Fran Seegull: Introducing the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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Fran Seegull is Executive Director of The U.S Impact Investing Alliance, which is supported by the Ford Foundation, Omidyar Network and the F.B. Heron Foundation, among others. The organization's mission is to champion the power of impact investing in the United States and foster deployment of and demand for impact capital across asset classes globally. Previously, she was Chief Investment Officer and Managing Director at ImpactAssets – a non-profit investment firm seeking to increase the flow of capital to impact investing.  Fran holds a BS in economics from Barnard/Columbia and an MBA from Harvard Business School.  At USC’s Marshall School of Business, she is the Adjunct Professor at the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and Senior Fellow at the Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab. She serves on the board of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, the Investment Committee of the Goldhirsh Foundation and the G7 Social Impact Investment Task Force Working Group on Asset Allocation.

In this interview we discuss:

  • Moving away from a paradigm of maximizing shareholder value in the short term to one focused on stakeholder value and longer term value creation

  • Questioning tax-sheltered foundations yielding net-negative mission-related impact

  • The backstory on and intentions of the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance

  • Integrity and innovation in impact measurements & reporting

  • Cases where there may or may not be tradeoffs between financial return and impact

  • The silver lining of the Trump administration: spurring entrepreneurship and livelihood creation in rural & urban communities

In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

Ryan Honeyman is a Partner at LIFT Economy and author of The B Corp Handbook: How to Use Business as a Force for Good (Berrett-Koehler Publishers). LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @honeymanconsult or email him ryan@lifteconomy.com.

Dana Lanza: Mission-Related Philanthropy and Owning What You Own

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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Dana launched Confluence Philanthropy in August of 2009 as a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, after serving as the executive director of the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA). While at EGA, Dana provided networking services to over 250 grantmaking organizations from across North America and Europe in 15 strategic funding areas. As director, Dana worked with the Rockefeller Family Fund, and led a then 20 year old EGA into an independent 501c3 organization. Dana served as the Program Director and Board Advisor at The Swift Foundation while launching Confluence. 

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In this interview we discuss:

  • How the economic events of 2008 seeded greater interest in values-aligned investments

  • Top challenges investors face in aligning their money with their values

  • The debate about whether or not impact investors should seek market rate returns on investments

  • The trend for philanthropy to focus on mission-related investments rather than offering grants or program-related investing (PRI)

  • The subjectivity of measuring impact and its value versus objectively owning what you own

  • Place-based, regional, localized investing, challenging investment managers to elevate their socially-responsible platform, and being loud and proud about divesting from the fossil fuel industry

In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.


Ryan Honeyman is a Partner at LIFT Economy and author of The B Corp Handbook: How to Use Business as a Force for Good (Berrett-Koehler Publishers). LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @honeymanconsult or email him ryan@lifteconomy.com.

Birju Pandya: Money, Social Good, and Inner Transformation

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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Formerly a consultant for McKinsey & Company, Birju Pandya focuses on the nexus of money, social good and inner transformation and works with organizations on the cutting edge of this inquiry. He is a Managing Director with Armonia, a private equity firm specializing in “regenerative investing” using nature-based solutions. He is Chief Mindfulness Officer for Nessel Development, working in 'beyond sustainable' real estate and also a senior advisor to RSF Social Finance, focusing on projects which facilitate “inner impact.”  Birju is a longtime volunteer of ServiceSpace, a non-profit that has been popularizing gift culture paradigm.  

 

In this interview we discuss:

  • Blossoming into meditation and mindfulness with small steps

  • Whole person development in the workplace

  • Dynamic interplay between inner work practices with transcending limiting organizational structures and linear-thinking approaches

  • Contrasting “ripple effects” with our concepts of “scaling”

  • The subtle yet profound role of psychological work in using business as a means for personal transformation becoming a better person

  • Having the vulnerability and courage to ask others “What do I not see?” 

In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.


Ryan Honeyman is a Partner at LIFT Economy and author of The B Corp Handbook: How to Use Business as a Force for Good (Berrett-Koehler Publishers). LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @honeymanconsult or email him ryan@lifteconomy.com.

John Abrams: Behind the Scenes at the World’s Top Scoring B Corp

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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In this episode of Next Economy Now, Shawn Berry, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews John Abrams, founder and CEO of the South Mountain Co, a Design Build construction firm operating for over 4 decades on Martha’s vineyard. They are a worker owned cooperative and boast the highest B Corp certification score in the world! His book Companies We Keep, is a seminal work for the growing movement of worker coop buyouts.

 

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In this interview we discuss:

  • John’s background coming from the back to the land movement in the 60’s

  • The political climate following the recent election

  • Climate change and the need for solutions

  • Triple bottom line peer business support network

  • Their strong family centric culture

  • ROI on the best employee benefits package in the world including home ownership and renewable energy

  • Their limits on building big

  • Commitment to affordable housing & place

  • How they survived the great recession and their plan for the next one

  • Building a company culture that makes it safe to fail

  • Trust in people is paramount

  • What the company looks like after he is gone

 In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

 

Shawn Berry is a Partner at LIFT Economy, where he works as an organizational strategist inspired to harness the power of business to create resilient local economies as patterns to be documented, open sourced, scaled globally and adapted regionally.

LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Shawn on Twitter @sd_berry or email him shawn@lifteconomy.com.

Jessie Spector: How Much Wealth is Enough?

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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In this episode of Next Economy Now, Ryan Honeyman, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Jessie Spector, Executive Director at Resource Generation.  As an activist and donor, Jessie participates in several innovative cross-class models of wealth redistribution: the Criminal Justice Initiative, a circle of donors and activists who use consensus to fund the transformation of the criminal justice system in the US, and the Solidarity Family of POOR Magazine, a cohort of young people with wealth learning from and fundraising for POOR and the project of Homefulness, a permanent and sustainable pilot model of co-housing for homeless people. Jessie is constantly inspired by the power of organizing within her own community of young people with wealth and class privilege in partnership with people working for justice from all class backgrounds.

 

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In this interview we discuss:

  • Leveraging privilege toward equitable distribution of land, wealth, and power

  • The question of ‘how much income and wealth is enough’

  • Taking collective action and partnering with social justice groups

  • From negative investment portfolio screens to more just, values-aligned positive screens

  • Listening, building trust, and being in relationship with marginalized communities

In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.


Ryan Honeyman is a Partner at LIFT Economy and author of The B Corp Handbook: How to Use Business as a Force for Good (Berrett-Koehler Publishers). LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @honeymanconsult or email him ryan@lifteconomy.com.

Kristin Hull: Realizing The Next Economy with Your Investment Portfolio

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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In this episode of Next Economy Now, Ryan Honeyman, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews

Kristin Hull, Partner & Portfolio Manager at Green Alpha Advisors and President & Co-founder at Nia Global Solutions.  Kristin’s background is in impact investing having founded the Nia Community Investments in 2010. The Nia Community Fund is focused on consciously investing for social justice and environmental sustainability in Oakland. Prior to Nia Community, Kristin served as President and Chair of the Board of the Hull Family Foundation from 2007 to 2011, where she oversaw all of the investment efforts and transitioned the endowment from a traditional investment portfolio to one of the country’s first 100% mission impact invested portfolios. Kristin is also a co-founder of Impact Hub Oakland and is devoted to promoting inclusion and diversity in leadership, and to re-envisioning capitalism.

 

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In this interview we discuss:

  • Redefining finance by engaging from a foundation of intention and purpose

  • Barriers preventing people from investing in their local communities

  • Building investment portfolios around publicly traded companies leveraging best-in-class solutions as a vehicle to realize the next economy

  • Considerations in measuring impact both quantitatively as well as qualitatively

  • Balancing impact with financial returns

  • The need for financial literacy education and aligning our money with our values 

In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.


Ryan Honeyman is a Partner at LIFT Economy and author of The B Corp Handbook: How to Use Business as a Force for Good (Berrett-Koehler Publishers). LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @honeymanconsult or email him ryan@lifteconomy.com.

Kate Poole: Redistributing Wealth and Power

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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In this episode of Next Economy Now, Ryan Honeyman, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Kate Poole.  Kate co-leads Regenerative Finance, a collective of young people with wealth working to shift control of capital to communities most affected by racial, economic and climate injustices. Kate is also a member-leader of Resource Generation, working to redistribute land, wealth and power.  Kate creates comics and zines about Buddhist economics, Jewish economics, racial justice and wealth redistribution, and the intersection of economic and spiritual practice.

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In this interview we discuss:

  • Buddhist economics & right livelihood

  • The backstory to the Resource Generation collective

  • Applying values-based principles to investing through non-extractive finance, shared risk, & zero percent interest loans

  • Stewarding accumulated wealth and returning it to communities from which it was historically extracted

  • Karmically sound methods of accumulating capital

  • Emotional challenges that can come with inherited wealth that was derived from the trauma of others

  • The Buen Vivir Fund and other examples of inverting power relations, centering the work on acting from love, and being in authentic relationship with communities to build the self determination

In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

Ryan Honeyman is a Partner at LIFT Economy and author of The B Corp Handbook: How to Use Business as a Force for Good (Berrett-Koehler Publishers). LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @honeymanconsult or email him ryan@lifteconomy.com.

Omar Freilla: Worker Cooperative Development as a Comprehensive Solution for Our Time

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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In this episode of Next Economy Now, Shawn Berry, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Omar Freilla. Omar is the founder and coordinator for Green Worker Cooperatives in the South Bronx, where they run the Coop Academy to empower a new generation of small local businesses that are cooperatively owned and operated.  Shawn first met Omar in 2004 after the founding of the USFWC when he came to visit Shawn at his woodworking co-op in SF.  It’s been a pleasure for Shawn to see Omar’s work grow and develop over the years.

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In this interview we discuss:

  • Why coops are such powerful and deep solutions, socially, environmentally and economically.

  • Omar’s experience visiting the Mondragon Coops in Spain

  • Common misconceptions about coops

  • How the current political and economic climate make this work more important than ever

  • New York City’s groundbreaking funding & coalition for coop development

  • Successes and best practices from the Coop Academy

 

In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

 

Shawn Berry is a Partner at LIFT Economy, where he works as an organizational strategist inspired to harness the power of business to create resilient local economies as patterns to be documented, open sourced, scaled globally and adapted regionally.

LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Shawn on Twitter @sd_berry or email him shawn@lifteconomy.com.

 

Jessica Bonanno + Adam Trott: Cooperative models for community based economic development

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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In this episode of Next Economy Now, Shawn Berry, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Jessica Bonanno from the Democracy Collaborative and Adam Trott from the Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives. The Democracy Collaborative has been doing important work around community wealth building, one of their most notable projects being the Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland, OH.  The Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives (VAWC) is a cooperative  of 8 worker-coops in Western Massachusetts created to serve their members and promote the development of the cooperative economy.

 

In this interview we discuss:

  • Their personal stories bringing them into this work

  • Trends in cooperative development

  • Ownership as a pathway to community development

  • VAWC’s inter-coop development fund

  • Evergreen Coops network of companies

  

In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

 

Shawn Berry is a Partner at LIFT Economy, where he works as an organizational strategist inspired to harness the power of business to create resilient local economies as patterns to be documented, open sourced, scaled globally and adapted regionally.

LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Shawn on Twitter @sd_berry or email him shawn@lifteconomy.com.

Jeffrey Hollender - Taking a Systems Approach to Designing the Next Economy

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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“It’s not enough to build your own company, you have to participate in building the whole ecosystem... ” - Jeffrey Hollender

 

In this episode of Next Economy Now, Kevin Bayuk, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Jeffrey Hollender, Founder of Seventh Generation, the American Sustainable Business Council and Sustain Natural among other enterprises and organizations.

Jeffrey is a thought leader on corporate responsibility, sustainability and social equity.  His decades of experience have covered decentralized models of education, ethical community banking, starting and growing sustainable, and now net positive, enterprises and using the power of coalition building as a lever for creating change in policy and governance.  

 

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In the interview we discuss how important it is to take a systems view when engaging in changing the economy.  In fact, systems thinking emerged as the consistent theme in our discussion and Jeffrey encourages listeners to check out this lecture by Peter Senge to develop a basic literacy of systems thinking.

We also delve into a diverse array of topics including the following:

  • Which type of scale (many small businesses or few very large businesses) is better to change the economy

  • The role of worker ownership in addressing wealth inequality

  • The role and power of everyday consumer choices

  • “Net positive” business compared to business just “less bad”

  • The dysfunction of the “business as usual” capital and the return mandates on that capital to serve the innovation of small emergent next economy enterprises

 

In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

 

Kevin Bayuk works at the intersection of ecology and economy where permaculture design meets next economy organizations intent on meeting human needs while enhancing the conditions conducive to all life. He is a co-founder and  partner with LIFT Economy, the Senior Financial Fellow at Project Drawdown and a founding partner of the Urban Permaculture Institute.  LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Kevin on Twitter @kevinbayuk or email him kevin@lifteconomy.com.

Alison Lingane: Worker-Ownership, the Coop Incubator, and Addressing the Silver Tsunami

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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“Good decisions are built into worker cooperatives from the inside out.” - Alison Lingane

In this episode of Next Economy Now, Ryan Honeyman, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Alison Lingane, Co-Founder of Project Equity.

Project Equity is a nonprofit organization that fosters economic resiliency by demonstrating and replicating strategies to increase worker ownership.

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In our interview, Alison and I discuss some of the differences between worker-owned cooperatives, ESOPs (or Employee Stock Ownership Plans) and employee stock options (like you might get as an employee of a tech company like Twitter or Facebook).

We’ll also discuss the startling fact that there are only 300-400 worker owned cooperatives in the entire United States. Alison hopes to change this with her new Coop Incubator program at Project Equity.

Finally, if you are interested in increasing worker ownership at your business, we go over some of the frequently asked questions and steps you will need to consider before making the transition.

You can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

 

Ryan Honeyman is a Partner at LIFT Economy and author of The B Corp Handbook: How to Use Business as a Force for Good (Berrett-Koehler Publishers). LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @honeymanconsult or email him ryan@lifteconomy.com.

Sandra Kwak: Solar as the Backbone for a New Economy - in Haiti and Beyond

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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“Solar is the backbone of an economy.” - Sandra Kwak

 

In this episode of Next Economy Now, Erin Axelrod, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Sandra Kwak, Founder and CEO of 10 Power, a woman-owned company that finances renewable energy in developing communities.

 

Sandra and Erin discuss the opportunities of bringing solar to countries like Haiti - where the most recent Hurricane Matthews has caused an extraordinary amount of devastation and destruction and yet where there is so much potential to build a regenerative economy leveraging cutting edge renewable energy technology.

 

As you’ll hear, Sandra is enthusiastic about the promise of solar, especially for the potential it offers to communities who are currently lacking access to electricity. For these countries, it offers a way to modernize in a more efficient, cost effective, and sustainable manner than what fossil fuels have offered since the dawn of the industrial revolution.

 

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In this interview, Erin and Sandra discuss a number of topics, including:

  • How “third-party financing” spurred the adoption of solar in the US, and how 10 Power is leveraging that to springboard adoption of solar in Haiti.

  • Why solar is the backbone of a local, living economy

  • The importance of building ownership. The 10 Power model fosters local ownership of the companies and all installations are done via a pay-to-own model.

  • Why fossil fuels are “not a good investment anymore.”

  • The importance of the divestment movement - the largest movement to divest from fossil fuels in financial history.

  • Gender equality as a key element that is driving 10 power’s business model

 

In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

 

Erin Axelrod is a Partner at LIFT Economy, helping to accelerate the spread of climate-beneficial businesses, specializing in businesses that address critical soil and water regeneration. She is a shepherdess, indigo farmer and regularly forages for wild food in her home in rural Sonoma County. LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Erin on Twitter @erinaxelrod or email her erin@lifteconomy.com.

Rick Ridgeway: Why Patagonia is Moving from Sustainability to Regeneration

"When you dig down into any social justice issue, more often than not, the causes have some root in environmental degradation."  - Rick Ridgeway

In this episode of Next Economy Now, Ryan Honeyman, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Rick Ridgeway, VP of Environmental Initiatives at Patagonia.

Rick Ridgeway is one of the originals at Patagonia. He was rock climbing buddies with Yvon Chouinard before Patagonia was founded in 1973.

In this episode, we discuss Rick’s background as a photographer and filmmaker, his time on Patagonia's board of directors, and why Rick got his first “real job” only 12 years ago. We also dive into Patagonia’s famous mission statement to “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”

As you’ll hear, Rick is especially interested in moving away from “causing no unnecessary harm” (or sustainability) to “doing good” (which is regenerative). Rick and I discuss how things like soil health, regenerative agriculture, rotational grazing, and clothing that benefits the climate are increasingly on Patagonia’s radar.

In this interview, Ryan and Rick discuss a number of topics, including:

  • Why Patagonia doesn’t mention solving social or community issues in its mission statement

  • What happened when Patagonia discovered forced labor in its Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers last year

  • Why the Sustainable Apparel Coalition is the largest trade association in apparel and footwear in the world

  • Whether he is optimistic or pessimistic about the future

  • Patagonia’s new initiatives in carbon sequestration

  • Why you should know Fred Kirschenmann (from the Aldo Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture), the Carbon Underground, and Kiss the Ground

  • And much more

You can also listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

Janelle Orsi: Leveraging the Legal System towards an Equitable & Inclusive Next Economy

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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In this episode of Next Economy Now, Erin Axelrod, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Janelle Orsi, founder of The Sustainable Economies Law Center.

 

Janelle Orsi is an attorney living and working in Oakland, California. Her law and mediation practice is focused on helping individuals and organizations share resources and create more sustainable communities. She works with social enterprises, non-profits, cooperatives, community gardens, cohousing communities, ecovillages, and others doing innovative work to change the world. Her primary areas of legal specialty are real estate, small business, nonprofit, and estate planning law. In addition to her private practice, Janelle is Co-Founder and Director of the Sustainable Economies Law Center.

 

Janelle is the author of Practicing Law in the Sharing Economy and co-author of The Sharing Solution: How to Save Money, Simplify Your Life & Build Community, a practical and legal guide to cooperating and sharing resources of all kinds. Janelle also writes for Shareable.net.

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In this interview, Erin & Janelle discuss a number of topics, including:

  • What if people could divert their funeral financing into burial plot land conservation easements?

  • The radically transformative power of worker-ownership

  • What does the real sharing economy look like? Loconomics Cooperative as a model to emulate

  • What is a multi-stakeholder cooperative and why that might be important

  • Healthy workplaces and how to alleviate nonprofit burn-out

  • “Permanent real estate cooperatives” as an iteration of Community land trusts to lessen the divide and make land trusts accessible to a more diverse socioeconomic group

  • How to catalyze a consumer revolution to create a tipping point for cooperatives

 

Towards the end of the podcast, Janelle and Erin coin the term, “Democravore,” to indicate an idea of mobilizing groups of people to come together to prioritize food spending at worker-owned food businesses.

 

In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

 

Erin Axelrod is a Partner at LIFT Economy, helping to accelerate the spread of climate-beneficial businesses, specializing in businesses that address critical soil and water regeneration. She is a shepherdess, indigo farmer and regularly forages for wild food in her home in rural Sonoma County. LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Erin on Twitter @erinaxelrod or email her erin@lifteconomy.com.

Rha Goddess: Aligning Entrepreneurial Approach with Awareness and Clarity of Purpose

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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In this episode of Next Economy Now, Shawn Berry, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Rha Goddess, founder of Move The Crowd.

 

Rha is a cultural innovator and social entrepreneur who brings over two decades of transformational “crowd rockin’” in the name of social change. Rha is the founder of Move the Crowd, which provides rigorous entrepreneurial training to create a conscious entrepreneurial movement dedicated to re-imagining “work” and ushering in a new culture and socio-economic paradigm.

 

In this interview, Shawn and Rha discuss a number of topics, including:

  • How her background and experience in civil rights and hip hop lead to training entrepreneurs

  • Aligning entrepreneurs with the “why” before the “how”

  • Her learnings and successes working with social entrepreneurs

  • How to invite in creativity in the context of business

  • How the rising social justice awareness of these times feeds into her work.

  • The future of our movements

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In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

 

Shawn Berry is a Partner at LIFT Economy, where he works as an organizational strategist inspired to harness the power of business to create resilient local economies as patterns to be documented, open sourced, scaled globally and adapted regionally.

LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Shawn on Twitter @sd_berry or email him shawn@lifteconomy.com.

Mike Brady: Greyston Bakery's CEO on Hiring the Unemployable

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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In this episode of Next Economy Now, Ryan Honeyman, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Mike Brady, President and CEO at Greyston Bakery.

Mike is building on Greyston’s thirty year heritage as a model for social enterprise. He served on the Board of Directors of the Greyston Foundation before being named President of the Bakery in January 2012. Mike’s passion for social entrepreneurism and the use of business to solve social issues are fundamental to his work at Greyston Bakery.

Prior to joining Greyston, Mike launched the first incubator in the country dedicated to organic food production and distribution. He spent over 20 years in strategy and executive management positions identifying and exploiting new business opportunities in high-growth and transitional industries.

Mike is also a business advisor to the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) and is on an Advisory Council with the Urban Institute helping to promote policies for a more sustainable economy. Mike received his MBA from the Wharton School of Business and lives in New York City with his wife and sons.

In this interview, Ryan and Mike discuss a number of topics, including:

  • Greyston’s Open Hiring program

  • The suite of services needed to break the generational cycle of poverty

  • Greyston’s partnerships with Ben & Jerry’s and Whole Foods

  • Mike’s former career in internet startups

  • The book he most often gives as a gift

  • The thought leaders Mike looks to for inspiration

  • Why Greyston’s “Blondie” brownie might change your life

  • And much more

 


In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

 

Ryan Honeyman is a Partner at LIFT Economy and author of The B Corp Handbook: How to Use Business as a Force for Good (Berrett-Koehler Publishers). LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @honeymanconsult or email him ryan@lifteconomy.com.

Kate Williams: Global Movement of Companies Investing 1% for the Planet

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

SUBSCRIBE & RATE us on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or anywhere you find podcasts!

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, democratic, transparent, and whole-systems approach to solving social and environmental challenges.

The goal of this podcast is to identify the trends, tips, and best practices that will help listeners better harness the power of business as a force for good.

In this episode, Shawn Berry, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Kate Williams, CEO of 1% for the Planet, an alliance of businesses financially committed to creating a healthy planet by donating 1% of their sales to environmental non-profits.

Founded in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia, 1% for the Planet has grown into a global movement of more than 1200 member companies in 48 countries, all donating at least 1% of annual sales to sustainability initiatives. In just over 10 years 1% for the Planet companies have given more than $100 million back to Blue.

In this interview, Shawn and Kate discuss a number of topics, including:

  • Kate’s path as an environmental entrepreneur

  • The history and success of 1%

  • Kate’s influences and inspirations

  • The state of the movement

  • What the future might look like

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In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

 

Shawn Berry is a Partner at LIFT Economy, where he works as an organizational strategist inspired to harness the power of business to create resilient local economies as patterns to be documented, open sourced, scaled globally and adapted regionally.

LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Shawn on Twitter @sd_berry or email him shawn@lifteconomy.com.

Stefanie Thomas: Black Women VCs, Community Investing, and Closing the Opportunity Gap in America

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

SUBSCRIBE & RATE us on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or anywhere you find podcasts!

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, democratic, transparent, and whole-systems approach to solving social and environmental challenges.

The goal of this podcast is to identify the trends, tips, and best practices that will help listeners better harness the power of business as a force for good.

In this episode, Ryan Honeyman, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Stefanie Thomas, Senior Investment Associate at the Impact America Fund.

Stefanie joined the Impact America (IAF) team in 2015. As a member of IAF, Stefanie has emerged as a voice of “Black Female VCs” (Fast Company) who work at the intersection of founder diversity, technology for impact, and the deployment of capital within untapped markets.

Since 2013, Stefanie’s work has primarily centered around her passion to support under-resourced entrepreneurs, an ode to childhood memories of her father—a serial entrepreneur—who overcame tremendous challenges as an aspiring business owner, despite very limited secondary education and low-income beginnings.

Some of the inspired work that has resulted from Stefanie’s deep-rooted influences includes co-founding a female-centered entrepreneurship organization called Women Who Launch and traveling over 6,000 miles by car across the US to work with small businesses, landing her a feature on HLN’s “Growing America” docu-series.

Before shifting gears professionally, Stefanie served as a Vice President at Citigroup, managing more than 50 institutional investor relationships and leading finance transactions totaling over $1B in assets. Stefanie received her MBA from the Ross School at the University of Michigan and her B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She currently resides in Washington, DC.

In this interview, Ryan and Stefanie discuss a number of topics, including:

  • Stefanie’s path to impact investing

  • The growth in black female entrepreneurs / VCs

  • How Impact America Fund is investing at the intersection of technology and underserved communities

  • The opportunity gap in America

  • The thought leaders, organizations, and books that Stefanie recommends learning more about

  • And much more

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You can also listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

 

Ryan Honeyman is a Partner at LIFT Economy and author of The B Corp Handbook: How to Use Business as a Force for Good (Berrett-Koehler Publishers). LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @honeymanconsult or email him ryan@lifteconomy.com.

Scott Morris: How "Complementary Currencies" Support Vibrant Local Economies

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

SUBSCRIBE & RATE us on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or anywhere you find podcasts!

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, democratic, transparent, and whole-systems approach to solving social and environmental challenges. 

The goal of this podcast is to identify the trends, tips, and best practices that will help listeners better harness the power of business as a force for good.

In this episode, Shawn Berry, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Scott Morris. Scott is an economist, community organizer and social entrepreneur. He has dedicated his career to solving the problem of why the economy only works well for some, while others get left out. He is currently the founder and CEO of IthaCash. Ithacash is "Money Made for Main St.", a regional cooperative currency program for in-and-around Tompkins County, New York where the marketplace & local money work together for local people, causes, and economies by offering another way to meet real needs.

Ithacash serves the community by granting homegrown funding to area civic organizations and fostering local resilience. Ithacash is building on the legacy of the Ithaca HOURs currency program begun in 1991 and will be a flagship pilot program for Qoin's community currency software in the US.

In this interview, Shawn and Scott discuss a number of topics, including:

  • Scott’s personal journey coming to this work

  • Creating a new currency and aspects of currency design

  • New developments in complementary currencies

  • Benefits created for local economy

  • History and case studies of successful currencies

To listen to this podcast, please click the image at the top of the article.

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In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

 

Shawn Berry is a Partner at LIFT Economy, where he works as an organizational strategist inspired to harness the power of business to create resilient local economies as patterns to be documented, open sourced, scaled globally and adapted regionally.

LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Shawn on Twitter @sd_berry or email him shawn@lifteconomy.com.

John Fullerton: The Emergence of Regenerative Capitalism

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

SUBSCRIBE & RATE us on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or anywhere you find podcasts!

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, democratic, transparent, and whole-systems approach to solving social and environmental challenges.

The goal of this podcast is to identify the trends, tips, and best practices that will help listeners better harness the power of business as a force for good.

In this episode, Ryan Honeyman interviews John Fullerton, Founder and President of Capital Institute. Capital Institute is a nonprofit that is working to explore and effect the economic transition to a more just, regenerative, and sustainable way of living through the transformation of finance.

John is also a recognized impact investment practitioner as the Principal of Level 3 Capital Advisors, LLC. Level 3’s direct investments are primarily focused on sustainable, regenerative land use, food, and water issues.

Previously, John was a Managing Director of JPMorgan where he worked for over 18 years. Following JPMorgan, and after experiencing 9-11 first hand, John spent years embarked on more entrepreneurial ventures as an impact investor while engaging in deep study of our multiple interconnected systemic crises that led to the founding of Capital Institute in 2010.

He is a Co-Founder and Director of Grasslands, LLC, a holistic ranch management company in partnership with the Savory Institute, and a Director of New Day Farms, Inc., New Economy Coalition, and Savory Institute. He is also an Advisor to Armonia, LLC, a Belgian family office focused on impact investments, RSF Social Finance, and to Richard Branson’s Business Leader’s initiative (“B Team”).

In this interview, Ryan and John discuss a number of topics, including:

  • How John went from a career on Wall Street to being a leader in the field of regenerative capitalism

  • The eight principles of regenerative economics

  • Carbon sequestration, holistic management, and climate change

  • The thought leaders and books that influenced his thinking over the last 20 years

  • How consciousness intersects with systems design

  • Whether the is optimistic or pessimistic about the future

  • And much more

In addition to listening on B the Change Media, you can listen/subscribe to Next Economy Now on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting platform.

 

Ryan Honeyman is a Partner at LIFT Economy and author of The B Corp Handbook: How to Use Business as a Force for Good (Berrett-Koehler Publishers). LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @honeymanconsult or email him ryan@lifteconomy.com.