Is a trained architect who spent the last 10 years working in Asia. She recently moved back to her hometown of Seattle, WA with her husband and four young children. Her vision is to connect the opposing worlds of marketing and retail in the Western world with the supply chains and manufacturing process behind our fashion goods in Asia in order to improve support and respect for the manufacturing process.
Mike Strode
Mike Strode is a writer, cyclist, IT consultant, and collaborative social economist residing in southeast Chicago whose community engagement work has included ride leadership with the Chicago chapter of Red, Bike & Green; editorial and archival oversight for Fultonia; and co-facilitation of Art Is Bonfire. His current practice draws on all of these experiences to interrogate the intersection of timebanking, social economy and community resiliency. His grounding philosophy is mycelium, collaborative agility, empathic individualization, and all things human glue. He is founder and Exchange Coordinator of the Kola Nut Collaborative, a time-based skills and service trading platform which seeks to advance conversation on timebanking, community currency design, and social economy in Chicago. The Kola Nut Collaborative maintains a robust web presence with articles, programming, and research on myriad aspects of social economy at www.kolanutcollab.org.
Jamese Kwele
Jamese is the first Director of Food Equity at Ecotrust. In this capacity, she oversees the organization's farm to institution initiatives while guiding the development of partnerships and new bodies of work at the intersections of food & land justice, soil regeneration, and climate resilience. She also serves as an Advisory Board member for the National Farm to School Network and on the Board of Directors for the Black Food Sovereingty Coalition. Originally from California, Jamese spent twenty years living and working in the greater Philadelphia area before returning West with her husband and two children in March 2019
Parker Reposa
Parker is an eco-entrepreneur focused on regenerative and socially restorative solutions to the current environmental crisis. Parker studied Regenerative Business and Biomimetic Design at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study in New York City. His studies allowed him to use mission-driven, stakeholder-focused business as a vehicle for positive social and environmental change.
Parker is now the CEO and Founder of Grounded Upcycling, a social venture geared towards recirculating spent organic waste streams through the development of upcycled products and processing methods. Through his work, he aims to reframe society’s “throw away culture” by presenting the business case of circular, close-loop economies and help transition New York City and other cities towards its zero waste goals by 2030. While he wears many hats at Grounded, his main responsibilities include business development, fundraising, and strategy as it pertains to the mission, vision, and culture of the company.
JD Kath
I love collaborating and learning from individuals with very different skill sets and backgrounds. I am always trying to develop a worldview outside my comfort zone to push and examine my own belief systems.
I am trained as a Wealth Advisor and I love to use my background in that field to tackle wealth inequality in the US. My partner and I are social entrepreneurs with a focus on real estate and businesses that are designed to fuel the regenerative economy.
Proud father of 2 with another nugget on the way.
Wendy Blackwell-Moore
Wendy is the founder/owner of Pine Pitch Consulting, a business focused on empowering businesses to act as a force for good in the world. Wendy leverages her 20+ years of business experience to help leaders and businesses approach strategy and execution through a new lens, one that values all stakeholders (employees, customers, communities and the environment) not just shareholders. Wendy focuses on innovative business strategies that lead with integrity, transparency and accountability. Her mantra is “walk the talk” and understands change is linked directly to action. Wendy lives in Portland with her wife Liz and children Cece and Jude.
Dani Preisler
Daniella Preisler, Latina, single mom of an 18-year old amazing girl, brings extensive experience as a cooperative development consultant, coach, trainer, and board member for the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives. She is in the process of launching her second cooperative business, MAPU Cooperative Development Consultants, which provides consulting services to the Latinx community through educational programs and tools for start-up and existing co-ops. In addition, Daniella has served as a consultant for Prospera and the Sustainable Economies Law Center, developing and facilitating various workshops. Daniella augments her co-op experience with 11 years of work as a legal aid and seven years as an office manager in Santiago, Chile.