Presented in collaboration with the Democracy Collaborative
Imagine a world in which workers in construction, nursing and home care, farming, social work, teaching, etc., and all the rest of us—we, the people—are the ones who make the key decisions about how to allocate resources in our communities, not wealthy CEOs, massive corporations, or corrupt politicians. This session will delve into what a truly democratic, decentralized/localized economy would look like and closely examine examples of such initiatives already operating around the world that point to a “next system” radically different in fundamental ways from the failed systems of the past and present and capable of delivering superior social, economic and ecological outcomes. With: Laura Flanders, host/Executive Producer of The Laura Flanders Show, author of Blue Grit: Making Impossible, Improbable, Inspirational Political Change in America; Hilary Abell, Co-founder and Chief Policy & Impact Officer at Project Equity; Akaya Windwood, Lead Advisor at Third Act.
April 6th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm
Panelists
Host and Executive Producer
The Laura Flanders Show
Laura Flanders, one of the pre-eminent progressive journalists and media figures in the country, is the host and Executive Producer of the nationally syndicated The Laura Flanders Show, which airs on nearly 300 PBS stations nationwide (and online, on radio, and as a podcast). She is an Izzy-Award winning independent journalist, a bestselling author (including of: Blue Grit: Making Impossible, Improbable, Inspirational Political Change in America and Bushwomen) and a recipient of the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Media Center.
Lead Advisor
Third Act
Akaya Windwood, founder of the New Universal Wisdom and Leadership Institute, on the faculty of the Just Economy Institute, “Lead Advisor” at the activist group Third Act, and former President of Rockwood Leadership Institute (for ten years), also directs the Thriving Roots Fund. A longtime “transformation facilitator,” Akaya has won slews of awards for her activism and visionary leadership and is the author of: Leading with Joy: Practices for Uncertain Times.
Co-founder, Chief Policy & Impact Officer
Project Equity
Hilary Abell is co-founder (with Alison Lingane in 2014) and Chief Policy & Impact Officer with Project Equity, has been an employee ownership practitioner, thought leader, and advocate since 2003. With a mission to foster economic resiliency in low-income communities, Project Equity raises awareness about broad-based employee ownership (EO), helps successful businesses transition to employee ownership, and develops policies and partnerships to advance EO. Recent highlights include seeing client companies in low-wage industries share more than $1M in profit with their worker-owners and helping pass the California Employee Ownership Act. Hilary’s publications include Worker Cooperatives: Pathways to Scale, The Case for Employee Ownership and California Cooperatives. Hilary has been a fellow with Echoing Green, Common Future, and the Institute for the Study of EO at Rutgers University. She and her co-founder received the 2022 Heinz Award for the Economy