Stories

The Massachusetts Food Trust Program: A Model for Good Government (Massachusetts)

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Delivering Jobs, Healthy Food Access & Community Investment Across Massachusetts The Massachusetts Food Trust Program (MFTP) is a quiet but powerful example of effective public policy. By supporting independent grocery stores, food hubs, and farm-to-table operations, MFTP strengthens our regional…

Growing Ecuadoran Herbal Tea with LEAF: Waku (Boston, MA)

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Waku, an immigrant-owned company in Brighton, MA specializes in traditional prebiotic teas using ethically sourced ingredients from farmers in Ecuador. Childhood friends, Nico Estrella and Juan Giraldo, founded Waku in 2019 to share prebiotic herbal teas with American consumers. Waku…

Float On: Where Workers Meet Relaxation (Portland, OR)

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Worker cooperatives thrive in all industries across the United States. Now the cooperative model has expanded into a floating relaxation service, Float On, in Portland, Oregon. What is Floating? Floating, is an immersive experience in tanks filled with body-temperature water…

LEAF Honored, Impact Assets 50 2025

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LEAF is humbled to receive the 2025 Impact Assets Award (IA50), a diverse group of impact fund managers who demonstrate a commitment to generating positive impact: http://bit.ly/IA502025. This recognition comes not to our team alone, but to the entrepreneurs and…

Just Book-ish, a Literary Third Space (Boston, MA)

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LEAF’s Elevate Small Business team’s theory of change is that stable businesses help create financially stable communities. And to be a financially stable business, you need: access to capital, access to advisory services, and access to customers to buy their…