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(Photo from the 2019 NASCO Institute)
This week we’re talking about building the next generation of cooperatives in 2020, the Black Youth Project’s “She Safe, We Safe” campaign, and a forum to reflect on New Belgium Brewing and the promise and the limitations of employee ownership.
Stories From the Field
100k Into The Holiday: Congratulations to NEC member organization, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) for their $100,000 award through the Chicago Prize to create food access and economic equity through a closed loop food economy in Little Village, Chicago. Read more in Yahoo! Finance about their budding community hub and food-cart cooperative!
Shaping Our Abundance: Ever wish your loved ones would give you more chances to participate in the process of choosing your gifts? Well the Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP) is working on getting your governments to respond to your wish list, too. Check out this interview with Shari Davis, newly announced Executive Director of PBP!
Reflecting on the Sale of New Belgium: Until last month when it was acquired by a Japanese conglomerate, New Belgium Brewing was one of the shining examples of employee ownership. Fifty by Fifty, a project run by NEC member The Democracy Collaborative, invited experts from across the industry to consider what New Belgium’s next chapter means for the work of economic justice. Check out the 17 essays written to grapple with the promise and the limitations of employee ownership.
Solidarity Economies Abroad
Youth Activist to Chilean Leaders: NEC Member Organization SustainUS sent groups of youth activists to Madrid for the UN Climate negotiations including its first ever indigenous delegation. Read more about how these activists insisted that government leaders stop using the climate talks to greenwash their repressive regimes.
Put A Greener Internet On Your Wish List: Without establishing local networks, web designers and futurists, computer scientists and activists are all increasingly concerned about the internet’s own climate impact and its operational vulnerability in a fast-warming planet. What follows, pieced together from their observations, is a picture of the internet’s future in the age of global warming including suggestions for building local networks.
She Safe, We Safe Story Collection 
She Safe, We Safe is an organizing campaign led by NEC member organization BYP100. BYP100 is its own member-based organization of 18 to 35-year-old Black activists and organizers dedicated to creating justice and freedom for all Black people.
The She Safe, We Safe Story Collection Project is an effort to document Black people's experiences of gender violence, learn about how folks are addressing violence and harm in their lives and communities, and generate visions for what our communities need so that we can better organize to build a world free from gender violence, including state violence
Spring 2020 Start.coop Accelerator
Do you know any smart and passionate entrepreneurs building a high impact co-op in North America? Invite them to apply to Start.coop’s 12-week accelerator starting this spring. Designed specifically for co-ops, the accelerator combines in-person and virtual training with mentorship from world-class business leaders, access to platform services, and investment upon graduation. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and close on January 19th. Apply now, nominate an exceptional candidate, or share this opportunity with your network and help build the next generation of transformative, scalable, cooperatively-owned businesses.
Movement News
- 10 Youth Activist Movements That Shaped The 2010s
- The New Deal Funded The Arts. The Green New Deal Should, Too.
- Foraging, And Forging, Connections In Cities
- Through My Window, A Vision Of A New America
- Occupy Wall Street’s Legacy Runs Deeper Than You Think
- Cities Aren’t Waiting For A Federal Green New Deal
- Decolonization Requires A New Economics
- Is It Wrong To Want To Give Your Children What You Never Had?
- SELC: One Year In One Page
- How Credit Unions Outgrew their Down-Home Reputation
- How PG&E’s Failures Are Spurring A Movement Toward Electric Cooperatives
- One for All: Only Solidarity Can Save the Planet
- System Change Magazine Highlights A Year Of Bold Ideas
- “The Response: Building Collective Resilience In The Wake Of Disasters”
- Late Indiana Mayor Hatcher Laid Groundwork For Black Leaders Across The Nation
- Supreme Court Leaves Cities With One Option On Homelessness: More Housing
Podcasts of the New Economy
Brel Hutton-Okpalaeke, Director of Development Services of NEC member organization North American Students of Cooperation, was recently featured on The Cooperators Podcast. NASCO’s primary focus is on cooperative housing, especially for students. Colleges have been raising student housing and board fees at a brisk pace and, unbeknownst to most, schools run those functions as profit centers. They are not usually loss leaders. What’s more, schools know that while all eyes are on tuition increases – jumps in prices for room and board frequently are under the radar. Listen in to hear more about why now is the perfect time for NASCO.
Additional Listens:
Feminine Finance, Cartoons, and the Solidarity Economy with SELC’s Janelle Orsi
NEC on The Gram
Follow NEC on Instagram – @NewEconomyCoalition – Where we’re sharing our appreciation for how our community has supported us in our end of year campaign. Thanks to all who have prepared us to come into 2020 ready to deepen our roots. There’s still time to give before the end of the year if you can!
Job Board
Administrative Manager, Cooperative Fund of New England – Watertown, MA
Assistant Program Manager, Soul Fire Farm – Petersburg, NY
Bookkeeper/Consultant/Educator, A Bookkeeping Cooperative (ABC) – Brooklyn, NY
Climate Campaigner, Amazon Watch – Oakland, CA
Criminal Justice Reporter, Prism – Remote – Deadline Dec 27
Co-Director, US Department of Arts and Culture – Remote – Deadline Dec. 31
Communications Coordinator, It Takes Roots Grassroots Global Justice Alliance – Remote – Deadline Jan 12
Communication Director, The Laura Flanders Show – Brooklyn, NY
Communications Director, Institute for Local Self-Reliance – Various Locations
Communications Manager, California Environmental Justice Alliance
Director, Divest Ed – Cambridge, MA
Director of Development and Finance, OPAL Oregon – Portland, OR
Director of Public Relations, ProPublica – New York, NY
Education Team Coordinator Highlander Center – New Market, TN
Education Team Member and Youth Organizer, Highlander Center – New Market, TN
Food Systems Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation – SE United States
General Coordinator, Cooperative Economics Alliance of NYC – New York, NY
General Manager, Recompose – Seattle, WA
Lending Director, MACED – Berea; Hazard; Paintsville, KY – Deadline Feb 1
Media & Communications Senior Associate, Regions Refocus – New York, NY – Deadline Jan 31
Media & Storytelling Program Officer, Field Foundation – Chicago, IL
Movement Storyteller, Working Partnerships USA – San Jose, CA
Operations Coordinator, Democracy Collaborative – Washington, DC
President, New Media Ventures – Oakland, CA
Program Manager, Decolonizing Wealth, Decolonizing Wealth Project – New York, NY
Regional Organizer (New England), Resource Generation – Regional – Deadline Jan 26
Regional Organizer (Mid-Atlantic), Resource Generation – Regional – Deadline Jan 26
Social Enterprise Manager, People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) Buffalo – Buffalo NY
Supervising Producer, The Laura Flanders Show – Brooklyn, NY
Training and Movement Building Coordinator, Open Buffalo – Buffalo, NY – Deadline Dec 21
Various Positions, Action Center on Race and the Economy – Location is flexible
Various Positions, Color of Change – New York, Washington D.C., Oakland, Los Angeles
Various Positions, Demos – New York, NY
Various Positions, Groundswell
Various Positions, Groundwork Collaborative
Various Positions, Economic Opportunity Institute – Seattle, WA
Various Positions, Institute for Policy Studies
Various Positions, Mothers Out Front
Various Positions, NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Various Positions, National Congress of American Indians
Various Positions, New Economy Organizers Network – London/Manchester, UK
Various Positions, Project Equity – Multiple Locations
Various Positions, RiseBoro Community Partnership – Brooklyn, NY
Various Positions, Sunrise Movement – Multiple Locations
Various Positions, US Federation of Worker Cooperatives – Philadelphia – Priority Deadline 13
Web Developer, Foundation for Intentional Communities
Youth Education Director, Mass Ave Project – Buffalo, NY – Deadline Jan 1
Upcoming Events
Open Buffalo Sankofa Celebration
Sankofa is an African word from the Akan tribe in Ghana that can be interpreted as "in order to move forward, one must learn from the past." As Open Buffalo recognizes five years serving Buffalo, we will hold a Sankofa Celebration, so that we can reflect on the lessons learned, the victories won, and prepare for our collective work in the year to come. (Jan 9 – Buffalo, NY)
Movement Generation 2020 Justice & Ecology Retreat
A national retreat May 13th – 17th in Occidental, CA that will bring together key movement organizers & actors to explore the depths and connections of the current ecological, economic, and social crises – all towards building a Just Transition to healthy, life-affirming economies. (Jan 12 – Application Deadline)
Institute for Democratic Education in America: New Antiracism Initiative
NEC member organization, IDEA is putting together this course for white educators ready to go beyond conversations about white privilege and begin embodying antiracist values in their daily practice. (Jan 9 – Application Deadline)
Making the Business Case on Clean Water Issues to the Media
If the new political reality has you itching to speak out in the media, this session is for you. Learn best practices from the front lines organized by NEC member organization the American Sustainable Business Council. Answer questions like how to find and approach journalists interested in what you have to say, how to make the strongest arguments for your policy agenda, how to use your company as proof for how policies affect business and tips to enhance your credibility and confidence. (Jan 21 – Online Webinar)
Transit Equity Day
Check out this toolkit from NEC Member Organization, Labor Network For Sustainability’s in preparation for February 4th’s Transit Equity Day, a collaborative effort of several organizations and unions to promote public transit as a civil right and a strategy to combat climate change. (Feb 4 – Global)
2020 LIFT Economy MBA
A nine month 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. The course will be taught online. Early bird registration before January 10th. (Feb 6-Oct 15 – Online Webinars)
2020 Sharing Economy Global Summit
The Sharing Economy Global Summit is the most comprehensive source of education, networking and information sharing for the global sharing economy. It offers programming and resources from experts focused on trust and safety, digital identity, screening, payments and fraud prevention, data privacy and cybersecurity, compliance and regulatory, legal and insurance, product, technology and innovation. (February 5-6 – London, UK)
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