Who are our founders?
The Banking With Justice initiative was started in 2022 by Jake Schlachter, Executive Director of We Own It, and Andrea Miller, Executive Director of The Center for Common Ground, shortly after losing patience with a large, corporate, anti-democratic credit union headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.
Jake Schlachter
Jake is the Executive Director of We Own It, a national organizing network for cooperative and credit union reform. The son of two Episcopal priests who left an early career in corporate software development and computer security for organizing, Jake is now a committed holy hellraiser and good trouble-maker. In 2015 he founded We Own It, where he helped start a movement for rural electric cooperative reform -- and met CFCG founder Andrea Miller. Jake is now an adopted native of Madison, Wisconsin, where he lives with his wife and two young daughters. Reach him at jake@weown.it
Andrea Miller
Andrea is the Founding Board Member of the Center for Common Ground, Executive Director of People Demanding Action, Founding President of the National Women’s Political Caucus of Virginia, and a member of the Democracy and Governance working group of the Virginia Green New Deal. Andrea is an IT and Political Director and a digital and elections strategist. Her expertise is in voting rights, climate, and the Equal Rights Amendment. Andrea lives just north of Richmond, Virginia. Reach her at andrea@centerforcommonground.org
