Envision

The gig economy presents freedom and flexibility for workers. However, thriving in the gig economy can be a challenge. With self-employment comes the responsibilities of marketing oneself, trying to find work, and receiving the appropriate value for one’s work. In addition, gig workers must cover expenses that employers would typically handle such as employment taxes, health insurance, and the general costs of running a business. In this week’s show, we’ll be talking about a solution to help gig workers thrive. Our guest, Josh Danielson, co-founder of Loconomics, will talk about how he’s formed a cooperative that allows service professionals in the gig economy to connect and offer services on a technology platform they own.

Traditional leadership development often ends up reinforcing the current system. To ensure that we create the just, inclusive future we want, the Institute for Evolutionary Leadership (IEL) was established. IEL has identified 7 key principles that consciously cultivate a different perspective of leadership. This approach has attracted the attention of the social impact sector especially venture funds and philanthropic foundations who are seeking to identify systems entrepreneurs.

Blockchain first appeared in popular consciousness as the distributed ledger that underpins Bitcoin. However, crypto-currencies and tokens are far from its only use. There are quite a few people around the world who see blockchain's potential to help address multiple issues at a variety of scale - whether local, regional and/or international. In this episode we will speak with Lina Constantinovici who's pushing the envelope and exploring ways to leverage blockchain's attributes for energy, environmental, public health and other issues.

Creating a racially just society requires more than changing individual attitudes and reforming laws and institutions (both of which are necessary). Creating a racially just society will also require changing the implicit beliefs, mental models, and cultural narratives that shape our attitudes as well as our institutions. Our guests Angela Sevin and Gregory Mengel will discuss how Beyond the Culture of Separation uses an innovative approach and interactive learning modalities to lead a transformation in the way white people engage in the work for racial equity and racial justice.

We often focus on the individual's healing and personal journey. We rarely address the importance of healing collectively and/or culturally. We also rarely ask how can an individual fully heal if the society in which they live is unhealthy. In this episode we talk with Sal Gencarelle, Founder and Director of the Helpers Mentoring Society. We discusss the universal presence of healing modalities in earth-based cultures, how we can incorporate those into our lives individually and collectively, and how they can help us heal on multiple levels.

What does a community do when there is considerable poverty in the shadow of world-renown hospitals and centers of higher education? How can opportunity for ownership in under-served communities be fostered and facilitated? Through a coalition of anchor and community organizations, the Boston Ujima Project seeks to address health, educational and economic challenges. The intended result is a community controlled economy. My guest is Lucas Turner-Owens, Fund Manager for the Boston Ujima Project.

My guests are two of the co-founders of Gross National Happiness USA. We talk about the importance of moving beyond Gross Domestic Product as a measure of economic well-being, the Gross National Happiness framework, the conversations they've had with thousands of people from all walks of life and how you and your community can participate.

What do you get when you cross permaculture design with Gandhian development principles of personal transformation, community development and political activism? You create a way to welcome those often on the margins into community and provide them with a way to contribute. This strengthens our social fabric, our awareness of what unites us and our relationship to the planet. Join us for this interview on the Harrisonburg, VA branch of the New Community Project.

Are you curious about the origins of your clothes and cloth goods? Who made them? How were they made? Where they were made? Can you trace the fabrics back to their roots? This week’s guest Geana Sieburger is. Geana is the founder of GDS Cloth Goods, a design and production studio responsibly creating staple pieces for wear and use. We’ll be talking to Geana about why knowing the makers of our textile goods is just as important as understanding the routes of food from farm to table.

Consciously developing food and fibersheds is one way to build human, social, natural and financial capital in rural communities. Mapping food and fibersheds illustrates the flow of money and materials, where value exists and the community's values, as well as existing and potential opportunities for creativity within a community. It also helps in creating a shared vision of what's possible through collaboration.

In other episodes we have discussed the benefits of the cooperative business model – being or becoming worker-owned. We’ve highlighted the benefits of bridging cultural divides to create the future we want. We’ve explored money, what it is and how to slow it down in your community. We’ve discussed how to measure happiness on a national level. We’ve also talked about the benefits that can accrue in a community where there is an active ecosystem catalyst organization, or ecosystem entrepreneur. Today’s show profiles an organization that demonstrates concretely what’s possible when worker-owned and operated, when cultural divides are bridged, when the community is engaged in its own success, and when alternative funding opportunities are leveraged. The organization is CERO Co-op in Dorchester Massachusetts.

Join me and my two guests as we discuss some of the challenges in community stakeholder engagement after the loss of two major jobs sources and the efforts to develop a culture of environmental protection and conservation in the community.

This show intends to link to some of the points from the first episode on money and provides time to dive deeper. Some of the themes we’ll explore include the money and banking system, questions to consider when exploring alternative currencies, what it means to fully align our investments with our values, and the systemic challenges to align systemic challenges to aligning those investments with our values. We’ll also look at the benefits that can accrue from investing locally.

The gig economy presents freedom and flexibility for workers. However, thriving in the gig economy can be a challenge. With self-employment comes the responsibilities of marketing oneself, trying to find work, and receiving the appropriate value for one’s work. In addition, gig workers must cover expenses that employers would typically handle such as employment taxes, health insurance, and the general costs of running a business. In this week’s show, we’ll be talking about a solution to help gig workers thrive. Our guest, Josh Danielson, co-founder of Loconomics, will talk about how he’s formed a cooperative that allows service professionals in the gig economy to connect and offer services on a technology platform they own.

At their earliest stage, entrepreneurs generally get funding from friends and family – those supporters culled from alumni groups, professional connections, and longstanding familial and social networks. For most entrepreneurs, this abundant and friendly pool of capital is a financial lifeline that can be the difference between a great idea and a promising startup or small business. That is, unless you’re African American. The problem, as pointed out by Runway Project founder Jessica Norwood, is that wealth in the U.S. cleanly falls along racial lines. Runway Project is a national initiative designed to change that reality for African American entrepreneurs. In this week’s show, guests Konda Mason and Annie McShiras will discuss the collaboration between Runway Project, Self-Help Federal Credit Union, and Uptima Business Bootcamp in Oakland, CA, to pilot a new financial product and investment fund that bridges the funding and support gap for African American entrepreneurs.

Our guests this week are Franko Goehse, Head of Fumba Town Service Centre, and Bernadette Padua-Kirsch, Landscaping Manager for Fumba Town Service Centre in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Fumba Town is a new town development on Zanzibar that is explicitly and consciously designed and developed around the permaculture principles of Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share. Please join us as we discuss this fascinating effort that thoughtfully seeks to address all 5 capitals of a regenerative community - Natural, Manufactured, Financial, Human and Social.

We often focus on the individual's healing and personal journey. We rarely address the importance of healing collectively and/or culturally. We also rarely ask how can an individual fully heal if the society in which they live is unhealthy. In this episode we talk with Sal Gencarelle, Founder and Director of the Helpers Mentoring Society. We discusss the universal presence of healing modalities in earth-based cultures, how we can incorporate those into our lives individually and collectively, and how they can help us heal on multiple levels.

Creating a racially just society requires more than changing individual attitudes and reforming laws and institutions (both of which are necessary). Creating a racially just society will also require changing the implicit beliefs, mental models, and cultural narratives that shape our attitudes as well as our institutions. Our guests Angela Sevin and Gregory Mengel will discuss how Beyond the Culture of Separation uses an innovative approach and interactive learning modalities to lead a transformation in the way white people engage in the work for racial equity and racial justice.

What does a community do when there is considerable poverty in the shadow of world-renown hospitals and centers of higher education? How can opportunity for ownership in under-served communities be fostered and facilitated? Through a coalition of anchor and community organizations, the Boston Ujima Project seeks to address health, educational and economic challenges. The intended result is a community controlled economy. My guest is Lucas Turner-Owens, Fund Manager for the Boston Ujima Project.