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New Economy Coalition

New Economy Coalition ... Board of Directors

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Board of Directors

David M. Abromowitz David M. Abromowitz is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a partner in the law firm Goulston & Storrs. He is nationally known for expertise in housing and economic development. Mr. Abromowitz is a past chair and founding member of both the Lawyers’ Clearinghouse on Affordable Housing and Homelessness and of the American Bar Association’s Forum Committee on Affordable Housing and Community Development. He is a board member of the National Housing and Rehabilitation Association, and a member of the Multifamily Leadership Board of the National Association of Home Builders. In 2004 he was awarded the Trailblazer award of the National Economic Development and Law Center of Oakland, California. In 2007 he was honored by the Fair Housing Center of Boston and in 2013 was B'nai B'rith Housing New England's Person of the Year. Mr. Abromowitz co-chaired the Housing Policy Working Group of then Governor-elect Deval Patrick (D-MA), and has served on other housing advisory groups for public officials, such as Mayor Marty Walsh of Boston’s advisory task force. He serves on a number of charitable boards, including YouthBuild USA, The Equity Trust, Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly, and B’nai B’rith New England. The New Jersey native received his B.A. magna cum laude from Princeton University and his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.

Gar Alperovitz Gar Alperovitz is Co-Founder of The Democracy Collaborative and the former Lionel R. Bauman Professor at the University of Maryland. He is also a former Fellow of the Institute of Politics at Harvard and King’s College of Cambridge University. He served as a Legislative Director in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and as a Special Assistant working on United Nations matters in the Department of State. Earlier he was President of the Center for Community Economic Development and of the Center for the Study of Public Policy. His numerous articles have appeared in publications ranging from The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic to The Journal of Economic Issues, Foreign Policy, Diplomatic History, and other academic and popular journals. His latest book is America Beyond Capitalism (2011, with a foreword by Gus Speth). Among his other books are Unjust Deserts (2008, with Lew Daly); Making a Place for Community (2002, with Thad Williamson and David Imbroscio); and The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb (1995). Read Gar Alperovitz’s E. F. Schumacher Lecture, “Distributing Our Technological Inheritance.” Read his article, “America Beyond Capitalism: The Pluralist Commonwealth.” Listen to his lecture at the University of Michigan, “Might There Be an America beyond Capitalism?” Read his article, “The New-Economy Movement.” Read his report, Climate Change, Community Stability, and the Next 150 Million Americans. Watch his lecture, “The Possibility of Profound Change in America.”

Jessica Brackman Jessica Brackman was CEO of FPG International, a leading stock photography agency recognized for its creative innovation, commitment to social issues and unique corporate culture. During her tenure there, she became involved with the Social Venture Network (SVN) and served on the board of the Aperture Foundation, a not-for-profit photography institute and book publisher. After selling FPG, Jessica co-produced a film documentary about the spiritual teacher, Ram Dass, entitled Fierce Grace. She serves on the board of the Tibet Fund, an organization founded under the auspices of His Holiness the Dalai Lama that supports health, education, cultural preservation and economic development in the Tibetan refugee community. She has worked on a number of publishing projects that deal with environmental, social and spiritual themes, including Al Gore’s book, An Inconvenient Truth and, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan diaspora, she produced, Thank You Tibet. She now works in the area of social and environmental impact documentary film. She is on the board of Working Films and is the founder of the New Economy Film Festival which launched in NYC in 2013.

Farhad Ebrahimi Interim Director & Chair of the Executive Transition Committee Farhad Ebrahimi is the founder and trustee chair of the Chorus Foundation, which works for a just transition to a regenerative economy in the United States. The Chorus Foundation supports communities on the front lines of the old, extractive economy to build new bases of political, economic, and cultural power for systemic change. Farhad is also a founding member of the Boston-based organizing collective Simorgh, and he serves on the board of Citizen Engagement Lab. When not wrestling with the implications of such titles as “organizer” and “philanthropist,” he is a musician, lover of film and literature, and bicycle snob. Farhad graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics with Computer Science. He lives in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. In July 2014, Farhad was appointed to act as NEC's Interim Director in his capacity as the Chair of the Executive Transition Committee. Learn more here.

John Fullerton John Fullerton is the Founder and President of Capital Institute, a collaborative working to transform finance to serve a more just, resilient, and sustainable economic system. Through the work of Capital Institute, his syndicated “Future of Finance” blog on the Capital Institute website, regular public speaking engagements, and university lectures, he has become a recognized thought leader in the New Economy space generally and the financial-system transformation challenge in particular. John earned a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan and an MBA from New York University’s Stern Business School. John is a recognized leading practitioner in “impact investment” as the principal of Level 3 Capital Advisors, LLC. Level 3 Capital’s direct investments are primarily focused on sustainable and regenerative land use, food, and water. Through both Capital Institute and Level 3 Capital, he brings a theory-and-practice approach to financial system transformation. Previously John was the seed funder and CEO of Alerian Capital Management, which is now a multi-billion- dollar investment management firm that invests in midstream energy infrastructure via Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs), and created the Alerian MLP Index. Prior to Alerian, he was a Managing Director of JPMorgan, where he worked for over 18 years. At JPMorgan he managed various capital markets and derivatives business around the globe, then shifted focus to private investments and was subsequently the Chief Investment Officer of LabMorgan through the merger with Chase Manhattan before retiring from the bank in 2001. John is a Co-Founder and Director of Grasslands, LLC, a holistic ranch management company in partnership with the Savory Institute and a Director of New Day Farms, Inc., New Economics Institute, and Savory Institute.org. Read John Fullerton's essay, 'The Relevance of E. F. Schumacher in the 21st Century.'

Neva Goodwin Neva Goodwin is Co-Director of the Global Development And Environment Institute at Tufts University. She is the lead author of three introductory college-level textbooks: Microeconomics in Context (3rd edition), Macroeconomics in Context (2nd edition), and Principles of Economics in Context (1st edition) published by M.E. Sharpe. These are the starting points for her endeavor to develop an economic theory— “contextual economics”—that will have more relevance to real-world concerns than does the dominant economic paradigm. Goodwin is also director of a project that has developed a “Social Science Library: Frontier Thinking in Sustainable Development and Human Well-Being.” Containing a bibliography of 10,000 titles, including full text PDFs of about a third of these, this material will be sent on USB drives or CDs to all university libraries in 138 developing countries. As a member of the board of Ceres and in other activities outside of her academic work, Goodwin is involved in efforts to motivate business to recognize social and ecological health as significant, long-term corporate goals. Essay by Neva Goodwin: “A New Economics for the Twenty-First Century,” October 2010. Lectures by Neva Goodwin: “What Can We Hope for the World in 2075?”, November 2010; Presentation on reforming economics education at the June 5, 2010, founding meeting for the New Economics Institute. Collected articles click here.

Hildegarde Hannum Emeritus Director After teaching German language and literature at Hayward State University, UC Berkeley, and Connecticut College, Hildegarde turned to a career as free-lance translator with her husband. Their translations from German to English include the work of philosopher Hans Jonas and psychoanalyst Alice Miller. She is a board member of the Schumacher Center for a New Economics, where she edits the Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures, turning the spoken word into essays that are published in pamphlet form and are available on the internet. She edited People, Land, and Community: Collected E. F. Schumacher Society Lectures (Yale University Press, 1997).

Leah Hunt Hendrix Born and raised in NYC, Leah has spent the past decade at the intersection of theory and practice, combining a study of moral philosophy and democratic theory with research around the world in grassroots organizing and social movements. She has her PhD in Religion, Ethics and Politics from Princeton University. Prior to pursuing her doctorate she lived and worked in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, where she focused her research on the effects of international aid and development, and the history of popular protest.

Will Raap Will Raap is founder and chairman of Gardener’s Supply, an employee-owned family of companies that has won several national and regional awards for its innovative business and socially responsible business practices. He also founded the Intervale Center, a community farming innovation center and incubator of dozens of new organic farms. Currently Will is working on several environmental restoration initiatives, including two land restoration initiatives (The Earth Partners and Restoring Our Watershed) and three “new urbanist” conservation developments in Vermont and Costa Rica. These conservation developments are South Village, Tierra Pacifica, and Pueblo Verde. The Earth Partners are working on developing “conservation biomass” globally and Restoring Our Watershed in Costa Rica is committed to reclaiming the health and resiliency of critically damaged or threatened natural areas in a 28,000 acre watershed. Read Will Raap’s E. F. Schumacher Lecture, He Taught Us to Build Bridges and Plant Trees; his recent article for Vermont Natural Resources Council, “The ‘New Economy’ Can Strengthen Vermont’s Working Landscape”; his TED (Technology,Entertainment,Design) talk on mitigating climate change; and his June 5, 2010 talk on using Vermont as a model for rebuilding our economies (given at the founding meeting of the New Economics Institute). Visit Will Raap’s website at http://www.willraap.org.

Deirdre Smith Deirdre Smith began organizing around water rights and coal impacts in her New Mexico community as a teenager. After building a coalition with community groups as Campaign Coordinator for New Energy Economy she helped to transition half of the San Juan Generating Station and organized for community solar initiatives: “Sol not Coal”. She now serves as National Divestment Organizer with 350.org, where she supports national events, staff and youth development through coaching, training, and mentorship. She has helped lead 4 campaigns to commit to fossil fuel divestment thus far and is now focused on youth leadership and political education, while coordinating a coalition reinvestment effort to build strong local networks and move divested funds to towards reinvestment in community owned energy, food and development projects.

Gus Speth Gus Speth is a Professor of Law at the Vermont Law School in South Royalton, Vermont, and Senior Fellow with Demos, The Democracy Collaborative, and the Tellus Institute. He was Professor in the Practice of Environmental Policy at Yale where he served as Dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies from 1999 to 2009. From 1993 to 1999, Speth was Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and chair of the UN Development Group. Prior to his service at the UN, he was founder and president of the World Resources Institute; professor of law at Georgetown University; chairman of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality; and senior attorney and co-founder, Natural Resources Defense Council. Throughout his career, he has provided leadership and entrepreneurial initiatives to many task forces and committees whose roles have been to combat environmental degradation, including the President’s Task Force on Global Resources and Environment; the Western Hemisphere Dialogue on Environment and Development; and the National Commission on the Environment. Among his awards are the National Wildlife Federation’s Resources Defense Award, the Natural Resources Council of America’s Barbara Swain Award of Honor, a 1997 Special Recognition Award from the Society for International Development, Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Environmental Law Institute and the League of Conservation Voters, and the Blue Planet Prize. He holds honorary degrees from Clark University, the College of the Atlantic, the Vermont Law School, Middlebury College, the University of South Carolina, Unity College, and the University of Massachusetts-Boston. Publications include The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability (2008), and Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment (2004), America the Possible: Manifesto for a New Economy (2012), and Angels by the River: A Memoir (2014). Speth currently serves on the boards of the New Economy Coalition, Center for a New American Dream, and Climate Reality Project. His recent articles include: A New American Environmentalism and the New Economy; Towards a New Consciousness in America: Roles for Grantmakers; Towards a New Economy and a New Politics; Letter to Liberals: Liberalism, Environmentalism, and Economic Growth; Preamble: New Economy, Sustaining Economy; Off the Pedestal: Creating a New Vision of Economic Growth; What Is the American Dream?: Dueling Dualities in the American Tradition; and America the Possible: A Manifesto, Part I. Sarah Stranahan Sarah Stranahan has more than 20 years of experience in mission related investing, community organizing, and social change philanthropy. As a long term Board member of the Needmor Fund, she helped design and oversee its philanthropic support of community organizing and its integrated mission related investment program. She served on the Finance Committee of the Council on Foundations from 2008-2012, where she helped design and implement an investment policy aligned with the Council’s mission. Sarah’s experiences as a fiduciary led her to study finance, and she passed her level one Chartered Financial Analyst exam in 2009. She co-founded the New Economy Network in 2010, to increase collaboration between individuals and organizations working to accelerate the transition to an economy that supports people and the planet. She served as the Network Coordinator from 2010 through 2012, and then as co-chair of its Board. Sarah is a Board member of the Stranahan Foundation and Free Speech for People, a non-profit working to challenge the misuse of corporate power and restore republican democracy to the people. Sarah works at Bolder Giving, a non-profit that encourages exceptional philanthropy, where she manages their Bold Investing and Environmental Justice Initiatives. She lives in New York City and Tyringham MA with her husband, Henry Richardson, a glass sculptor. They have three adult sons.

Aaron Tanaka Aaron Tanaka is a Boston based community organizer and impact investor. As the founding executive director of the Boston Workers Alliance in 2005, he helped organize no/low-income workers of color into one of Boston’s leading grassroots economic justice organizations. After leaving the BWA, Aaron helped start the Boston Impact Initiative, an impact investment fund making value driven loans and equity investments to grow an inclusive local economy. Since 2012, Aaron has also led the formation of the Center for Economic Democracy, an emerging movement intermediary, building grassroots capacity to lead transformative policy campaigns and new economy initiatives. He holds a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.S. in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University.

Stewart Wallis Stewart Wallis graduated in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University. His career began in marketing and sales with Rio Tinto Zinc followed by a Masters Degree in Business and Economics at London Business School. He spent seven years with the World Bank in Washington DC working on industrial and financial development in East Asia. He then worked for Robinson Packaging in Derbyshire for nine years, the last five as Managing Director, leading a successful business turnaround. He joined Oxfam in 1992 as International Director with responsibility, latterly, for 2500 staff in 70 countries and for all Oxfam’s policy, research, development and emergency work worldwide. He was awarded the OBE for services to Oxfam in 2002. Stewart joined nef (the new economics foundation) as Executive Director on 1 November 2003. His interests include: global governance, functioning of markets, links between development and environmental agendas, the future of capitalism and the moral economy. Read Stewart Wallis' Five Principles for the New Economy by 2020

Ed Whitfield Ed Whitfield is co-founder and co-managing director of the Fund for Democratic Communities (F4DC). A long time social justice activist, Ed had been involved in labor, community organizing and peace work since the late 60‘s when he was a student activist at Cornell University. He was the chairman of the Greensboro Redevelopment Commission for 9 years and formerly board chairman of Greensboro’s Triad Minority Development Corporation. In his work with F4DC, Ed helped initiate the formation of the Southern Grassroots Economies Project (SGEP) and their annual CoopEcon conferences aimed at networking and training among people interested in developing a cooperative new economy in the US South. He has visited and studied worker cooperative activities from the Evergreen Cooperatives of Cleveland, OH to the massive Mondragon Cooperatives Corporation in the Basque region of Spain. For Ed, helping people in communities engaged in meaningful, democratic, just, sustainable and productive activities is a key motivation. He is currently helping to provide technical assistance to a group of people living in an urban food desert struggling to develop a community owned cooperative grocery store. Ed is deeply involved in conceptualizing and spreading the idea of democratic ownership and the reclamation of the commons.