Bread & Roses

Bread & Roses
Building a Future Where Workers Become Owners
We use AI and Bitcoin-backed financing to help employees buy the businesses they work for, turning them into stable, worker-owned co-ops.
Get Involved
What is Bread & Roses?
Loading...
Who We Are
A Team of Technologists & Cooperative Leaders
We combine deep expertise in AI, blockchain, community finance, and cooperative ownership to turn the small business succession crisis into an opportunity for millions.
Dr. Sarah Grace Manski
CEO
Blockchain PhD, AI governance expert, and lifelong cooperative advocate.
Dan Mapes
CTO
Founder of VERSES AI and co-author of the Spatial Web Standard.
Rafael Mojden
COO
Drafted U.S. crypto legislation and built federal partnerships.
The Problem
The "Silver Tsunami" Crisis
Small businesses are the backbone of American life.
But every year, over 1 million small business owners want to retire, but 80% cannot find a buyer.  
The Result: Private equity strips assets, jobs are cut, or businesses disappear.
The Gap: Workers want to buy these businesses, but traditional banks won't lend to them because they lack collateral.
The obvious buyers are their employees.
The Solution
The First AI-Powered, Bitcoin-Collateralized Financing Engine
We make employee buyouts simple, safe, and affordable.
01
Bitcoin Collateral
Mission-aligned crypto investors stake BTC into a secure, multi-signature vault.
02
Credit Union Integration
Loans are issued to employees, secured by this digital collateral.
03
Worker Ownership
The business converts to a Cooperative or ESOP. Owners retire with dignity; workers build wealth.
Our Vision
Economic Democracy
We envision an America where worker ownership is the norm, not the exception.
Where the mechanics cooperatively own the garage.
Where farmhands together own the farm.
Where the baristas become Café co-owners.
AI technology should lift people up—not replace them.
2025-2026 Roadmap
How Your Support Helps
Your contributions accelerate our critical milestones:
1
Complete the MVP
The core AI and blockchain system is 90% complete.
2
Network Integration
Connecting with national credit unions for loan access.
3
Pilot Launches
Converting real small businesses into worker-owned cooperatives.
4
Education
Building tools to teach employees how to transition to ownership.
Why This Matters
More Than a Tool—A Movement
Every conversion saves jobs. Every worker-owned business builds community wealth.
Our Name: Honors the 1912 Lawrence textile strike, where women demanded both fair wages ("Bread") and dignity ("Roses"). It embodies the belief that economic empowerment and human flourishing must rise together.
We chose this name because our mission is to honor working people, giving them access to ownership, equity, and the opportunity to thrive in the workplaces they sustain.

Made with