatives. Neil also oversees the Global Academic and Researcher Network (GARN) and leads the Community of Practice (CoP).
Until 2021, Neil served for 20 years as Chief Executive of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES), the U.K.’s national organization for progressive local economies. There, he helped pioneer CWB in Britain, including the development of the Preston Model, and led the advancement of tools and expertise that have scaled CWB across multiple regions. He was also a Community Wealth Building Adviser to the Scottish Government until 2023, where he embedded CWB principles into national economic policy and chaired strategic reviews on Inclusive and Democratic Business Models and the Shetland Islands Energy Transition Taskforce. He is currently the chair of the economic development association of Scotland (EDSA).
Neil’s work combines policy innovation, practical delivery, and thought leadership, positioning CWB as a transformative approach to economy that prioritizes equity, resilience, and democratic ownership.
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