Next Economy Now: For the Benefit of All Life

Welcome back to the MBA series, where we review the arc of the learning journey presented in the Next Economy MBA online course. This episode tackles the topic of non-violent, collaborative communication and why it’s so important when it comes to making a genuine impact in the world. For full show notes, visit https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/mba13 Interested in creating a world that works for the...

According to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, an overwhelming 70% of Americans have expressed that they want to combat climate change and that they would actively do something about it if they were given the opportunity. The only problem is that no one has been asking. That is until Raise Green Capital was established in 2021. Raise Green Capital is a climate investment platform a...

MRC aims to provide livelihood opportunities for refugees through skills-based education and social entrepreneurship. Their work is divided between two separate, yet connected enterprises: New Leaf Agriculture, and Open Arms Studio. Their work is built on the foundation of providing fair-wage jobs that offer opportunities to advance careers, while utilizing the array of skills and expertise of the...

There is so much power in finding a way to earn a good income for your family while meeting your creative interests and serving your community as a whole. Today’s guest, Joan Arwa Ogwang is the perfect example of this. In this episode of Next Economy Now, Joan tells us all about her incredible Solarfire project. For our show notes, visit:  https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/joan-arwa-ogwang Interest...

In this episode of the MBA series, we look at culture, values, and the importance of teams. LIFT Economy Worker-Owners Phoenix Soleil and Kevin Bayuk share their definitions of culture and the significance it holds for them, and their vision of the next economy. We discover the role of values in distilling culture and the process of arriving at shared values within an organization, as well as what...

The racial wealth gap is alarming in most industries and the food and farming industry is no exception. Today, we are joined by social entrepreneur and impact investor, Olivia Watkins, to discuss how her non-profit impact investing organization, Black Farmer Fund, is working to close the gap and create a financial institution that people can trust. In this episode, we learn about the Black Farmer...

How do you imagine the future? How do you intend to get there? What is the purpose of your actions? Asking these kinds of questions will help you better understand whether your vision and the vision of the people within your organization are aligned. During this episode, we explore some of the most common points of divergence amongst members of an organization, and how having uncomfortable convers...

To challenge, to question, to provoke. To nurture, to care, to accept. Through her community and media organization, Denizen, Jenny Stefanotti holds these forces in tension and in doing so, is co-creating the idea of a Next society that has curiosity, generosity, diversity, integrity, humility, and accountability at its core. During this episode, Jenny shares the founding story of Denizen (which n...

Today on the show we welcome Mosa Tsay, a Taiwanese-American cellist, first-generation artist, and worker-owner at Groupmuse. Tuning in you’ll hear Mosa share how the Groupmuse Foundation was founded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and how they helped musicians through job creation programs, fundraising, and by facilitating a direct link between audience members and musicians during lockdown...

How do the personal choices we make for our lives and daily habits impact the larger community and the future of a better world? This is a question that we don’t think is asked often enough. One of the founding principles of LIFT Economy and the Next Economy Podcast is the centering of collective needs instead of individual desires and today we are sharing some powerful strategies for how these ca...

Whether aware of it or not, and no matter how liberal one’s belief system may be, all white people are culturally conditioned into racism. Undoing this cultural programming requires conscious work, and our guests today have dedicated their lives to undoing their own conditioning and facilitating the transformation of others. In this episode, we discuss the far-reaching effects of cultural conditio...

Consumers need more from the companies and brands they support. Aspects such as governance, social impact, and environment are what consumers demand, requiring business and business leaders to operate and think differently. What is needed is a way for consumers to ensure they support businesses and products that help drive change in the world. Today’s guest is helping lead the charge to change the...

As we continue our MBA Series, we move on from the principles discussed in the previous episodes into the structures and frameworks that can take these principles into action and effect. While the foundational principles have a clear necessity, they are not enough to achieve the goals of the next economy and as we aim to change the systems that define our societies and world, we have to move beyon...

Amrita Wassan from the Center for Economic Democracy (CED) joins us on the show today to talk about their philosophy and experiences working towards shifting power and finding real solutions to the problems we face. Amrita is the Director of Programs at CED and is an educator, organizer, and solidarity economy practitioner. For our show notes, visit https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/amrita-wassan I...

If you, like many others, think that cooperatives are just another way to do business, get ready to reframe that idea. Our guest today is Rachel Isreeli, and as she explains during this episode, cooperatives are a form of community organizing that have the ability to transform existing power structures. For our show notes, visit https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/mba6 Interested in creating a world...

Today on the show we welcome Pegi Eyers, author of the award-winning book Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community , which examines the loss of our vital ethnocultural connection to tribe and place as well as why there is an evident trend of borrowing identities from other cultures. Peggy is based in Ontario, Canada and self-identifies as a Celtic animist. She i...

In episode 4, we shared the first five principles of Next Economy enterprises. Today, we cover principles six through ten and highlight some important examples of organizations and enterprises that are leading the way when it comes to true transformative systems change. For our show notes, visit https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/mba5 Interested in creating a world that works for the benefit of all...

The work to set up a better future is often difficult and unglamorous, and installing the economic and legal structures that are necessary to support the needs of all, requires a particular kind of determination and belief. This is known all too well by Derek Razo, our guest in this episode, who is the Co-Founder of Common Trust and the Purpose Foundation. For our show notes, visit https://www.lif...

We should be finding solutions--as a global community--to the environmental and social issues that we face . Our guest today, Karla Brollier, is focused on prioritizing those who are most affected. Karla is the Founder and Director of the Climate Justice Initiative (CJI). CJI is the only indigenous women-led and focused organization that addresses the multifaceted issue of climate change and clima...

Real change is about more than just talk and requires a committed practice from organizations and individuals. Hella Social Impact is a consultancy that is dedicated to facilitating the process of helping brands and organizations to show up authentically and impactfully for racial justice. On the show today we are so lucky to be joined by Hella's CEO and Founder, Lynn Johnson, as we have an i...

Join us for the next installment of our Next Economy MBA Series, in which we share the first five principles of a framework for a better future. These principles are evolving guideposts and design considerations that can help business owners move towards an economy that works for the benefit of all life. For our show notes, visit https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/mba3 Interested in creating a world...

Today’s guest is Jeff Clements, who serves as President of American Promise, a fast-growing, cross-partisan network of Americans working to win the next amendment to the US Constitution so that people, not money, govern America. Jeff has practiced law for three decades in public service and private practice and is the author of Corporations Are Not People: Reclaiming Democracy From Big Money and G...

We may not be to blame for climate change, systemic racism, and damaging levels of debt, but we are responsible for doing whatever we can to turn the tide on these issues that currently plague our world. In this episode of the MBA series, we delve into the problem with interest-bearing debt, why access (not availability) is the reason that 800 million people are chronically hungry, and how histori...

Today on the Next Economy Now Podcast, we welcome esteemed public intellectual and author Professor Robin D.G. Kelley. Robin is the Distinguished Professor and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History at UCLA and has researched and published extensively on the history of social movements in the US, the African Diaspora, and Africa. He has also spent time focusing on Black intellectuals, music an...

To kick off our new MBA Series, LIFT Partners Erin Axelrod and Kevin Bayuk sit down to give a run down of what our listeners can expect in the following podcasts, how it relates to the Next Economy MBA program, and to introduce some important terms and concepts that will be explored in future episodes. For our show notes, visit https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/mba1 Interested in creating a world t...