Thursday, March 27th
Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, the founder of the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance and co-founder of Tree-Range Farms, grew up in Guatemala where chickens thrive in multi-story jungles. In this session, Reginaldo will explain how his regenerative model shows that chickens don’t have to live inhumanely in confinement. At Tree-Range Farms, they are raised in a managed ecosystem of an 8000 fruit and nut tree orchard that mimics their natural environment. Together the nonprofit and for-profit businesses he founded have created an economic “ecosystem” that includes more than 40 farms that are enhancing ecosystems while sequestering substantial amounts of carbon.
March 27th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Golden Bear Room, Hotel Shattuck Plaza
Panelists
Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin
Co-Founder | Tree-Range Farms
Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, co-founder and CEO of Tree-Range® Farms, a pioneer of the “Poultry-Centered Regenerative Agriculture System,” founder of the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance, and owner of Salvatierra Farms LLC, a 63-acre regenerative poultry farm in Northfield, MN, is an award-winning agroecology innovator who began working on economic development in Guatemala in 1988, then moved to the US and founded Peace Coffee, a Minnesota-based fair-trade coffee company, in 1995.
Chocolate is a pleasure, but the cultivation and harvest of the cacao bean is hard, skilled labor, a labor most often undervalued by an international commodity market that rewards middle-men and end producers while exploiting the cacao growers of Africa, South America and the Caribbean. In this session, Gillian Goddard, founder of the Chocolate Rebellion, will describe how she has helped bring economic equity to small growers in Trinidad and Africa by developing a network of value-added chocolate enterprises. She will be joined by Laura Ann Sweitzer, Director of Sustainability and Strategic Sourcing at TCHO, a Berkeley-based, organic, Fair Trade, certified B-corporation that produces a full line of quality chocolates and invests in the communities where cacao is grown by partnering directly with technicians and scientists worldwide and paying premiums to farmers to create better quality cacao. Moderated by Arty Mangan, Director of the Bioneers Restorative Food Systems program.
March 27th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Golden Bear Room, Hotel Shattuck Plaza
Panelists
Laura Ann Sweitzer
Director of Sustainability and Strategic Sourcing | TCHO Chocolate
Laura Ann Sweitzer, who grew up on a farm in the Midwest and is passionate about sustainability, equity, and flavor in food, is Director of Sustainability and Strategic Sourcing at TCHO Chocolate, a Berkeley-headquartered Fair Trade, B Corp certified company, where she manages “TCHO Source,” the firm’s unique program for addressing challenges in the cocoa supply chain, working directly with farmers, cooperatives and scientists in Africa and South America. Prior to joining TCHO in 2014, Sweitzer spent 5 years working on coffee quality improvement projects in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
Gillian Goddard
Founder | The Chocolate Rebellion
Gillian Goddard, a community organizer and chocolate-maker, founded the Alliance of Rural Communities, a non-profit focused on “circular economy” principles, regenerative farming, and sustainable rural livelihood creation, in 2014. In 2021, she founded the Cross Atlantic Chocolate Collective, which unites farming communities from Africa, the Caribbean, North America, the UK and Europe. Goddard’s work seeks not only to enhance the wellbeing of rural populations, but to explore complex issues around power, decolonization and emancipation in grassroots, commercial, and academic spaces.
Arty Mangan
Restorative Food Systems Director | Bioneers
Arty Mangan, Director of the Bioneers Restorative Food Systems program, worked as farm worker and local food entrepreneur. He has also worked with Indigenous farmers growing traditional crops and with Black farmers developing ecological agricultural trainings. His current focus is on the intersection of climate and regenerative agriculture. Mangan is a former board president of the Ecological Farming Association.
This session invites participants to explore the concept of “Cultural Currency,” a framework for exchanging value that centers creativity, care, and collaboration over monetary returns. Through storytelling, group discussion and reflective prompts participants will identify ways their personal and professional practices can contribute to building a culture of reciprocity and shared humanity. Participants will leave with actionable ideas for fostering transformative relationships and projects that honor cultural and artistic sovereignty. Facilitated by Sol Guy, founder of Quiet.
March 27th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Skillful Means Center, Dharma College
Panelists
Sol Guy
Co-Founder | Quiet
Sol Guy, an award-winning producer and director whose career in filmmaking, music, community-building, and support of artists seeks to demonstrate the power of art to heal and to catalyze social change, is the co-founder of Quiet, an artist-led community seeking a new approach to creative practice and support anchored in value alignment, artistic sovereignty, spiritual well-being, and reciprocity. Honored by National Geographic as an “Emerging Explorer,” Sol most recently directed the documentary about his family, The Death of My Two Fathers. He has also co-produced and directed a number of highly acclaimed projects in music, film, and TV, including the Oscar-nominated film Bobi Wine: The People’s President.
Friday, March 28th
3:00 pm: Linking Global and Local: A Just Transitions Roundtable
Co-hosted by the Othering and Belonging Institute (OBI)
In this interactive breakout session, participants will explore the intersection of global and local, national and international Climate Justice movements, focusing on Just Transition principles and strategies demonstrated in Richmond, California and OBI’s African Just Transitions project. This roundtable discussion will draw from OBI’s Climate Justice Principles to foster dialogue on how these distinct efforts on different continents share common goals and challenges. Using a conversational, inclusive format, the session will highlight community-driven solutions, economic transformations, and the importance of accountability to those most impacted by the climate crisis. Hosted by Eli Moore, researcher and facilitator with the Othering and Belonging Institute. With Fadhel Kaboub, associate professor of economics at Denison University and President of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity; Elsadig Elsheikh, Director of the Global Justice Program at the Othering & Belonging Institute; Luna Angulo, a political and environmental justice activist.
March 28th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Goldman Theater, Brower Center
Panelists
Eli Moore
Researcher and Facilitator | Othering and Belonging Institute
Eli Moore is a researcher and facilitator with the Othering and Belonging Institute where he leads transformative research processes with community-based organizations and networks. His recent work has focused on community-driven Just Transition planning, co-governance and community ownership, and a belonging economy as these frameworks apply to housing, local economies, and ecosystems.
Fadhel Kaboub
President | Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity
Fadhel Kaboub, Ph.D., an expert on designing public policies to enhance economic sovereignty, build resilience, and promote equitable and sustainable prosperity in the Global South, is an associate professor of economics at Denison University and President of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity. Dr. Kaboub has held a number of research affiliations with major institutions in Africa and the U.S. and is an active member of several global commissions and initiatives, including the Independent Expert Group on Just Transition and Development, and the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. His most recent co-authored publication is Just Transition: A Climate, Energy, and Development Vision for Africa (May 2023).
Elsadig Elsheikh
Global Justice Program Director | Othering & Belonging Institute
Elsadig Elsheikh, Global Justice Program Director at the Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley, oversees that program’s projects portfolio and conducts research focused on: global North-global South inequity, the socio-political dynamics of climate justice, food systems, Islamophobia, nation-state citizenship issues, the structural mechanisms of othering, and global expressions of belonging.
Luna Angulo
Political and Environmental Justice Activist
Luna Angulo, a political and environmental justice activist who grew up alongside Chevron’s notoriously toxic refinery in her hometown of Richmond, CA, now works to build a future free from fossil fuels by building grassroots political power for communities most harmed by the fossil fuel industry through civic engagement and mass civil disobedience. Luna, former Co-Chair of the Path to Clean Air Community Steering Committee, received the Sierra Club’s Emerging Voices Award in 2022.
4:45 pm: Achieving Digital Inclusion for Social Equity and a Clean, Green Future
Hosted by Women in Cleantech and Sustainability (WCS)
Digital equity is vital to achieving sustainability by ensuring all individuals have access to the digital tools, resources, and skills needed to thrive in a connected world. Bridging the digital divide empowers marginalized communities, enabling participation in education, economic opportunities, and environmental initiatives. Access to technology supports smart solutions such as climate data analysis, sustainable energy systems, and eco-friendly urban planning. Promoting digital inclusion enhances social equity, reduces resource inequality, and accelerates innovation toward sustainable development goals. Digital equity ensures no one is left behind as we advance sustainable solutions for a more resilient, equitable planet. Come hear from leading experts who will share their strategies to make the dream of full digital inclusion a reality. Hosted by: Sara Eve Fuentes, founder/President, SmartWaste, board chair, WCS. With Claudia Garcia, Director of Programs at Tech Exchange; Rhianna C. Rogers, formerly the Biden-Harris Administration’s Counselor to the Assistant Secretary for Management and Chief DEIA Officer at the U.S. Department of the Treasury; Jessica Groopman, founder of The Regenerative Technology Project.
March 28th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Golden Bear Room, Hotel Shattuck Plaza
Panelists
Sara Eve Fuentes
Chairwoman | Women in Cleantech and Sustainability
Sara Eve Fuentes, Chairwoman of Women in Cleantech and Sustainability, is the founder and President of SmartWaste, a minority women-owned and operated start-up with a focus on Waste Technologies, Waste Systems and Vendor Management for Zero Waste programs with core values of “transparency, circularity, and people." With 10 years of experience in the waste and recycling industry, Sara has become a dynamic leader in abating commercial waste as well as a passionate advocate for women.
Claudia Garcia
Director of Programs | Tech Exchange
Claudia Garcia, a dedicated advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in education and workforce development, is the Director of Programs at Tech Exchange, where she leads strategic initiatives to promote digital equity, career readiness, and STEM access for underrepresented communities across California. With over a decade of experience in student advising, program management, and partnership development, Claudia has designed and implemented impactful initiatives that have helped first-generation college students and marginalized communities succeed in higher education and beyond.
Rhianna Rogers
Co-Founder | Sustainable Progress and Equality Collective (SPEC)
Rhianna C. Rogers, Ph.D., is a global leader in digital equity, public policy, and interdisciplinary research with 20+ years’ experience in the federal, academic, and non-profit sectors. Formerly the Biden-Harris Administration's Counselor to the Assistant Secretary for Management and Chief DEIA Officer at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, she led initiatives in diversity, AI policy, and digital equity. Also a co-founder of the Sustainable Progress and Equality Collective (SPEC), former Director of RAND's Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy, and an Ernest Boyer Presidential Fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, she has spearheaded multimillion-dollar research and community-engagement projects on equity in technology, health, infrastructure, and education.
Jessica Groopman
Founder | The Regenerative Technology Project
Jessica Groopman, founder of The Regenerative Technology Project, a platform that seeks to encourage and accelerate the tech industry’s shift towards supporting societal and ecological health, is a technology industry analyst and author who studies the intersection of emerging technologies and regeneration, and advises forward-thinking leaders globally on disruptive innovations. She has published over 50 reports on emerging tech applications and their implications and recently co-authored The Fast Future Blur. Her previous roles include: founding the research firm, Kaleido Insights; Principal Analyst at Tractica, Harbor Research, and Altimeter Group; and Senior Innovation Advisor at Intentional Futures.
When we say “Forever Chemicals,” what do we really mean? Recent EPA findings on the PFAS class of chemicals and the resulting extensive media coverage of their implications has helped shine a light on what has been an egregious decades-long history of disregard for public and environmental safety from industry and regulators. The legacy of toxics in the biosphere, from the micro to the macro, is truly horrifying. A reckoning is coming in terms of public health and financial/legal liability. It’s not all bad news, however. The development of new approaches to materials science, green chemistry and circular economics is pointing towards a possible future where the trimmings of the modern world may be able to exist peacefully with ecological systems. Join Dr. Arlene Blum, a legendary leader in highlighting the extreme risks posed by these substances and a tremendous voice advocating for sane policies in response to their clear dangers and two other leading experts to discuss the current state of toxics and where we are headed from here. Hosted by: Arlene Blum. With: Martin Mulvihill, co-founder, Safer Made.
March 28th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Crystal Ballroom, Hotel Shattuck Plaza
Panelists
Arlene Blum
Executive Director | Green Science Policy Institute
Arlene Blum Ph.D., biophysical chemist, author, and mountaineer is Executive Director of the Green Science Policy Institute and a Research Associate at UC Berkeley. Her science and policy work with government and business has contributed to preventing the use of PFAS, flame retardants and other classes of harmful chemicals in products world-wide. Arlene also led the first American—and all-women’s—ascent of Annapurna I and the first women’s climb of Denali. She is the author of Annapurna: A Woman’s Place and Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life.
Martin Mulvihill
Co-Founder | Safer Made
Marty Mulvihill, Ph.D., a chemist and advisor at the Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry (where he served as the initial Executive Director), has developed technologies and created safer chemicals and materials for the personal care, construction, electronics, and textile industries. He is also co-founder of and a managing partner in Safer Made, a mission-driven venture capital fund investing in companies and technologies that: reduce human exposure to harmful chemicals, bring safer products and technologies to market, tell a unique story, have the potential to change their sectors, and protect human health and the natural world.
Saturday, March 29th
In this session, leaders from three leading-edge philanthropic networks engage in conversation and share their unique niches and approaches, including the ways each is trying in its own way to stretch conventional approaches in order to create wiser and more effective means of supporting movement leaders and change-makers in their work. Hosted by Will Peterffy, of One Small Planet. With: Daniel Lee, Director of Philanthropic Transformation at the Solidaire Network; Leena Barakat, Executive Director of Women Donors Network; and Isabelle Leighton, Executive Director of the Donors of Color Network.
March 29th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Crystal Ballroom, Hotel Shattuck Plaza
Panelists
Will Peterffy
Founder and CEO | One Small Planet
Will Peterffy, the founder and CEO of One Small Planet, has spent his life building a bridge between the natural and financial worlds. His passion for nature and his innate understanding of systems thinking have shaped his vision for the future, and in 2020 he committed his full attention to building One Small Planet, his most comprehensive effort to create an authentically holistic, mission-first organization that works to promote solutions that bring the economy back in service to Life and to the health of our only home, our One Small Planet.
Leena Barakat
President and CEO | Women Donors Network
Leena Barakat, a Los Angeles-based activist, strategist and Palestinian-American leader, is the President & CEO of Women Donors Network and its 501c4 affiliate, WDN Action. She began her career as a grassroots activist and cross-movement organizer and has since spanned the nonprofit, tech, and philanthropic sectors with the goal of creating a more just, joyful, and liberated future for all. Leena also serves on the board of Donors of Color Network.
Daniel Lee
Director of Philanthropic Transformation | Solidaire Network
Daniel Lee, M.Div., is the Director of Philanthropic Transformation at Solidaire, whose mission is to “nurture relationships between social movements and donor members to create regenerative systems rooted in love and justice” and to “transform philanthropic culture and practice toward long-term structural change.” His previous roles have included: Executive-in-Residence at the Council on Foundations; Executive Director at the Levi Strauss Foundation (where he also led its award-winning Pioneers in Justice initiative); and Senior Program Officer for Asia Pacific at Outright Action International. Daniel also serves on the boards of several leading foundations.
Isabelle Leighton
Executive Director | Donors of Color Network
Isabelle H. Leighton, Executive Director of the Donors of Color Network and Donors of Color Action, has decades’ experience in social justice fundraising, community organizing, business development, urban planning, and fighting antidemocratic forces. Her previous positions include Development Director at Political Research Associates and founding Director of the Equality Fund at Asian Americans for Equality.
3:00 pm: Stormy Weather: Confronting our Long Emergency
Advancing Climate Action and a Just Transition
As the effects of our rapidly unraveling climate are now barreling down on us, this unparalleled crisis is being dramatically compounded by the assault on our democracy by authoritarians in the pockets of fossil fuel interests. At the same time, the competitive economics of renewable energy continue to gain significant momentum in the global marketplace. How do we navigate the urgent, imperative need to transition to renewable energy as rapidly as possible while bucking the corporate-led backlash to delay it? And how can we make that transition just and equitable in the face of “disaster capitalism,” entrenched racism, and the takeover of governments by the far right? With: Bill McKibben, world-renowned climate leader; Ben Jealous, Executive Director, Sierra Club; Eriel Deranger, global Indigenous climate organizer; attorney and major figure in the Climate Justice movement, Colette Pichon Battle, co-founder, Taproot Earth. Moderated by leading clean technology entrepreneur and activist, Danny Kennedy.
March 29th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Freight & Salvage
Panelists
Bill McKibben
Co-Founder | Third Act
Bill McKibben, a contributing writer to The New Yorker and a co-founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 to work on climate and racial justice, founded the first global grassroots climate campaign, 350.org, and serves as the Schumann Distinguished Professor in Residence at Middlebury College in Vermont. In 2014 he was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the ‘alternative Nobel,’ in the Swedish Parliament and also won the Gandhi Peace Award as well as receiving honorary degrees from 19 colleges and universities. He has written 12+ books about the environment, including his first, one of the most prescient and important books of the last 100 years, 1989’s The End of Nature. His latest book is: The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at his Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened.
Ben Jealous
Executive Director | Sierra Club
Ben Jealous, named the seventh Executive Director of the Sierra Club in 2022, has served in roles from organizer to investigative journalist to president of two of the nation’s most influential groups pursuing equity and justice and protecting democracy and the environment. From 2008 to 2013, he led the NAACP as the youngest-ever president and CEO of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization and launched the NAACP’s Climate Justice Program. More recently Ben was President of People for the American Way (PFAW). Ben began his professional trajectory as a reporter and managing editor at the black-owned community newspaper, the Jackson Advocate, exposing “cancer clusters” in Mississippi’s rural communities caused by industrial pollution. He has also been a partner at one of the nation’s premier ESG venture capital firms, has won many awards, served on the boards of the Environmental Defense Fund, the Trust for Public Lands and the Wilderness Society, taught at Princeton (and currently at the University of Pennsylvania), and is a best-selling author, including most recently of: Never Forget Our People Were Always Free: A Parable of American Healing.
Eriel Tchekwie Deranger
Co-Founder and Executive Director | Indigenous Climate Action
Eriel Tchekwie Deranger (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), a leading global figure in Indigenous Rights and Climate Justice activism, is the co-founder and Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action and is a member of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change. She also sits on a number of boards of notable non-profit organizations (including Bioneers) and activist groups. She has organized divest movements, lobbied government officials, led mass mobilizations against the fossil fuel industry, written extensively for a range of publications and been featured in documentary films (including Elemental).
Colette Pichon Battle
Vision & Initiatives Partner | Taproot Earth
Colette Pichon Battle, a generational native of Bayou Liberty, Louisiana, is an award-winning lawyer and prominent climate justice organizer. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when Black and Indigenous communities were largely left out of federal recovery systems, Colette led the Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy (GCCLP) to provide relief and legal assistance to Gulf South communities of color. After 17 years at GCCLP’s helm, as frontline communities from the Gulf South to the Global South face ever more devastating storms, droughts, wildfires, heat, and land loss, she co-founded Taproot Earth to create connections and power across issues, movements, and geographies.
Danny Kennedy
Clean Technology Entrepreneur and Activist
Danny Kennedy, a Senior Adviser to the Sunrise Project, Wollemi Capital and various startups, was the founding CEO of New Energy Nexus, a global platform organization for funds and incubators with chapters in a dozen countries from 2015-2024. He continues as a Venture Partner with the New Energy Nexus' Catalyst Fund, but his focus has moved from innovating new climate solutions to building and deploying the ones we've got!
Environmental Justice movements, despite the enormous inequities and challenges they faced, had been making major progress these past few decades in raising awareness, mobilizing at the grassroots, and getting some positive laws passed and regulations put in place at various levels of government, but the current reactionary political moment has put much of that forward motion in dire jeopardy. Also, the shift to cleaner energy has too much global market momentum to be reversed (even with fossil fuel lobbyists calling the shots at U.S. federal agencies), but how can we assure that it is a just and inclusive transition, not another driver of corporate wealth extraction? In this session, three major Environmental Justice advocates will explore these difficult issues and share their thoughts on how to keep making progress at the local, regional, and global levels in the context of the intense authoritarian, racist backlash now underway. With: Sierra Club Executive Director, Ben Jealous; Richmond City Councilwoman Doria Robinson; and Manuel Pastor, Director of the Equity Research Institute at USC, one of the nation’s greatest scholars of social movements. Moderated by: Christine Cordero, Co-Director, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN).
March 29th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Freight & Salvage
Panelists
Ben Jealous
Executive Director | Sierra Club
Ben Jealous, named the seventh Executive Director of the Sierra Club in 2022, has served in roles from organizer to investigative journalist to president of two of the nation’s most influential groups pursuing equity and justice and protecting democracy and the environment. From 2008 to 2013, he led the NAACP as the youngest-ever president and CEO of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization and launched the NAACP’s Climate Justice Program. More recently Ben was President of People for the American Way (PFAW). Ben began his professional trajectory as a reporter and managing editor at the black-owned community newspaper, the Jackson Advocate, exposing “cancer clusters” in Mississippi’s rural communities caused by industrial pollution. He has also been a partner at one of the nation’s premier ESG venture capital firms, has won many awards, served on the boards of the Environmental Defense Fund, the Trust for Public Lands and the Wilderness Society, taught at Princeton (and currently at the University of Pennsylvania), and is a best-selling author, including most recently of: Never Forget Our People Were Always Free: A Parable of American Healing.
Doria Robinson
Executive Director | Urban Tilth
Doria Robinson, a 3rd generation resident of Richmond, California, current member of the Richmond City Council (District 3), and one of the most effective, exemplary community organizers in the nation, has been, since 2007, the Executive Director of Urban Tilth, a widely renowned community-based organization dedicated to cultivating a more sustainable, healthy, and just food system. Also co-founder of the Richmond Food Policy Council, former co-chair of the US Food Sovereignty Alliance Western Region, and member of the Climate Justice Alliance, Food Sovereignty Working Group, Doria (a Certified Permaculture Designer, Bay Friendly Gardener, Nutrition Educator and Yoga Instructor) has a strong background in farming, from working on the 350-acre Apostolic Temple of Truth Ranch on weekends in her youth to working on organic farms in Massachusetts while in college, and later at the legendary Veritable Vegetable women-owned organic produce distribution company.
Manuel Pastor
Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity | University of Southern California
Manuel Pastor, Ph.D., a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California, currently directs the Equity Research Institute at USC. The inaugural holder of the Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change at USC, Pastor’s research has generally focused on issues of the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities – and the social movements seeking to change those realities. He has won countless awards for his scholarship and advocacy and is the author or co-author of many books, including: Just Growth; Solidarity Economics; and, most recently (with Chris Benner), Charging Forward: Lithium Valley, Electric Vehicles, and a Just Future.
Christine Cordero
Co-Director | Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)
Christine Cordero, raised by a Filipino immigrant family in the working class town of Pittsburg, CA, is Co-Director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), organizing with immigrants and refugees for a healthy environment and thriving economy for all communities. For 20+ years, Christine has strategized, organized, and built coalitions across environmental health and justice, workers rights, and economic and racial justice issues. Previously, she was Executive Director at the Center for Story-based Strategy, training 2,000+ people and working with 200+ groups to reinvigorate narrative strategies for social justice. An alumnus of Rockwood Institute’s Leading from the Inside Out Fellowship, one of the nation’s leading executive leadership programs for experienced social change trailblazers, Christine is also an ordained priest of the Chozen-ji line of Rinzai Zen.
4:45 pm: Community Wealth Building: A Conversation with Beloved Economies, Full Spectrum Capital Partners, and The Guild
Hosted by the Beloved Economies Collaborative for Narrative Infrastructure
Community wealth extraction refers to the process by which resources are taken out of a community to benefit external parties, without adequately reinvesting in or benefiting the local population. As summed up in the book Beloved Economies (2022), its impacts can look like waves of small businesses closing in a community and never reopening, followed by dollar stores and chain stores that send their profits to distant corporate headquarters mushrooming; no decent grocery stores for miles; hospitals closing down; public schools having to switch to a four-day week due to declining property taxes; cash-strapped local authorities selling a local public park to raise revenue, etc. The good news is there is an alternative. The community wealth-building movement demonstrates how we can build and keep wealth in our communities in equitable ways to build vibrant, reparative, and regenerative local economies in balance with the natural world. In this session, leaders from cutting-edge efforts engaged in this work share their perspectives and experiences. With: Taj James of Full Spectrum Capital Partners; Jess Rimington of Beloved Economies; and Nikishka Iyengar of The Guild.
March 29th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Golden Bear Room, Hotel Shattuck Plaza
Panelists
Jess Rimington
Co-Leader | Collaborative for Narrative Infrastructure
Jess Rimington is a next-economy strategist, practitioner, and scholar focused on supporting businesses and organizations to step out of extractive capitalism. She is co-author of Beloved Economies: Transforming How We Work –winner of the Porchlight’s Business Book Award in Management & Workplace Culture. She was Co-Director of the Beloved Economies research initiative from 2015-2022, and currently co-leads the Collaborative for Narrative Infrastructure –a 15-organization coalition that seeks to increase progressive movements’ storytelling capacities to help bring about shifts in how we work and build an economy that works for all.
Nikishka Iyengar
Founder and CEO | The Guild
Nikishka Iyengar, a social entrepreneur, community organizer and media-maker with over a decade of experience building economic democracy, is the founder and CEO of The Guild, where she develops community-owned models of land, housing, and real estate to foster self-determination for Black, working-class, and other marginalized communities. She also leads Groundcover, a $30M fund dedicated to investing in shared equity land models. A current Loeb Fellow at Harvard, Nikishka co-hosts the Road to Repair podcast focused on moving beyond a "business-as-usual" economy toward solidarity and collective liberation.
Taj James
Co-Founder and Curator | Full Spectrum Labs
Taj James, co-founder and Curator at Full Spectrum Labs, a Principal with Full Spectrum Capital Partners, and co-founder and a Senior Advisor at Movement Strategy Center, is a father, poet, strategist, designer, and philanthropic and capital advisor. Taj seeks in his work to connect community stewards with capital stewards in order to bring financial value into alignment with sacred values in ways that build community wealth.
