Varshini Prakash: The Sunrise Movement (Rebroadcast)

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As we dip into the winter months, we will be reposting some of our most popular episodes of all time from the Next Economy Now podcast. This is from our February 2019 interview with Varshini Prakash.

Varshini was born and raised outside Boston, MA. She got involved in the climate movement as an undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She joined the UMass Fossil Fuel Divestment campaign early in her time at UMass and led the campaign for two years.

For the last three years, she has coordinated fossil fuel divestment campaigns with the Fossil Fuel Divestment Student Network at a regional and national level. She supported campaigns across the country through training, mentorship, and strategic guidance. Varshini supported the launch of Sunrise, a movement building an army of young people to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process.

For the show notes, visit: https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/varshini-prakash

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Some highlights from Erin Axelrod’s conversation with Varshini Prakash include:

  • The Sunrise Movement is mobilizing tens of thousands to stop business as usual with The Green New Deal

  • The Green New Deal aims to address our climate crisis as well as wealth- and racial inequity

  • Today’s youth leadership are particularly positioned to be vanguards for social change

  • Envisioning a world where all of our basic needs as humans are met while providing a benefit to each other and our environment and contrasting this vision with our current world which is more of a lose-lose, zero-sum game.

  • How the Green New Deal harkens back to The New Deal and how the Green New Deal will similarly take many pieces of legislation over a period of decades.

—-

LIFT Economy Newsletter

Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

---

Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts by visiting: https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

Aaron Tanaka: Creating a Just, Regenerative, and Democratic Economy (Rebroadcast)

Subscribe to Next Economy Now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Google Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you find podcasts.

As we dip into the holiday season, we will be reposting some of our most popular episodes of all time from the Next Economy Now podcast. This is from our March 2019 interview with Aaron Tanaka, founder and Director of the Boston-based Center for Economic Democracy. Aaron is also a community organizer, grant-maker, impact investor, and a founding organizer of the Boston Ujima Project, which brings together neighbors, workers, business owners and investors to create a new community-controlled regional economy. He is an Echoing Green and BALLE Fellow, and co-chair of the national New Economy Coalition and the Asian American Resource Workshop.

Some highlights from Ryan Honeyman’s Conversation with Aaron Tanaka include:

  • How Aaron got into the work he is doing today

  • Aaron’s thoughts on democratizing capital and the launch of the Boston Ujima Project

  • How social entrepreneurs can get more involved in grassroots activism and movement building

  • The balance between creating examples of Next Economy solutions and organizing for policy change at the government level

  • Aaron’s thoughts on how folks can help create the Next Economy 

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

---

Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts by visiting: https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

Autumn Brown: The Solidarity Economy (Rebroadcast)

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As we dip into the holiday season, we will be reposting some of our most popular episodes of all time from the Next Economy Now podcast. This is from our October 2019 interview with Autumn Brown.

Autumn Brown is a mother, organizer, theologian, artist, and facilitator. She is a Worker-Owner with AORTA, the Anti-Oppression Resource & Training Alliance, and cohosts the podcast How to Survive the End of the World with her sister, adrienne maree brown. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Common Fire Foundation and Voices for Racial Justice.

In addition to her work as a facilitator, political educator, and consultant, Autumn is a speculative and creative non-fiction writer. Her work has been published in the Procyon Science Fiction Anthology, Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements, Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good, and Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines. She lives in Minnesota.

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Interview Highlights:

  • How Autumn first got into the type of work she is doing today

  • Worker cooperatives and why Americans are so resistant to cooperation

  • How to practice inclusive decision-making with internal teams

  • Autumn’s work at the Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance (AORTA)

  • The podcast “How to Survive the End of the World,” which Autumn co-hosts with her sister, adrienne marie brown.

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

---

Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts by visiting: https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

Next Economy MBA: Free Event -- Meet the Facilitators & Interactive Q&A!

For those interested in developing skills and knowledge and becoming part of a learning community intent on transforming the economy for all

Are you a concerned citizen with a bold world-changing idea?  Do you have a friend/family member wanting to align their work or money with their values?

Join a free webinar with the LIFT Economy team to answer all your questions about our upcoming Cohort of our Next Economy MBA program! So far - over 275 people have gone through or are enrolled in the Next Economy MBA program - growing the network of visionaries who are boldly and radically redefining the way our economy works.

Upcoming dates for the free intro webinar include:

Our next Cohort (Cohort VIII) of the Next Economy MBA starts:

Entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs often want knowledge about the fundamentals of business, but the content taught in the vast majority of MBA programs is based on outdated principles that were developed during the industrial revolution and oriented toward the outcome of producing functional mid-level managers of large multinational corporations. MBA programs are also incredibly expensive, costing roughly $100k-$150k for a two-year degree. This ultimately exacerbates the cycle of wealth extraction and forces aspiring entrepreneurs to become reliant on high-salary positions to pay down their debt.

The LIFT team has spent ten years working with more than 300 social enterprises and organizations that are building the Next Economy. We have identified patterns that we feel that every entrepreneur should know in order to be prepared for the future of business. 

  • What is the Next Economy? Cumulatively, the LIFT team has decades of experience bringing innovative ideas from idea stage into action in the next economy. We'll discuss our observations of the principles entailed in operating Next Economy enterprises and how you can be a part of this emergence.

  • What will I learn? During this call we will answer your questions about the Next Economy MBA and cover a summary of the core concepts we will cover in the training.  We will share an example of one of the key organization templates we use in the training and offer that to you free.  

  • Are you dissatisfied with your existing career or seeking pathways to do more? We'll walk you through the options from career-shifting to working within the belly of the existing corporate structures to effect radical transformation and channel resources towards the next economy.

LIFT Economy's Next Economy MBA is a nine-month online learning course for entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs who want to learn key business fundamentals (e.g., vision, culture, strategy, and operations) from a regenerative, Next Economy perspective.

Chris Crass: Let's Talk About White People

Subscribe to Next Economy Now on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandoraGoogle PodcastsYouTube, or wherever you find podcasts.

Today’s guest is Chris Crass, one of the leading voices in North America calling for and supporting white people to work for racial justice. He is a social justice educator who writes and speaks widely on the themes of coming together for racial justice, why anti-racism is vital for white people, lessons from past justice movements, and how a vision of collective liberation can move us into effective action. He also writes on feminism for men and lessons from past movements on creating a healthy culture in leadership for progressive activism. 

Chris works with community groups, schools, and faith communities to develop leadership and momentum for social justice action. His passion is working with students, faculty, and staff to connect to their deepest values, overcome divisions, and act with love and courage for racial justice. He helped found the Catalyst Project and launch SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice), and he is the author of a number of books, including Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy and Towards the Other America: Anti-Racist Resources for White People Taking Action for Black Lives Matter.

In today’s episode, Chris shares how he came to recognize the importance of creating a positive vision for liberation and how he seeks to educate and empower white anti-racists to make the systemic and cultural changes that we so desperately need. Chris believes that, while we absolutely need to challenge racism in white communities and support BIPOC-led multiracial movements, we also need to cultivate dynamic white anti-racist leadership and encourage white folks to engage in the liberation movement in a powerful, positive, and impactful way. Tune in today to learn more about his vision and find out what you can do to “rock it for justice!”

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Key Points From This Episode:

  • The seeds of social justice activism in Chris’ early life; anti-racist views for white kids.

  • Cultivating the conditions necessary for creating as many white anti-racists as possible.

  • Supporting BIPOC-led multiracial organizations while also building the capacity and resources for dynamic white anti-racist leadership.

  • How the Black liberation movement has worked to free white folks from supremacist systems.

  • Chris’ both/and approach to social justice that invites nuance and collective participation.

  • Overcoming the challenges of white fragility and comparative suffering.

  • Advocating for systemic, collective, and individual change; everyone has a place in this work.

  • Expanding on awesomeness while working for justice rather than focusing on the negatives.

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Tweetables:

“[I recognized] how important cultural shift is, how important it is to not only argue against racism but to try to bring a positive vision of liberation into the lives of our families, our communities, and into the lives of our children.” — @chriscrass

“What are the conditions, the possibilities, what are the things that can help create as many white anti-racists as possible and help them be effective in helping make the systemic and cultural changes that we desperately need?” — @chriscrass

“Yes, we need to be aware of and challenge the racism in white communities; absolutely! But we also want to help white folks engage in liberation movements in a powerful, positive, impactful way. We [also] need to be able to hear the anti-racist aspirations of white people.” — @chriscrass

“Everyone has a place in this work. Everyone has ways to contribute. There are many different ways of engaging, many different ways of playing important roles.” — @chriscrass

“Expanding [on] awesomeness while working for justice is crucial. That’s how we build power for winning, build power for what we want, while also fighting against what we don’t want.” — @chriscrass

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Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Chris Crass: http://www.chriscrass.org/

Towards Collective Liberation: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781604866544

Towards The Other America: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780827237094

Towards The Other America (Free eBook): http://www.chriscrass.org/uploads/1/7/7/9/17797213/towards-the-other-america-ebook.pdf

Catalyst Project: https://collectiveliberation.org/

SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice): https://surj.org/

'Chris Crass: Antiracist Work for White People' https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/2018/9/25/next-economy-now

White Supremacy Culture: https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/

White Awake: https://whiteawake.org/

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

---

Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts by visiting: https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

Spencer Honeyman: Elite Performance, Innovation, and Healing

Subscribe to Next Economy Now on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandoraGoogle PodcastsYouTube, or wherever you find podcasts.

Today’s guest is Spencer Honeyman, an executive coach, group facilitator, and consultant, as well as your host, Ryan Honeyman’s brother. Spencer is a Certified Integral Facilitator and a graduate of Pomona College’s interdisciplinary Environmental Analysis program, and he has taught workshops on communication and group dynamics from MIT to Marrakesh.

He trained with master facilitators, Thomas Hübl and Diane Musho Hamilton, in the subjects of human development, group dynamics, and improvisation before launching Enliven, which offers cutting-edge leadership training and development services for organizations and executives seeking to navigate complexity, improve performance, and facilitate connection. Spencer also has over a decade of practice in shadow yoga and Tibetan meditation practices and is trained in the Art of Circlesinging in the lineage of Bobby McFerrin through Dave Worm. He blends his diverse training in somatics, subtle energetics, and the development of the higher levels of the mind with grounded, project-based leadership skills to address collective trauma and facilitate healing.

In this episode, we discuss the collective healing journey and Spencer’s role as a facilitator at an organizational or executive level. Spencer brings to our attention the subtle, somatic ways in which we interact with each other and our environment and highlights the importance of slowing down and finding ways to connect with those around you. He also shares some techniques for transforming conflict with creativity and compassion and communicating despite strong emotions, which he believes is necessary in order to tackle serious issues like climate change and political polarization. Tune in today to learn more!

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Key Points From This Episode:

  • How his fascination with human collaboration led Spencer to the work he does today.

  • The subtle, somatic ways that we are attuned to plants, animals, and one another.

  • Symptoms and effects of collective trauma and methods for healing and integration.

  • Find out how the Enliven Academy provides collective education for purpose-driven entrepreneurs and change-makers.

  • Music integration and how Spencer incorporates Circlesinging as a leadership tool.

  • What Diane Musho Hamilton taught Spencer about skillful communication and mediation.

  • How to transform conflict with creativity and compassion by drawing attention to its polarity.

  • The containers and skills necessary for communicating through strong emotions to address issues like climate change.

  • The importance of finding moments to slow down and connect with those around you.

---

Tweetables:

“We have this deep, hardwired system that we’re operating on, of being attuned to the lifeworld of plants and animals and each other in a subtle, somatic way. We often write that information off.” — @s_honeyman

“[Collective healing] requires a level of willingness to enter into some of the ways that we feel disconnected from one another, and those can have historical roots.” — @s_honeyman

“You can do mediation from a neutral, third-party perspective, or you can hold mediation from a place of emptiness of self, such that you can be a part of that mediation without so much attachment.” — @s_honeyman

“[We] need to be able to handle our own emotions when they rise up, [to] communicate even in strong emotions without rupturing or throwing relationships out the window. How can we love each other and still be strong? What are the containers and skills for doing that?” — @s_honeyman

“Find moments where you can slow down, put your phone down, put the marketing plan down, put the laptop down, and just connect with the people around you.” — @s_honeyman

---

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

---

Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts by visiting: https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

Lyla June: Indigenous Europe and the Value of Knowing Your Ancestors (Rebroadcast)

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 to Next Economy Now on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandoraGoogle PodcastsYouTube, or wherever you find podcasts.

This is a rebroadcast of our June 2020 interview with Lyla June, an Indigenous environmental scientist, doctoral student, educator, community organizer and musician of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages from Taos, NM.

Her dynamic, multi-genre performance and speech style has invigorated and inspired audiences across the globe towards personal, collective and ecological healing. Her messages focus on the climate crisis, Indigenous rights, supporting youth, inter-cultural healing, historical trauma and traditional land stewardship practices.

She blends her undergraduate studies in human ecology at Stanford University, her graduate work in Native American Pedagogy at the University of New Mexico, and the indigenous worldview she grew up with to inform her perspectives and solutions. Her internationally acclaimed performances and speeches are conveyed through the medium of prayer, hip-hop, poetry, acoustic music and speech. Her personal goal is to grow closer to Creator by learning how to love deeper.

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Interview Highlights:

  • Lyla’s background and upbringing

  • How she first got into the work she is doing today

  • How being a person of intersecting racial and cultural identities has shaped her worldview

  • Why it is important for white folks to understand they have roots deeper than whiteness

  • Why she ran for office in New Mexico and the result of her seven day fast on the steps of the state capitol

  • Lyla’s recommendations on resources 

  • How folks can better support her work

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

---

Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? Visit:  https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

David Jaber: Climate Positive Business

Subscribe to Next Economy Now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Google Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you find podcasts.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions isn’t easy, but with 70 more ppm of these gases in the atmosphere than there should be, we are well past the point where we have a choice around whether we are going to do it or not. In order to achieve the Paris Agreement target of a 50% reduction in greenhouse gases over the next 12 years, a collaborative, holistic approach is essential.

By now, everyone has heard of the terms net-zero and carbon-neutral, but today’s guest takes this concept one step further by advocating for climate positivity. David Jaber is the founder of Climate Positive Consulting, a company that helps other companies advance their climate strategy, undertake carbon footprint analyses, and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. He is also involved with a number of other organizations working towards social and environmental justice, and he is the author of the recently released book, Climate Positive Business. 

In today’s episode, we discuss David’s lifelong interest in sustainability, what carbon offsetting is and the problems with this model, and what companies should be doing instead, so as not to inflict damage on the environment. David has been working in the climate realm for many years, and the explosion of interest that he has seen take place in this space relatively recently gives us all hope for the future. 

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Key Points From This Episode:

  • Where David’s interest in environmental issues originated, and how it developed over time.

  • The main aims of David’s company, Climate Positive Consulting. 

  • David explains the difference between carbon neutral and climate positive goals. 

  • How greenhouse gas analytics work in terms of scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. 

  • The Paris Agreement target: a 50% reduction of greenhouse gases in the next 12 years. 

  • David shares his thoughts on problems with the offsetting strategy.

  • Political battles which prevent real, significant change from taking place in the climate realm.

  • Tradeoffs that need to be considered before a sustainability-focused project is undertaken.

  • Embodied (“zombie”) carbon; what it is and how companies can address it.

  • Steps for companies to follow to reduce their emissions. 

  • The explosion of interest in tackling greenhouse gas footprints, and what David thinks is responsible for this. 

---

Tweetables:

“I would define a climate positive business as one that has a net zero goal, coupled with a science-based target. It goes beyond net zero by seeking to have some sort of positive benefits through its efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses.” — @djaberclimate

“Setting a science-based target will result in a 50% reduction in greenhouse gases in 12 years.” — @djaberclimate

“We’re well past the time where any of these inherently bipartisan issues can be partisan.” — @djaberclimate

“Substitution can only get you so far. For real success on climate, companies are going beyond their own boundaries and doing a lot of value chain collaboration.” — @djaberclimate

---

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

---

Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? Visit: https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

Dom Hosack and Blain Snipstal: Earth-Bound Builders

Subscribe to Next Economy Now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Google Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you find podcasts.

How do we fundamentally transform the relations of power, production, and consumption in the construction industry? Today we speak to Dom Hosack and Blain Snipstal from Earth-Bound Building about how they are attempting to do this by reimagining new possibilities for provisioning human shelter and farm infrastructure through natural building practices. In this episode, we hear how Blaine and Dom got involved in urban farming, agroecology, and natural building, and the ideas of collectivity that go hand-in-hand with these practices. 

Our guests speak about how this work developed into the formation of their cooperative, the types of projects they took on, and how their work has evolved over the years. Blain and Dom unpack their central value of working toward a just transition by putting dignity at the center of the relations of production they enter into. By joining this conversation, listeners will hear us address the rapid deterioration of our environment and the role of conventional construction and farming practices in this problem. 

We tackle the idea that society as a whole does not seem to care that our world is falling apart and how our guests are forming a counterpoint to this apathy through the work they do. Blaine and Dom also highlight some of the contradictions at the center of sustainable building and the place of smaller coops such as their own in cracking the code on affordable, natural, rural housing in an urban center.

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Key Points From This Episode:

  • An introduction into Earth-Bound Building and the sustainable construction work they do.

  • How Dom and Blain got into the work they do, met each other, and started Earth-Bound.

  • Different low-impact building projects Earth-Bound worked on and how they evolved.

  • The connection between sustainable agriculture, natural building, and collectivity.

  • Three categories of natural building: building systems, enclosures and finishes, and closed-loop systems.

  • The clients Earth-Bound works with and how this fits in with their mission.

  • A spirit of collectivity at Earth-Bound and how this ties in with the idea of just transition.

  • How damaging conventional farming and construction are and the need for the revitalization of traditional methods.

  • The contradiction around affordability at the center of natural building that limits its expansion.

  • Different natural building methods and the hunt Earth-Bound is on to find the most affordable one.

  • What it will take to crack the code on affordable, natural, rural housing in an urban center.

  • The limits of the passive house movement and the need for smaller-scale movements like Earth-Bound.

  • The need for natural building to mirror the shifts in cultural and ethnic demographics.

  • An example of what is possible through collaborative work in the form of a land base Earth-Bound has access to.

  • The true purpose behind Earth-Bound and a request for listeners to join the movement.

---

Tweetables:

“There’s a whole new way of thinking around constructing the buildings that we live in and the places that we stay that involves a lot more sustainable practices.” — Dom Hosack

“Sustainable agriculture or agroecology and natural building come from the same root. They are intimately tied together. To have a sustainable agricultural system, the infrastructure has to reflect the values of that said sustainable system, and that lends itself to natural building or low impact construction methodologies.” — Blain Snipstal

“We are firmly rooted in supporting small-scale agriculture, rural landowners, and community projects because we want to be a part of the just transition to a better society.” — Blain Snipstal

“The opportunity is much higher for groups like ourselves to not just only produce real-world experiences and examples of proof of concepts, but to build the social capital necessary to take it to scale in the local economy.” — Blain Snipstal

---

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

---

Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? Visit: https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

adrienne maree brown: Grief, Future Visioning, and Why People Doing Movement Work Should Write More Fiction

A closeup photo of adrienne maree brown against the sky.

adrienne maree brown. Photos: Anjali Pinto

Subscribe to Next Economy Now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Google Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you find podcasts.

Future vision can be a powerful force for action when it is clearly conveyed and there is a genuine desire to bring it into reality. Today, Ryan Honeyman speaks with writer adrienne maree brown about the compelling and highly-detailed future visions that exist in works of science fiction, speculative fiction, and visionary fiction and how organizations can help articulate those visions into practical frameworks.

adrienne is the writer-in-residence at the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute and the author of Grievers, the first novella in a trilogy on the Black Dawn imprint, as well as Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy, Facilitation, and Mediation; We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice; Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good; and Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds. She is also the co-editor of Octavias Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements and How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office, and the cohost of the How to Survive the End of the World, Octavia’s Parables, and Emergent Strategy podcasts.

In this episode, adrienne and Ryan also touch on how grieving will allow us to relinquish the systems that harm us, the role that lineages of inspiration play in helping us envision a future free from the constructs that we currently take for granted as our identities, and why adrienne believes that those doing social justice work should write more fiction. Tune in today for all this and more!

---

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Learn how adrienne found writing as a tool for social change early on in her life.

  • Why she believes that our evolution as a species is related to our ability to grieve.

  • How to connect with your lineage and view displacement as part of indigenous stories. 

  • Using what adrienne calls anti-capitalist time travel to identify lineages of inspiration.

  • The profound recognition that to be free from a physical body is to be free from pain.

  • Opportunities for clear, compelling, and detailed future visions that exist in works of science fiction and speculative fiction.

  • The moment when vision becomes framework and how organizations can articulate that.

  • Why adrienne encourages those who do movement and activism work to write fiction.

  • Storytelling as a core technology of how humanity functions.

  • How listeners can help adrienne build the next economy: make mistakes.

---

Tweetables:

  • “The better we get at grieving, the more possible it becomes that we can relinquish these systems that are killing us.” — @adriennemaree

  • “[Capitalism] makes you forget where you come from and where you’re going. Everything is about the immediacy and what [you can] accumulate in the immediate moment.” — @adriennemaree

  • “When I imagine [the future], I think we will have abolished a lot of the constructs that we currently take for granted as our identities in those future visions and that will be a component of why we’re able to experience the abundance that I think is coming to us.” — @adriennemaree

  • “I want a lot of people who do movement work to be writing more fiction.” — @adriennemaree

  • “The next economy is one that will come from our ability to be in experiments where we make mistakes. Currently, the landscape for making mistakes feels like a minefield.” — @adriennemaree

---

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

---

Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? Visit:  https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

Heather Fleming: Using Human-Centered Design to Serve Native Communities

Photo credit: Raymond Chee

At LIFT Economy, we come across many people who are passionate about the potential for technology and human-centered design but, oftentimes, they leverage their passion and knowledge to create goods and services that meet aspirations for convenience and serve the mandates of exploitation capital while inadvertently perpetuating the injustices of our world. Today’s guest offers a refreshing departure from this narrative, channeling her gifts for design and innovation to meet the real human needs of those who have been excluded from the business-as-usual economy.

 In this episode, Kevin Bayuk speaks with Heather Fleming, Co-founder and Executive Director of Change Labs, an organization supporting entrepreneurship and innovation in the Navajo Nation. Heather’s career in design and innovation began in Silicon Valley in transition from public sector innovation with Catapult Design, a product and service design firm with expertise in human-centered design for marginalized communities, which she founded in 2008 and led for a decade.

 She remains Principle at Catapult, partnering with organizations and social entrepreneurs to develop sustainable solutions that address technology and social issues from water purification  and rural electrification to transport, food security, and improved health. Tuning in, you’ll learn about the depth of the challenges that Native communities face when it comes to small business enterprise and true economic development and how Change Labs seeks to address those challenges through their comprehensive programming. Join us today!

---

Key Points From This Episode:

  • More on the path that led Heather to the human-centered design work she does today.

  • The challenges of true economic development for small business enterprises in Native lands.

  • The deep negativity and mistrust stemming from colonialism that impacts the business lexicon in Indigenous communities.

  • What gives Heather hope, including collaborative efforts between Native entrepreneurs.

  • What an economy that works for all looks like; character-based, community micro-lending.

  • Some of the programs Change Labs offers, from business incubation to coworking space.

  • The importance of acknowledging activity in the “informal economy” and the role it plays.

  • Heather on the operational DNA of Change Labs and how they leverage human-centered design to serve marginalized communities.

  • Emerging projects and ecosystems to watch and how listeners can support them.

---

Tweetables:

“To really address the problems with the way economies are structured in Native lands requires a dedicated institution, a resource. Shockingly, [we] don’t have those resources and institutions for Native communities. To my knowledge, Change Labs is one of the first.” — @heatherfleming

“We’re still at the very beginning of understanding: what does the Native economy look like? What does success look like for Native communities? How do Native entrepreneurs define wealth?” — @heatherfleming

“The most important role that the [Change Labs] coworking space plays is purely in its ability to facilitate peer networking.” — @heatherfleming

“The Navajo Nation has been allocated $2 billion in ARPA funds. We would like to see a chunk of that money go towards not just economic development in terms of money going to tribal enterprises and casinos but [also to] the small business community.” — @heatherfleming

“The ultimate goal of a lot of this [work] is self-reliance and self-sustainability. The whole point is to decrease our reliance on outside actors and outside players. If you see an organization and you’re not quite sure, check who’s running it. Check who the board members are.” — @heatherfleming

---

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

 Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

 ---

 Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It really helps expose these ideas to new listeners: https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Edgar Villanueva: Healing Our Collective Trauma Around Money

Return guest, Edgar Villanueva is a globally-recognized activist, award-winning author, and an expert on issues of race and philanthropy, as well as the Principle and Founder of the Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP) and Liberated Capital. His bestselling book, Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance, which was first published in 2018 and had its second edition published in 2021, has been called “a wake-up call to philanthropy.”

Edgar advises a range of organizations, including national and global philanthropies, Fortune 500 companies, and entertainment on social impact strategies to advance racial equity, both within and through investment strategies. He sits on the boards of Mother Jones, NDN Collective, and Andrus Family Fund, and also is the board chair of Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP). 

He has appeared on the show twice before, and we invited him back to discuss the recent release of the second edition of his book, what he is most excited about now, and some of the emerging opportunities he is exploring in 2021 and looking ahead to 2022, as well as what progress he believes has has been made on the movement to decolonize wealth. We also touch on donor fragility, the ‘whitelash’ against BIPOC nonprofits, and the spiritual component to the work of shifting behavior, attitudes, and practices around equity. Tune in today!

---

Key Points From This Episode:

  • The second edition of Decolonizing Wealth and how it offers further opportunities for healing.

  • White fragility, donor fragility, and the value of taking an Indigenous world view approach.

  • What has changed since the first edition in 2018, from power dynamics to endowment funds.

  • The tension between centering philanthropists and what should be common practice.

  • What Edgar calls the ‘whitelash’ against BIPOC organizations finally receiving resources.

  • More on the Decolonizing Wealth Project and Liberated Capital Fund and their focus on reparations, reconciliation, and narrative change.

  • Addressing the trauma of wealth and poverty and the healing that DWP facilitates.

  • How Edgar has come to accept and embrace his identity as a healer.

  • Resources offered by DWP and how you can contribute to the decolonize wealth movement.  

  • The roles that reciprocity, relationship-building, and liberation play in philanthropy.

---

Tweetables:

“There’s a system at play that is rigged to provide accumulated advantages for white folks, especially white folks with wealth, and there’s a system that has provided accumulated disadvantages for others.” — @VillanuevaEdgar

“There is what I call a ‘whitelash’, an undercurrent that’s happening right now where – because people of color are finally beginning to get some resources – the industry is trying to hold us to a different standard and wants to police us around that.” — @VillanuevaEdgar

“To really shift our behavior, and attitudes, and practices around equity, there is a spiritual component to that work. Part of [what] gets in the way is that we haven’t done our own healing.” — @VillanuevaEdgar

“The trauma that poverty imposes on communities and the trauma we have about money has to be healed. We have to be ready to receive the abundance.” — @VillanuevaEdgar

“We’re liberating the money, we’re liberating you, we’re liberating the community [from having] to answer to anyone.” — @VillanuevaEdgar

---

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

 Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

 ---

 Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It really helps expose these ideas to new listeners:

https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

Ben Cohen: Co-Founder of Ben & Jerry’s on Business Done Differently

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Ben Cohen, as the co-founder of one of the country’s most beloved brands, is far from what you might expect. His company, Ben & Jerry’s, is a household name, yet they have managed to maintain a connection to the community and a deep ethos of care. Ben is an activist and has been involved in issues related to ending qualified immunity, getting money out of politics, taxing billionaires, dismantling white supremacy, and tackling climate change.

Since being started by two friends, Ben and Jerry’s has never strayed far from its mission of wanting to do business differently. While this may have cost them some opportunities, those were never the ones they wanted anyway. Through sticking to their beliefs, they have found true partners on their journey.

In today’s episode, Ben shares some of the company’s origin story, including the innovative way they initially raised money. We talk about how they have built the spirit of giving back into the work they do, and Ben offers insights into what the reception to this has been like. Our conversation also touches on the decision to not sell the products in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the importance of tackling inequity in the present moment, and why we need to end qualified immunity. Tune in to hear it all!

---

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

---

Key Points From This Episode:

  • How Ben came to be interested in the work he is doing today and details on his colorful career.

  • The founding mission of Ben & Jerry’s and how they have maintained their connection to the community.

  • How Ben & Jerry’s raised funds initially without using venture capital and how they went public.

  • Ben & Jerry’s decision to not sell their products in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

  • Overcoming the inequities of the past has to happen in the present moment. 

  • Ben’s take on how change happens; a grassroots approach is needed.

  • What qualified immunity is and why Ben is so passionate about ending it. 

---

Tweetables:

“We opened up this ice cream shop; our idea was that we wanted to be community based, although we didn’t know what that meant. And we wanted to run a business in a way that regular, everyday people on the street would like to see businesses run.” — @YoBenCohen 

“We believe, I don’t think there’s much question, that the basic problem in terms of the inequity and injustice in the world is the increasing concentration of wealth into fewer and fewer people and entities.” — @YoBenCohen

“We’re living today where a big chunk of our society was denied opportunities, and so, I feel like today, we have to work to provide those opportunities .” — @YoBenCohen

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

 Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

 ---

 Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It really helps expose these ideas to new listeners:

https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

Garrett Bucks: The Power of Working Within Your Community

Screen Shot 2021-10-04 at 10.00.28 PM.png

For Garrett Bucks, wanting to help marginalized communities was a no-brainer. He felt as though he needed to make the world around him better. What he, much like other people, failed to realize that these communities are well-organized with established networks. After being told this, Garrett understood that the work he needed to do was with other white people. 

Garrett is the Founder of the Barnraisers Project, which trains white people who don't think of themselves as activists on how to welcome their communities and networks into the world of justice and liberation. Additionally, Garrett also authors the White Pages newsletter, which reflects on white people’s relationship with racism and each other. 

In this illuminating, vulnerable conversation, Garrett talks about his typical white man journey and how this led him to where he is today. We talk about the value of reaching out to those within your community and the impact that this has when people dedicate themselves to this cause. We also touch on the power of true organizing, the role that white people should occupy, and rounding off, Garrett shares ways we can offer support. Tune in to hear it all!

---

Key Points From This Episode:

  • The story of how Garrett came to do the work that he is doing.

  • Two biases that white people have to move past to understand which communities need them.

  • What the Barnraisers Project's mission is, who they work with, and the type of work they do.

  • Some success stories from the Barnraisers Project.

  • Why organizing is so important to ensure truly just communities.

  • How white people can hold authentic space while still stepping into their power.

  • There have to be models of how to be white without causing harm to people.

  • How Garrett and Barnraisers need support right now.

  • Reflective work white people can start doing now.

---

Tweetables:

“Our [white people's] current relationship with the school system is one of either scarcity, fear, or protection.” — @garrettbucks

“Organizing in any context requires actually being committed to another person and another person's potential enough that you don't just yell at them or don't just tell them what you think, but that you get a sense for their fears, value.” — @garrettbucks

“You’re a human being who also can get to create and have dreams and connect with other people and who’s not good at something but then who’s also good at something we need, so go and do.” — @garrettbucks

“On a practical level, I’m trying to rebuild community.” — @garrettbucks

“I want more communities of white people who care about liberation with each other.” — @garrettbucks

---

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Garrett Bucks on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-bucks-9283832/

Garrett Bucks on Twitter — https://twitter.com/garrettbucks

The Barnraisers Project — https://barnraisersproject.org/

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

 Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

 ---

 Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It really helps expose these ideas to new listeners:

https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

Register for the Manifest Equity Conference with Top Inclusion Thought Leaders

Ryan Honeyman Facebook.png

LIFT Partner Ryan Honeyman will be speaking at an exciting upcoming event!

Award-winning speaker and author, Dr. Tiffany Jana (they/them), is hosting TMI Consulting, Inc.’s first global diversity conference online. Manifest Equity: The Future of Workplace Inclusion airs on October 13-14 at ManifestEquity.world.

Ryan’s session with Dr. Jana is entitled “Calling In All White Folks.” Other session titles include How to Secure a Seat at the Table; Trauma Informed Leadership; and Corporate Responsibility for Racial Justice.

“The landscape of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) work changed during the pandemic and after the 2020 racial uprisings.” says TMI Consulting, Inc. Founder and CEO Dr. Tiffany Jana. “Companies across the globe are seeking support in addressing the polarizing aftermath. Manifest Equity is about pushing through to the heart of the tough conversations that people tend to avoid.

In addition to Ryan, speakers include best-selling authors Minda Harts, Lily Zheng, and Jenna Arnold. This conference is for people and companies seeking to expand their diversity fluency and effectiveness. “We need inspired solutions and an honest look at the present to build a more equitable future.” adds Dr. Jana.

Sign up today at www.manifestequity.world

—-

TMI Portfolio is a Richmond-based collection of socially responsible and interconnected companies working to advance more culturally inclusive and equitable workforces. TMI Consulting, Inc. helps organizations create diverse, equitable, inclusive, and engaged employee cultures. TMI Consulting, Inc. was the world’s first certified B Corporation in the diversity and inclusion industry. Loom Technologies, Inc. provides technology-based solutions designed to support, improve, and grow socially responsible and inclusive organizations.

Tamira Cousett: Reconnecting with the Wisdom of Our Ancestors

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The connection we have to those who came before us is often overlooked in the contemporary world. Our guest today, Tamira Cousett, has dedicated herself to re-establishing her relationship with her ancestors, as well as helping others to come into communion with their own roots. Tamira is a mother, ancestral medium, ritual facilitator, and student of ancestral and earth-honoring systems.

Her focus is on co-weaving reverence-filled ritual containers and supporting intergenerational ancestral connections across space and time. Tamira speaks about the foundation of Black liberation theologies on which her practices are built, and we get to hear all about how this journey has evolved for her. 

We have a fascinating conversation with Tamira, covering her background, important moments that have directed her path, what being an ancestral medium means to her, and the deeply-rooted family motifs that Tamira is continuing through her practices. So for all this and a whole more illumination from an inspiring and aspiring force in the world, listen in with us.

---

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Tamira's opening welcome of gratitude and love for our conversation! 

  • The background and fascinating journey that Tamira has been on, to her current work.  

  • Reflections on the current moment and the ripeness for increased connection and liberation.  

  • The work of an ancestral medium and how Tamira approaches this important calling. 

  • Tamira's ongoing healing journey and her relationships with her own ancestors. 

  • Information on Tamira's great-great-great grandmother and connecting the dots to her won work.  

  • Embodying practices in every day life and moving beyond appearances. 

  • Tamira's reaction to tumultuousness of the last few years and situating this in larger context. 

  • Escaping the limitations of racial constructs while accepting our roots. 

  • Further resources for learning more about this work and Tamira's services! 

---

Tweetables:

“A medium is a bridge, and the truth is that we are all mediums, we all have that capacity while we are in these bodies to be in connection, communion, and communication with other realms of reality.” — @tamiracousett

“My work is really centered around Black liberation theologies, the work that I am doing is not new.” — @tamiracousett

“My healing journey is ongoing. I will be working on that, probably, the rest of my life.” — @tamiracousett

“We can't swim in the ocean and not get wet.” — @tamiracousett

“When COVID began to unravel, I had a lot of physical and spiritual disorientation, just because of the way the ground was moving under my feet, and then George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.” — @tamiracousett

---

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Tamira Cousett — https://www.tamiracousett.com/

Tamira Cousett on Twitter — https://twitter.com/tamiracousett

My Grandmother's Hands https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781942094470

Deep Liberation https://www.powells.com/book/deep-liberation-shamanic-tools-for-reclaiming-wholeness-in-a-culture-of-trauma-9781623174927

Finding Refuge https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781611809367

Sisters and of Yam https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781138821682

Love & Rage https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781623174095

Afro-minimalist Guide to Living with Less https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Afrominimalists-Guide-to-Living-with-Less/Christine-Platt/9781982168049

Death Faire — https://abundancenc.org/death-faire/

Saltwater & Honey: A Prayer Ritual to Spirit https://sacredgrief.com/p/saltwater-and-honey

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

 Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

 ---

 Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It really helps expose these ideas to new listeners:

https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

Tao Orion: A Vision for Redesigning Our Engagement with the World

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Since the industrial revolution, and throughout the modern era, our connection to the ecosystems in which we live has dwindled, resulting in a lack of awareness and understanding about the relationships that determine our health and future. Tao Orion, author, and holistic ecologist has dedicated her time and energy to bringing this back to the forefront, and today on the podcast we have an amazing conversation with her about farming, forestation, and restoration.

Tao holds a degree in Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture from University of California Santa Cruz, as well as a degree in Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security, from the National University of Ireland. We are lucky enough to share in some of Tao's wisdom and learnings in this illuminating chat, covering her personal background, important experiences, and the specific approach that she has adopted to help shift the conversation towards a more regenerative and holistic space. 

We talk about stewardship, care, and the power of older, indigenous knowledge, with Tao clarifying the roots of some commonly-held ideas and their colonial origins. She talks about concepts of purity and pristine nature, and what history actually teaches us about the so-called invasive species, exchange and travel, and how we can shift the way we look at land and life.

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Key Points From This Episode:

  • Tao's vision for a world where all human needs are met through a better relationship with our ecosystems.

  • Looking at Tao's background and the foundations of her desire to write Beyond the War on Invasive Species. 

  • The roots of the war on invasive species, and tracing the introduction of herbicides. 

  • How the war on invasive species has impacted and disenfranchised different communities. 

  • Understanding the realities of cultivation and better stewardship of plants species. 

  • Tao's experiences of reducing usage of herbicides in different projects. 

  • Redirecting eradication processes; Tao's thoughts on the timber industry and beyond. 

  • Tracing the history of our ecosystems and pre-colonial human exchange of plants and animal. 

  • The dialogue around native ecosystems, repopulation, and the examination of food production. 

  • A little bit about Restorative Design, its initiatives, and how Tao approaches her work with clients. 

---

Tweetables:

“We are ecological actors, and the modern, conventional worldview or paradigm can make it seem like we are somewhat disconnected but I think more and more, it is becoming evident that that has never been the case.” — @Tao_Orion

“I think it's important to understand that there are potentially other ways to address some of the concerns that are going with some of these concerns with plants and animals.” — @Tao_Orion

“Bringing indigenous knowledge and practice back to the forefront of ecological engagement is critical to this work.” — @Tao_Orion

“When you look a little bit deeper at that narrative, it becomes clear that people were engaging in long-distance exchanges of plants and animals long before Columbus came from Spain and arrived in Cuba.” — @Tao_Orion

“It is not all about us, these design systems are not just human-based, we should really be thinking about how we are providing for all of the other species that inhabit this place.” — @Tao_Orion

---

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

 Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

 ---

 Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It really helps expose these ideas to new listeners:

https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

Courtney Martin: Learning in Public

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Despite progressive policies around public school integration, culture has not caught up, and reality does not reflect what institutions have mandated. In her latest book, Learning in Public, passionate storyteller, writer, and journalist, Courtney Martin, shares how her sending her daughter to Emerson Elementary, a poorly-rated public school down the road from her home offered her a powerful place to dig deeper about the pervasive racial injustice in America.

Courtney has also authored three other books, and is the Co-Founder of the Solutions Journalism Network FRESH Speakers, and the Bay Area chapter of Integrated Schools, as well as the Storyteller-in-Residence at The Holding Co. 

In this episode, Courtney talks about how she came to do the work she does and offers a look at what sparked her latest efforts. We dive into the public school landscape, some of the reasons the system is not as integrated as we think, and what can be done to turn it around. Courtney firmly believes that integrated public schools are a tenet of a meaningful democracy because they offer spaces for collective questioning of narratives we have been told are true. We also touch on some of the common resistance to public schools, what white parents can do if they are curious about integrated schools, and what you can do to join the movement. Tune in today to hear it all!

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Key Points From This Episode:

  • The narrative Courtney speaks about in her book, Learning in Public. 

  • Unpacking the reality of integrated schools on the ground. 

  • Some of the benefits of integrated schools when Black and brown children are centered. 

  • There are spiritual and emotional considerations that come with integrated schools. 

  • Courtney's experience of how her daughter's school mobilized during the pandemic. 

  • Why Courtney believes that multiracial democracy is dependent on public schools. 

  • Some of the resistance that white parents have to integrated schools. 

  • The role that Courtney sees all or majority-white public schools playing in the school system. 

  • When you send your children to private schools, you are actively disinvesting in the public system. 

  • Why being part of an integrated public school has been so edifying for Courtney. 

  • A look at a story Courtney shares in the book about a merger between two schools with different resource and privilege levels. 

  • Resources to use if you are thinking about sending your children to integrated schools. 

  • What you can do to contribute to the movement that Courtney and others are part of.

---

Tweetables:

“I have this deep conviction that schools are the best public institution we have for strengthening democracy.” — @courtwrites

“Especially in these last couple of years, I've never been so sober about how fragile democracy is, and how much we need shared institutions to help us have shared ideas about truth and science and history.” — @courtwrites

“I have found that being part of the multi-racial, multi-class public school feels very edifying. It's not all my work racially that I need to do, but it's a way to be in real solidarity, in real community and to be living the questions instead of staying in my little bubble of angst and sadness about the state of our country.” — @courtwrites

---

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

  • Courtney E. Martin: https://www.courtneyemartin.com/

  • Courtney Martin on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/courtwrites/?hl=en

  • the examined family: https://courtney.substack.com/

  • Solutions Journalism Network: https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/

  • FRESH Speakers: https://www.freshspeakers.com/

  • Learning in Public: https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/courtney-e-martin/learning-in-public/9780316428262/

  • Integrated Schools: https://integratedschools.org/

---


LIFT Economy Newsletter

Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

---

Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It really helps expose these ideas to new listeners: https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

Mark Watson: Investment and Social Responsibility

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Mark Watson, Founder of Keel Asset Management, is on the show today to talk about raising reparative capital, and the work he is doing on the vanguard of socially responsible investment. Mark has 30 years of experience in the financial sector, starting in banking before progressing into work with a deeper focus on combining social impact with financial rigor. The interconnected nature of the issues facing the contemporary world requires a holistic approach that takes into account finances, sustainability, politics, history, the environment, and more.

Mark describes his philosophy as the rebirth of old ideas around community, support, and sustainability, and we get into some great specifics with him about the changes that need to be made to the dominant economic model. Mark retains a strong priority on supporting entrepreneurs of color and has become increasingly involved in regenerative farming and the funding of socially responsible agriculture.

His two latest ventures are Jubilee Justice and the soon-to-be launched Potlicker Capital, and Mark gives us the rundown of the work that is done through these two organizations, sharing his wide knowledge on creating systemic change. We also get to hear about the winding road of Mark's career, the important stops along the way, and where he envisions the world going if we can put our efforts into the right spaces. For all this and more from an inspiring leader, be sure to listen in with us today.

---

Key Points From This Episode:

  • A quick look at Mark's professional background and path to current positions.

  • The big decision that Mark made to dedicate his life to creating more access for marginalized sectors of society.

  • How Mark became involved in food sustainability and regenerative farming.

  • The roots of Potlicker Capital and the inspiration behind the formation of the firm.

  • The timeline for Potlicker going public; the next few months and the expected rollout.

  • Bringing the focus back to feeding and supporting communities in a modern context.

  • Mark's thoughts on the future of capital as we know it, and a possible recalibration.

  • The unique moment in which we find ourselves, and the need for better global cohesion.

---

Tweetables:

“I like to think of my career as a journey that many of us are actually on, and that journey is the evolution of understanding the interconnectivity of money, power, knowledge, and politics.” — Mark Watson

“I am from a middle-class background but had never really experienced a world where people were buying $8,000 bottles of wine, lunches at The Pool Room, and private planes.” — Mark Watson

“I made a decision in my late thirties, to spend the rest of my life to redirect resources to those parts of the world and my own community, that did not have access.” — Mark Watson

“What we are all doing is is just reconstructing what our forefathers did in the beginning, before we had huge industrialized complexes, where we had this reductionist thinking.” — Mark Watson

“Clearly, using what we all have been taught as a well-defined way to measure risk, was missing a lot of the pieces.” — Mark Watson

---

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Mark Watson on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-watson-2a961932

Keel Asset Management — http://www.keelasset.com/

Michigan Good Food Fund — https://migoodfoodfund.org/

Jubilee Justice — https://www.jubileejustice.org/

---


LIFT Economy Newsletter

Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

---

Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It really helps expose these ideas to new listeners: https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/

Tom Chi: Making Humanity a "Net Positive" To Nature

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There is nothing about our economy that necessitates that we have to harm nature in the process of getting what we need. This is an observation made by our guest for today, Tom Chi, and he joins us to unpack this idea and point out a way toward a future where humankind does not destroy the planet. Tom has an impressive background that spans physics, technology, and business, having created and scaled multiple projects with global reach. His current occupation is as the Manager and Founding Partner of At One Ventures, a company that finds, funds, and grows teams to catalyze a world where humanity is a net positive to nature. 

In this conversation, Tom shares a wide range of concepts about humanity, the economy, the environment, and the future which span from mind-blowing to heartwarming to terrifying. He makes the argument that the planet is more than capable of sustaining humanity because other species with more biomass who consume more live in ways that service rather than destroy the ecosystem. He talks about the main industries that cause emissions and how we might restructure them and shares ideas around how we can help save the planet by simply supporting other keystone species. 

We also hear disturbing facts about climate change from Tom such as how many disasters loom in our future even if we can stop global temperatures from rising, let alone reverse them. Tom is a rare class of person with a fluency with technology grounded in a vision of a world where all human needs are met in ways that don’t detract from the environment, so this episode is a must-listen for anybody

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Key Points From This Episode:

  • Introducing Tom and his experience in astrophysics, tech, and sustainability.

  • The reef bleaching incident that encouraged Tom to found At One Ventures.

  • What Tom means when he says human beings can be net positive to nature.

  • How much environmental destruction is imminent even if we exacerbate global warming no further.

  • We already possess the methods to sustain ourselves in ways that don’t harm nature.

  • The implications of the reality that the economy is a subset of nature.

  • How our economy is supported by growing and mining and how to do those things in less damaging ways.

  • What our similarities to ants can tell us about whether the planet can sustain us.

  • How species with more biomass than us live in ways that serve the ecosystem.

  • Big trends that signify our move toward the return to net positive to nature.

  • A strategy in the form of humans making it their goal to support keystone species.

  • The main industries that cause emissions and ideas about how to change them.

  • Industries such as agriculture and air-conditioning that are causing major emissions.

  • The companies At One invests in and the economic and environmental value proposition of their products.

  • How to build resilience and take action by using grief as a portal to find meaning.

  • The things that bring Tom inspiration and keep him motivated.

---

Tweetables:

“I didn’t see anything about our economy that would necessitate that we have to harm nature in the process of doing what we need.” — Tom Chi

“Every product or service you have ever experienced was mined or grown, immediately from nature. That means everything in the economy is a subset of things that we directly took from nature.” — Tom Chi

“Whether one day we are 20B or even 5B, we already have many examples of organisms on this planet that significantly more biomass than us, significantly more ecosystem take, that have found a way to coexist and make nature healthier because they exist.” — Tom Chi

“We are certainly smart enough to recognize what the keystone species are and we can choose to be the keystone species whose goal is to support the keystone species.” — Tom Chi

“There are four industries that represent 90% of industrial emissions. Steel, aluminum, chemical separations, and cement.” — Tom Chi

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Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Tom Chi — https://www.tomchi.com/

Tom Chi on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/thegoodtomchi

At One Ventures — https://www.atoneventures.com/team

Buckminster Fuller Institute — https://www.bfi.org/

Google X — https://x.company/

For The Wild Podcast — https://forthewild.world/

---

LIFT Economy Newsletter

Join 7000+ subscribers and get our free 60 point business design checklist—plus monthly tips, advice, and resources to help you build the Next Economy: https://lifteconomy.com/newsletter

---

Next Economy MBA

This episode is brought to you by the Next Economy MBA.

What would a business education look like if it was completely redesigned for the benefit of all life? This is why the team at LIFT Economy created the Next Economy MBA (https://lifteconomy.com/mba).

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 network of 250+ alumni who have been exposed to new solutions, learned essential business skills, and joined a lifelong peer group that is catalyzing a global shift towards an economy that works for all life.

Learn more at https://lifteconomy.com/mba.

---

Show Notes + Other Links

For detailed show notes and interviews with past guests, please visit https://lifteconomy.com/podcast

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It really helps expose these ideas to new listeners: https://bit.ly/nexteconomynow

Twitter: 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/