Next Economy Now is a weekly social impact podcast sharing stories & dialogue from the front lines of the new economy. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or wherever you find your podcasts.
What if the economy prioritized sustainability over short-term gains, justice over extraction, and people over profit? Today on Next Economy Now, Liza Mueller, Vice President of Knowledge at Echoing Green, joins us to discuss how fearless social entrepreneurs are spearheading the shift toward regenerative economics, sustainable business practices, and social impact initiatives.
Through Echoing Green’s renowned fellowship program and broader field- and movement-building efforts, Liza shares powerful insights on funding racial equity, dismantling systemic barriers, and transforming the social innovation space into something so irresistible that the business-as-usual economy feels obsolete. She also unpacks how Echoing Green has supported and empowered nearly 1,000 visionary changemakers to scale solutions that reimagine business, philanthropy, and community wealth.
Join us as Liza reflects on what keeps her up at night, from the urgency of climate action to the need to embed justice into every aspect of our economy and the power of storytelling to turn bold ideas into unstoppable movements.
If you believe in a future where business, policy, and philanthropy work for people and the planet, tune in to find out how social innovators are making that future a reality (and how you can be part of it.)
Key Points From This Episode:
How Echoing Green supports social entrepreneurs and reshapes innovation. [0:02:07]
Liza’s journey from “fixing Salesforce” to shaping the future of Echoing Green. [0:03:09]
Navigating a challenging future with vision, hope, and action. [0:04:59]
Identifying visionary changemakers from over 4,000 fellowship program applicants. [0:07:20]
Shifting from competition to collaboration in social innovation. [0:11:04]
The power of reframing to make change irresistible through new economic models. [0:18:14]
Cooperative investing, sustainable infrastructure, and reimagining economies: stories of transformation from Echoing Green’s Fellows. [0:23:10]
Reasons that eliminating unconscious bias is crucial for social transformation. [0:27:40]
How to back Echoing Green’s mission and advance systemic change. [0:34:27]
Quotes:
“There’s a lot of change happening right now in the world but there are still incredible bright spots and hopeful stories to tell.” — Liza Mueller [0:07:12]
“We call ourselves an issue- [and] geographically-inclusive organization because we believe – social issues are highly intersectional. You can't solve an education problem without also addressing an economic [or] health problem. We need folks to be working across sectors.” — Liza Mueller [0:08:37]
“Field- [and] movement-building work needs to be rooted in trust. That's something that is so important to remember right now. – Invest in building trust with your community and your partners.” — Liza Mueller [0:13:41]
“We want [to promote] the idea that solutions can adapt – and be based on the core needs of individual people and communities and that we can have an economy that's based on those things too. I want that to be so irresistible that the alternative is dust in the wind.” — Liza Mueller [0:20:22]
“We are always trying to tell stories [about leaders] in ways that not only help you understand the issue they’re tackling but also help you understand the context in which they’re working and how you might find similarities between what they’re doing [and] what you’re doing.” — Liza Mueller [0:35:46]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Liza Mueller — https://echoinggreen.org/team/liza-mueller/
Echoing Green — https://echoinggreen.org/
Echoing Green Fellowship — https://echoinggreen.org/fellowship/
Liza Mueller on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizamueller/
'Racial Equity and Philanthropy: Disparities in Funding for Leaders of Color Leave Impact on the Table’ — https://www.bridgespan.org/insights/disparities-nonprofit-funding-for-leaders-of-color
Centre for Exponential Change — https://centreforexponentialchange.org/
Sanjay Purohit — Sanjay Purohit | Centre for Exponential Change
Village Micro Fund (VMF Collective) — https://www.villagemicrofund.com/
Donte Miller — https://fellows.echoinggreen.org/fellow/donte-miller/
Flushh — https://www.flushh.co/
Kaveto (KV) Tjatjara — https://fellows.echoinggreen.org/fellow/kaveto-tjatjara/
Wasted — https://wasted.earth/
Anurag Gupta — https://fellows.echoinggreen.org/fellow/anurag-gupta/
Breaking Bias: Where Stereotypes and Prejudices Come From--and the Science-Backed Method to Unravel Them — https://bookshop.org/p/books/breaking-bias-where-stereotypes-and-prejudices-come-from-and-the-science-backed-method-to-unravel-them-anu-gupta/21090887
Stay Connected To Next Economy News with our Newsletter!
Interested in receiving the latest news from the Next Economy? Sign up for our newsletter and receive monthly tips, advice, and resources from our team and partners: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter-
Dive Deeper With The Next Economy MBA
Interested in exploring Next Economy principles in a community of practice with other entrepreneurs, changemakers, and impact leaders? Offered in the spring and fall, the Next Economy MBA is a nine-month online course for folks who want to learn key business fundamentals (e.g. vision, culture, strategy, and operations) from an equitable, inclusive, and regenerative perspective.
Join the growing global network of 500+ alumni who are catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life. Learn more and sign up for news about upcoming cohorts: https://lifteconomy.com/mba.-
Show Notes + Other Links
Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the show, you can view our previous episodes and show notes here: https://lifteconomy.com/podcast. Feel free to share with colleagues or friends searching for podcasts for social entrepreneurs, too!
If you enjoy Next Economy Now, please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it really helps folks interested in Next Economy work discover our show. With your help, we can reach folks looking for podcasts about regenerative agriculture, worker co-ops, racial justice, and more.
Stay Connected With Us On Social:
X: https://twitter.com/LIFTEconomy
Instagram: https://instagram.com/lifteconomy/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/LIFTEconomy/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/Lifteconomy
Music by Chris Zabriskie: https://chriszabriskie.com/