The following is the first in a series of guest posts from Jeremy Casebeer, a professional athlete and upcoming participant in Cohort IX of the Next Economy MBA (starting September 20, 2022). Jeremy will be posting monthly about his experiences preparing for and participating in the course.

As a professional beach volleyball player from Southern California I’ve been fortunate to grow up outdoors with access to the mountains and beaches. From an early age, I loved being in nature. Multiple wildfire evacuations with my family made me realize that our relationship with the natural environment is very delicate. 

In high school, I was introduced to climate change and went on to study Environmental Studies at UCLA. While I put a traditional job in sustainability on pause to pursue my dream to play beach volleyball professionally, I’ve been working to use my platform as an athlete to scale impact as an ambassador for nonprofits, working on the first Climate Action Plan in volleyball, and focusing my sponsorships with brands that share my values and have transparent impact and third party certifications. (Condense?)

I’ve been fascinated by the relationship of how we can structure social and economic systems to improve our lives and the health of our planet. My next step in understanding the potential of business for good is to learn with others when I join LIFT Economy’s “Next Economy MBA” program starting September 20, 2022. 

It is clear that our current economic system is not working for the vast majority of people and the planet. For example, some of the problems include:

• Economic, racial, and gender inequality

• Climate change and environmental degradation

• Billions of people struggling to meet their basic needs 

Profit maximization, competition, and scarcity have been central to capitalism since it emerged in the 16th century. This reflects how the world was understood at the time. It was our best attempt to organize society in order to trade and produce goods and services efficiently. 

Technology, access to information, and our consumption of natural resources has accelerated exponentially since capitalism emerged. We live, think, and act differently now. So when you consider how little the core principles of our current economy have changed over the past few hundred years, these structural problems are not surprising.   

We now understand just how interdependent we are on each other and our environment, that our collective actions determine our collective future. 

As our understanding evolves, so should the systems that we use. It wouldn’t be reasonable to assume our systems for thinking and acting as teenagers would serve us well into life as adults. As we learn and grow, we implement more effective ways to live productive and meaningful lives. 

Similarly, our economic system should evolve to meet the needs of our modern world. It is time to move on from a system that leads to inequality, incentivizes exploitation, and encourages short term thinking to the Next Economy.

The “Next Economy” is what our economic system might look like when it does transform. LIFT Economy describes the Next Economy as a "bioregional, locally self-reliant, and racially just economy that works for the benefit of all life—one that meets the basic needs for all people everywhere while regenerating our planetary ecosystems."

I look forward to joining the 2022 Next Economy MBA cohort this September. For those of you who are interested, the Next Economy MBA is a nine month learning journey for emerging leaders of an equitable, inclusive and regenerative economy. I will be studying key business principles from the world's most innovative organizations and gathering the tools I will need to align the deeper purpose of my career.

Over the next year I will be sharing insights from the Next Economy MBA in a series of podcast episodes and blog posts. To learn more go to www.lifteconomy.com/mba and subscribe to Our Impact Podcast.