- Ph.D. and an M.A. in economics from the University of Massachusetts,
Amherst (1992 and 1989, respectively)
- B.A. degree, magna cum laude, in Literature and African American Studies
from Yale University (1978);
- M.A.T. in Elementary Curriculum and Teaching from
Howard University (1982)
JESSICA GORDON NEMBHARD is PROFESSOR of Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Department of Africana Studies at John Jay College, of the City University of New York (CUNY) in New York City, USA, where she is also Director of the McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program. She is an affiliate scholar at the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, where she is co-investigator for the “Measuring the Impact of Credit Unions,” Community and University Research Partnerships (CURA) project; and an affiliate scholar with the Economics Department’s Center on Race and Wealth at Howard University.
Dr. Gordon Nembhard is a political economist specializing in community economics, Black Political Economy and popular economic literacy. Her research and publications explore problematics and alternative solutions in cooperative economic development and worker ownership, community economic development, wealth inequality and community-based asset building, and community-based approaches to justice. She has recently completed a book on Black cooperatives: Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice (2014 The Pennsylvania State University Press). Collective Courage was a finalist for the University of Memphis Benjamin L. Hicks National Book Award for 2014.
Gordon Nembhard’s publications include: “Understanding and Measuring the Benefits and Impacts of Co-operatives” (2015 in Co-operatives for Sustainable Communities: Tools to Measure Co-operative Impact and Performance St. Mary’s University Halifax); “Community-Based Asset Building and Community Wealth” (2014 Review of Black Political Economy); “Community Development Credit Unions: Securing and Protecting Assets in Black Communities” (2013 Review of Black Political Economy); Wealth Accumulation and Communities of Color in the US (2006, co-edited with Ngina Chiteji); “Micro Enterprise and Cooperative Development in Economically Marginalized Communities in the U.S.” (In Enterprise, Social Exclusion and Sustainable Communities, 2011); “Theorizing and Practicing Democratic Community Economics: Engaged Scholarship, Economic Justice, and the Academy” (In Engaging Contradictions, 2008); “Cooperative Ownership in the Struggle for African American Economic Empowerment” (2004 Humanity & Society); and “Educating Black Youth for Economic Empowerment: Democratic Economic Participation and School Reform Practices and Policies” (in Handbook of African American Education, 2008).
Dr. Gordon Nembhard is the 2014 recipient of the “ONI Award” from the International Black Women’s Congress, and the 2011 recipient of the “Cooperative Advocacy and Research” Award from the Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy. She is a member of the Shared Leadership Team of Organizing Neighborhood Equity (ONE) DC, and member of the board of directors of the Association of Cooperative Educators (ACE), Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO) Newsletter (and Ecological Democracy Institute of North America Vice President), the CEJJES Institute (past President and current Treasurer); and former board member of the National Economic Association (past President and past Treasurer) and founding board member of the Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (currently on the advisory board). She is a co-founder of the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network; the Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy; and the Democracy Collaborative (at the University of Maryland). In addition, she is a charter member of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives; a member of The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, and a member of the Southern Grassroots Economies Project.
Dr. Gordon Nembhard was a visiting scholar in the Economics Department at Howard University (2008-09), and was Master Teacher (July 2007 and 2009) at its Center on Race and Wealth’s Summer Institute for Research on Race and Wealth. She was previously Assistant Professor of African American Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park; Research Director of the Preamble Center (Washington, DC); Senior Economist at the Institute for Urban Research, Morgan State University; and Acting Deputy Director and Economic Development Analyst for the Black Community Crusade for Children at the Children’s Defense Fund. She is the recipient of a Henry C. Welcome Fellowship Grant from the Maryland Higher Education Commission (2001-2004). She received a 2008 USDA grant on the economic impact of cooperatives (distributed through the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Cooperatives) to study wealth accumulation through cooperative ownership. She began her appointment to the Black Enterprise Board of Economists in October 1999.
Jessica Gordon Nembhard earned a Ph.D. and an M.A. in economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (1992 and 1989, respectively). She earned her B.A. degree, magna cum laude, in Literature and African American Studies from Yale University (1978); and an M.A.T. in Elementary Curriculum and Teaching from Howard University (1982). She is the proud mother of two children (Stephen and Susan) and two grandsons (Stephon and Hugo Nembhard).
Books authored (peer reviewed)
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice. State College, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, May 2014.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. Capital Control, Financial Regulation, and Industrial Policy in South Korea and Brazil. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1996.
Articles in peer-reviewed academic journals
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. "Community-based Asset Building and Community Wealth." Review of Black Political Economy 41 (2014), pp. 101-117.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. “Community Development Credit Unions: Securing and Protecting Assets in Black Communities.” Review of Black Political Economy 40 (2013), pp. 459-490.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica and Kris Marsh. “Wealth Affirming Policies for Women of Color.” Review of Black Political Economy special issue “The Invisible Woman” Vol. 39 (July 2012), pp. 353-360.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica, and Emily Kawano. "Worker Cooperatives and the Solidarity Economy Movement." Luxemburg Journal, #3 (Fall 2011), pp. 14-31.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. "Alternative Economics, a Missing Component in the African American Studies Curriculum: Teaching Public Policy and Democratic Community Economics to Black Students." In “Special Issue: Black Political Economy in the 21st Century: Exploring the Interface of Economics and Black Studies.” Journal of Black Studies Vol. 38 No. 5 (May 2008), pp. 758-782.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. “Principles and Strategies for Reconstruction: Models of African American Community-Based Cooperative Economic Development.” Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy Vol. 12 (Summer 2006), pp. 39-55.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. “Non-Traditional Analyses of Cooperative Economic Impacts: Preliminary Indicators and a Case Study.” Review of International Co-operation Vol. 97, No. 1 (2004), pp. 6-21.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. “Cooperative Ownership and the Struggle for African American Economic Empowerment.” Humanity & Society Vol. 28, No. 3 (August 2004), 298-321.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. “Cooperatives and Wealth Accumulation: Preliminary Analysis.” American Economic Review Vol. 92, No.2 (May 2002), pp. 325-329.
Gary Dymski and Jessica Gordon Nembhard. “Rhonda M. Williams: Competition, Race, Agency and Community.” “Special Issue: Tribute to Rhonda M. Williams.” Review of Black Political Economy Vol. 29, No.4 (Spring 2002), pp. 25-42.
Darity, William A., Jr., and Jessica Gordon Nembhard. “Racial and Ethnic Economic Inequality: The International Record.” American Economic Review Vol. 90, No. 2 (May 2000), pp. 308-311.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. “Democratic Economic Participation and Humane Urban Redevelopment.” Trotter Review, 2000, pp. 26-31.
Haynes, Curtis, Jr., and Jessica Gordon Nembhard. "Cooperative Economics -- A Community Revitalization Strategy." Review of Black Political Economy, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Summer 1999), pp. 47-71.
Gordon, Edmund T., Edmund W. Gordon, and Jessica G.G. Nembhard. "Social Science Literature Concerning African American Men." The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 63, No. 4 (Fall 1994), pp. 508-531.
Shields, P.H., J.G. Gordon, and D. Dupree. "Influence of Parent Practices Upon the Reading Achievement of Good and Poor Readers." The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 52, No. 4 (Fall 1983), pp. 436-445.
Chapters in peer reviewed books
Gordon Nembhard, J., Hammond Ketilson, L., & Thomas, P. (2014). Measuring the Impact of Credit Unions on Wealth Building in Communities: Identifying the Appropriate Indicators. In L. Hammond Ketilson & M.-P. Robichaud Villettaz (under the direction of), Cooperatives' Power to Innovate: Texts Selected from the International Call for Papers (p. 477-501). Lévis: International Summit of Cooperatives.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica.“Micro Enterprise and Cooperative Development in Economically Marginalized Communities in the U.S.” 2011. In Enterprise, Social Exclusion and Sustainable Communities: The Role of Small Business in Addressing Social and Economic Inequalities, edited by Alan Southern. Routledge.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. “Educating Black Youth for Economic Empowerment: Democratic Economic Participation and School Reform Practices and Policies.” In Handbook of African American Education, edited by Linda Tillman, pp. 481-498. Sage Publications, 2008.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. “Theorizing and Practicing Democratic Community Economics: Engaged Scholarship, Economic Justice, and the Academy.” In Engaging Contradictions: Theory, Politics and Methods of Activist Scholarship, edited by Charles R. Hale, pp. 265-297. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2008.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. “Entering the New City as Men and Women, Not Mules.” In The Black Urban Community, edited by Gayle T. Tate and Lewis A. Randolph, pp. 75-100. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
Jessica Gordon Nembhard, and Anthony A. Blasingame. “Wealth, Civic Engagement, and Democratic Practice,” Chapter 12. In Wealth Accumulation in Communities of Color in the U.S.A.: Current Issues, edited by Jessica Gordon Nembhard and Ngina Chiteji, pp. 294-325. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2006.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. Afterword: “Trends and Trappings, Research and Policy Implications: An Unorthodox Policy Guide.” In Wealth Accumulation in Communities of Color in the U.S.A.: Current Issues, edited by Jessica Gordon Nembhard and Ngina Chiteji, pp. 326-341. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2006.
Pang, Valerie Ooka, Jessica Gordon Nembhard, and Kathi Holowach. “What is Multicultural Education? Principles and New Directions.” In Principles and Practices of Multicultural Education, edited by Valerie Ooka Pang., pp. 23-44. Volume 1, Race, Ethnicity, and Education edited by E. Wayne Ross and Valerie Ooka Pang. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. “On the Road to Democratic Economic Participation: Educating African American Youth in the Post-Industrial Global Economy.” In Black Education: A Transformative Research and Action Agenda for the New Century, edited by Joyce King (Commission on Research in Black Education and American Educational Research Association), pp. 225-239. Fairfax, VA: Tech Books, 2005.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica, Steven C. Pitts, and Patrick Mason. “African Americans, Intra-Group Inequality and Corporate Globalization.” In African Americans in the United States Economy, edited by Cecilia Conrad, John Whitehead, Patrick Mason, and James Stewart, Chapter 23, pp. 208-222. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005.
John Whitehead, David Landes, and Jessica Gordon Nembhard. “Inner-City Economic Development and Revitalization: A Community-Building Approach.” In African Americans in the United States Economy, edited by Cecilia Conrad, John Whitehead, Patrick Mason, and James Stewart, pp.341-356. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica, and Valerie Ooka Pang. “Ethnic Youth Programs: Teaching about Caring Economic Communities and Self-Empowered Leadership.” In Critical Race Theory Perspectives on the Social Studies: The Profession, Policies, and Curriculum, edited by Gloria Ladson-Billings, pp. 171-197. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, 2003.
Jessica Gordon Nembhard, and Curtis Haynes, Jr. “Using Mondragon as a Model for African American Urban Redevelopment,” Chapter 5. In From Community Economic Development and Ethnic Entrepreneurship to Economic Democracy: The Cooperative Alternative, edited by Jonathan Michael Feldman and Jessica Gordon Nembhard, pp. 111-132. Partnership for Multiethnic Inclusion, Norrkoping, Sweden (National Institute for Working Life), 2002.
Haynes, Curtis, Jr. and Jessica Gordon Nembhard. “Cooperative Economics - A Community Revitalization Strategy.” In Leading Issues in Black Political Economy, edited by Thomas D. Boston, pp. 457-482. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2002.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. "Post-Industrial Economic Experiences of African American Men, 1973-1993." In Edmund W. Gordon: Producer of Knowledge, Pursuer of Understanding, Advances in Research, Policy and Praxis in Diverse Communities Series, Vol. 1, edited by Carol Camp Yeakey, pp. 241-262. London: Elsevier Publishers, 2000.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. "Community Economic Development: Alternative Visions for the 21st Century." In Readings in Black Political Economy, edited by John Whitehead and Cobie Kwasi Harris, pp. 295-304. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1999.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica. "Foreign Aid and Dependent Development," Chapter 16. In Creating a New World Economy: Forces of Change and Plans for Action, edited by Gerald Epstein, Julie Graham, and Jessica Gordon Nembhard, pp. 314-334. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993.
Gordon, J.G. (maiden name). "Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting." In A Woman's Rights Agenda for the States, edited by Tarr-Whelan, L., pp. 97-102. Washington, D.C.: The Conference on Alternative State and Local Policies, 1984.
Books/Volumes Edited/Co-edited
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica, and Mathew Forstater, guest editors. “Special Issue: Black Political Economy In The 21st Century: Exploring the Interface of Economics and Black Studies.” Journal of Black Studies Vol. 38 No. 5 (May 2008). Including: Jessica Gordon Nembhard, and Mathew Forstater. “Introduction,” pp. 687-691.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica, and Ngina Chiteji (eds). Wealth Accumulation in Communities of Color in the U.S.A.: Current Issues. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2006. Including: Jessica Gordon Nembhard and Ngina Chiteji. “Introduction,” pp. 1-19.
Feldman, Jonathan Michael and Jessica Gordon Nembhard (eds.). From Community Economic Development and Ethnic Entrepreneurship to Economic Democracy: The Cooperative Alternative. Partnership for Multiethnic Inclusion, Norrkoping, Sweden (National Institute for Working Life), 2002. Including: Jonathan Michael Feldman and Jessica Gordon Nembhard. “Introduction: The Limits of Existing Community Development Theory and Practice,” pp. 1-23. Feldman and Gordon Nembhard (moderators). “A Discussion about the Requirements of a New Approach to Democratic Community Development by Scholars in the United States and Europe,” Chapter 2, pp. 25-55; “Political, Educational and other Constraints on Democratic Economic Transformation: A Discussion of some Basic Issues in the United States,” Chapter 9, pp. 203-212.
Gordon Nembhard, Jessica, guest editor; Anthony Blasingame, assistant editor. “Special Issue: Tribute to Rhonda M. Williams.” Review of Black Political Economy Vol. 29, No.4 (Spring 2002). Including: Jessica Gordon Nembhard. “Introduction: Tribute to Rhonda M. Williams,” and (bibliography of) “Complete Works” pp. 15-24.
Epstein, Gerald, Julie Graham, and Jessica Nembhard (eds.). Creating a New WorldEconomy: Forces of Change and Plans for Action. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993 (for the Center for Popular Economics). Including: Gerald Epstein, Julie Graham, Jessica Nembhard. “Introduction,” pp. 1-16.
African American cooperatives; Worker cooperatives and workplace democracy; youth-owned cooperatives; Cooperatives among incarcerated and returning citizens; Cooperatives as a community economic development strategy.
Community-based approaches to justice; Public safety and economic democracy; Democratic community economics.
Racial Wealth Inequality and wealth accumulation among communities of color; Community-based Asset building and Community wealth.