New Economy Coalition Member Packet AWS
New Economy Coalition Member Packet
Last updated 3/29/2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 WHO WE ARE ● Vision and Mission ● What is the New Economy? 5 HOW WE GOT HERE ● Timeline 7 MEMBERSHIP POLICIES ● Criteria for Membership ● Rights and Responsibilities of Membership ● Endorsements and Positions ● Denial or Termination of Membership 9 RESOURCES FOR MEMBERS ● AskNEC ● Member Directory ● Coalition Newsletter ● Working Groups ● Annual Meeting ● Electing Board Members ● Coalition Calls, Trainings and Webinars ● Events ● Blog and Media Support ● Social Media ● Jobs List ● Coalition Calendar ● Resource Consolidation 12 POINTS OF UNITY ● What do we mean by Points of Unity? ● Jemez Principles ● Allied Media Project Network Principles Keep in touch! Staff bios are available at www.neweconomy.net/staff and all staff emails follow the format [email protected] If you’re not sure who to contact, email Manager of Coalition Engagement Mike Sandmel at [email protected] , and he will direct you to the right member of our team.
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WHO WE ARE Our Vision At the New Economy Coalition, we’re driven by a belief that all our struggles —for racial, economic, and climate justice ; for true democratic governance and community ownership; for prosperity rooted in interdependence with the earth’s natural systems— are deeply interconnected. Rising to the challenge of building a better world demands that we fundamentally transform our economic and political systems. We must imagine and create a future where capital (wealth and the means of creating it) is a tool of the people, not the other way around. What we need is a new system—a new economy— that meets human needs, enhances the quality of life, and allows us to live in balance with nature. Far from a dream, this new economy is bursting forth through the cracks of the current system as people experiment with new forms of business, governance, and culture that give life to the claim that another world is possible. Our Mission: The New Economy Coalition (NEC) is a network of organizations imagining and building a future where people, communities, and ecosystems thrive. Together, we are creating deep change in our economy and politics—placing power in the hands of people and uprooting legacies of harm—so that a fundamentally new system can take root. Our network advances change in three main ways: 1) We convene and connect leaders to tackle common challenges in their work to build a new economy. 2) We amplify stories, tools, and analysis, weaving a collective new economy narrative that can build shared identity, shift culture and policy, and promote a clear vision of the next system . 3) We lift up the work of communities on the frontlines of interrelated economic and ecological crises who are organizing for transformative change, through right relationships and direct support.
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What is the New Economy? The “new economy” represents an emerging vision for a just, sustainable, and democratic future. Justice: A new economy must work for all people, starting with those who have historically been marginalized and exploited by racism, imperialism, classism, patriarchy, and other systems of oppression. Sustainability: A new economy supports regeneration of both human and natural systems. It builds community resilience by rooting wealth and power in place and in service of human needs on a finite planet. Democracy: A new economy incorporates democratic principles into the management of economic and civic life. We believe that centuries of economic extraction have undermined aspirations for a democratic society. Concentration of power in the hands of a privileged few is incompatible with the longterm health of our communities and our ecosystems. Structural racism and inequality, coupled with unsustainable consumption and an addiction to fossil fuels, allow this system to persist while spelling out a future with less opportunity and more vulnerability for the vast majority of people. We can choose to accept this fate or we can demand something different. All around us, innovators are building cooperative, ethical, and communityrooted enterprises, reclaiming the commons, and democratizing and reorienting finance. We are finding new ways to share skills and goods, measure success, and meet growing human needs on a finite planet. At the same time, our growing mobilizations in the streets are building power to resist and replace unjust systems. Through all of these efforts, a movement is emerging that could change our society and the world. NEC exists to support this movement. This movement is not ideologically rigid or onesizefitsall. Under unjust systems, exploited communities have long experimented with different ways of building community economies as a means of survival. These groups have deep and valuable experience imagining and creating alternatives. We celebrate and learn from the work that came before us, striving to listen and follow leadership from frontline communities1 in building this new economy for all.
We define “frontline communities” as those most impacted by interrelated economic and ecological crises past, present, and future who are organizing for transformative change—in particular, communities of color and poor and marginalized communities of all races. 1
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HOW WE GOT HERE 1980 The E. F. Schumacher Society was founded by Robert Swann and Susan Witt in Western Massachusetts. The Schumacher Society has played a pioneering role in the development of community land trusts and local currencies in the US and also continues to serves as a major hub for New Economic thinking, as well as local action, in the tradition of E. F. Schumacher. 1986 The New Economics Foundation (nef) was formed by environmentalists, economic justice activists, and heterodox economists in the UK to provide a home for economic thinking that challenged the freemarket fundamentalism of the day. nef has gone on to become a leading global voice for ideas like alternative economic indicators, social return on investment, timebanking, community development finance, and more. 2008 Shortly after the start of the financial crisis, leaders from both NEF and the E. F. Schumacher Society recognized the need for an organization that could help bring systemic economic alternatives into the mainstream in North America. They collaborated to create a new organization called the New Economics Institute . Around the same time, The New Economy Network was founded by a diverse group of individuals and organizations seeking to amplify their collective impact in service of a just and sustainable economy. 2012 In the spring the New Economics Institute held its first major event, the Strategies for a New Economy Conference at Bard College under the leadership of new president Bob Massie. This was just a few months after Occupy had opened up a unique space for a conversation about system change and the energy was high among the practitioners, activists, and thinkers (many of whom were New Economy Network members), who gathered to discuss visionary paths forward. A few months later the New Economics Institute and New Economy Network merged to create the New Economy Coalition , a new organization focused on connecting and amplifying New Economy organizing across the US and Canada. The Schumacher Center for a New Economics was formed as a separate organization to continue the enduring research, education, and regional economic development projects of the EF Schumacher Society. 2013 NEC started inviting organizations to participate in the coalition. We held our first New Economy Week , launched our youth and student regranting program, and held a national gathering for young people called ReRoute: Building Youth and Student Power for a New Economy . 2013 also marked several important developments in our organizational reprioritization of the need to center the experiences of communities on the frontlines of a broken system. The capstone of this process was the launch of our Racial and Economic Justice Initiative . 5
2014
In the midst of a year of building our network, growing our regranting initiative, listening and learning from many movement communities and seeding new partnerships and collaborations, NEC convened our network, along with over 700 allies, in Boston for CommonBound: Moving Together Toward a New Economy. After the conference, we held our first annual member meeting to inform the programming and resources that NEC provides its members. Having successfully navigated the launch of NEC, Bob Massie moved on to pursue leadership on sustainable economics outside the organization.
2015 NEC rebooted the Coalition, developed new membership materials and a new website, welcomed Jonathan Rosenthal as our new Executive Director, held a successful annual meeting in Philadelphia, hosted our largest New Economy Week to date, expanded our regranting program, worked with the Center for Story based Strategy and our members to better understand the narrative and communications needs of the network, and much much more. 2016
This year NEC is focused on expanding our membership, building member leadership opportunities, telling more and better New Economy stories, and moving resources into communities and projects where they can make a difference. We recently launched a new round of our regranting program. We’re working with over 30 teams of volunteer coordinators from in and around our network to organize CommonBound 2016 in Buffalo, NY.
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NEC MEMBERSHIP POLICIES Criteria for Membership Coalition membership is open to established organizations operating in the US and Canada2 who identify with our mission and vision statement and points of unity, are willing to adhere to membership policies, and consent to be publicly listed as NEC members. Membership is not currently open to individuals, sole proprietorships, municipalities, or informal organizations. Rights and Responsibilities of Membership Each member organization is entitled to one vote in our annual board election. Each member organization is welcome to participate in any open working groups such as the communications working group as well as to propose new working groups. In some instances NEC may chose to convene invitational gatherings of members as needed. Financial Support For The Network NEC membership is made available free of charge. To this point we have been able to provide member services by relying on generous financial support from foundations and private donors. In the coming years, as we develop increased resources for our membership, we will be aiming for a higher degree of member support. We look forward to working with you to find an appropriate way to make that happen. In the meantime, if your organization can afford to make a small annual contribution it would be greatly appreciated and would help bolster the sustainability of this network. For more info on supporting NEC financially contact Jamie Frank, development director, at [email protected]. Endorsements and Positions The word “coalition” can be used in a number of different ways. For many activists the term connotes a “community of purpose” that rallies around a specific issue or campaign and may cease to exist when that issue is addressed. These types of coalitions can be enormously effective. However, this is not how NEC understands itself. We see our jobs as helping to build a longterm “community of practice,” a network where New Economy activists can find one another, learn from one another, and participate in different kinds of movementbuilding. As such, we make it a practice to avoid speaking on behalf of our members or taking official positions on specific policy issues. If a member is organizing a campaign and wants to put together 2
Geographical exceptions may be made in some instances. Our focus on the US and Canada is informed by our own position and capacity as convenors as well as a recognition of the unique role that these countries play in the global economy.
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a list of endorsing organizations we are always happy to create opportunities for them to educate and enlist fellow NEC members. However, we are unlikely to take an official organizational stance on a policy issue and we will never claim to take any policy stance on behalf of our membership. This does not mean that we are unwilling to take a principled stand. In the past NEC has actively endorsed broad mobilizations such as the People’s Climate March and #BlackLivesMatter movement that has grown out of Florida, Ferguson, and New York City. Denial or Termination of Membership While we strive to maintain open doors toward all organizations that share a commitment to the New Economy, decisions on membership rest with the executive leadership of NEC. As a convening organization, we reserve the right to deny or cancel membership at our discretion. Reasons for termination of membership may include inactivity and unresponsiveness, failure to live up to the responsibilities of membership, or behavior that acts in strong opposition to our stated mission and points of unity. Organizations may submit a letter of appeal to the NEC board of directors who can choose to review whether a denial or termination of membership should be overturned. Member organizations, of course, retain the right to voluntarily end their membership at any time.
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RESOURCES FOR MEMBERS NEC is committed to providing members with opportunities to connect, learn, and increase their impact in service of a just, sustainable, and democratic economy. To that end we offer the following resources to our membership. AskNEC AskNEC, is a moderated private google group that serves as a forum for sharing major announcements and incubating new collaborations within this network. Members can post to the full group by emailing [email protected] . Moderators will attempt to approve messages as quickly as possible and will deny posts if they are abusive, spam, or were clearly intended to be direct replies rather than replies to the full group. Out of respect for each other’s inboxes we ask that you not add AskNEC to your general mailing list or other mass distribution lists. It should be noted that the makeup of the list includes representatives from all NEC member organizations, all NEC staff and board members, as well as a small handful of invited “observers.” Member Directory Individuals on the AskNEC list have access to a private directory of all other AskNEC members with information including organizational affiliation, job title, email, and some phone numbers. Coalition Newsletter Members will receive a periodic update of news and developments from across the network as well as introductions of any new coalition members. Working Groups In addition to maintaining AskNEC as a general list for discussion and collaboration, NEC seeks to host ongoing conversations on the issues that matter to our members. We currently host a working group for communications professionals that can be joined by contacting [email protected] . NEC members are encouraged to initiate new groups when they see an opportunity for collective impact or learning. In many instances NEC can offer staff capacity to support facilitation, outreach, and the production of deliverables. Members interested in starting a working group should contact [email protected] Electing Board Members According to current NEC bylaws, NEC members may elect up to one third of the Board of Directors. Elections occur at the Annual Meeting, and the number of seats open is determined by the Board in accordance with the bylaws. At the first Annual Meeting, the members elected three people to the NEC Board. In 2015 they elected two seats.
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Annual Meeting NEC hosts an annual members’ meeting, typically in the summer where members can meet one another facetoface, help shape NEC programming for the coming year, and elect a portion of NEC’s board of directors. The next annual meeting will take place July 11, 2016 (immediately after Commonbound) in Buffalo, NY. Coalition Calls, Trainings and Webinars When we started NEC we hosted a monthly membersonly webinar where different groups could share some of the work they were involved in. Some of these calls, like the ones we hosted in advance of the People’s Climate March and around the launch of This Changes Everything led to robust strategic conversations among allied
organizations. Other presentations, such as a 2014 session on the Labor Network for Sustainability and Ecotrust’s Alternative Jobs Plan for Keystone XL, were strong presentations that could have been appropriate for a broader public instead of for “membersonly.” Rather than just a single monthly call, we are now working with members to start offering even more opportunities for both networkwide strategic conversations and publicfacing webinars. We would also like to start partnering with different groups to host online trainings and skillshares for our members as well as the general public on a range of topics– from online organizing, to racial and economic justice skills, to cooperative financing, and more. If your organization would be interested in working with us to host a strategic conversation with coalition members, present new efforts or findings to the public, or lead a training, please contact Mike Sandmel at [email protected] Events NEC hosts a number of major events including our own international CommonBound conference, various youth and student gatherings, tracks and sessions at events with allied organizations, brownbag lunches at our Boston office, and a distributed New Economy Week. NEC members get the most advance notice of these events as well as priority in proposing sessions and providing content. Blog and Media Support Have something to say? Looking to reach new audiences? We’re always looking for contributions to our coalition blog and in many instances we can offer help getting your writing placed in larger publications. If you are interested in writing contact NEC Communications Director Eli Feghali at [email protected] Social media NEC has a substantial presence on Twitter and Facebook and has become a trusted source for information across a diversity of New Economy efforts. Members with something to share should contact NEC Communications Director Eli Feghali at [email protected] 10
Jobs List NEC Members looking to hire staff or interns are invited to share those opportunities with the larger network through AskNEC. We are currently working on developing infrastructure for an online New Economy Jobs clearinghouse. Coalition Calendar Hosting an event? NEC members can submit their events to our calendar. Contact [email protected] Resource Consolidation Part of growing the New Economy movement is giving people easy access to the best research, toolkits, and other resources on the New Economy. Our new site will make it easy to display and archive membergenerated resources online. POINTS OF UNITY What do we mean by points of unity? We value a diversity of tactics and strive to assemble organizations from a broad range of ideologies and strategies for making change. Within this context, we still believe that it is critical to develop collective principles or “points of unity” to guide our work together. Many of our allies and members—particularly those who represent networks themselves—have developed sets of principles to ground and guide their work. We put forward two such sets of principles here, which we believe to be particularly resonant for our network; the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing and the Allied Media Project Network Principles. We ask our members to engage with these and consider them as working norms for collaboration and movement building. Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing On December 68, 1996, forty people of color and EuropeanAmerican representatives met in Jemez, New Mexico, for the “Working Group Meeting on Globalization and Trade.” The Jemez meeting was hosted by the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice with the intention of hammering out common understandings between participants from different cultures, politics and organizations. The following “Jemez Principles” for democratic organizing were adopted by the participants. #1 Be Inclusive
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If we hope to achieve just societies that include all people in decisionmaking and assure that all people have an equitable share of the wealth and the work of this world, then we must work to build that kind of inclusiveness into our own movement in order to develop alternative policies and institutions to the treaties policies under neo liberalism. This requires more than tokenism, it cannot be achieved without diversity at the planning table, in staffing, and in coordination. It may delay achievement of other important goals, it will require discussion, hard work, patience, and advance planning. It may involve conflict, but through this conflict, we can learn better ways of working together. It’s about building alternative institutions, movement building, and not compromising out in order to be accepted into the antiglobalization club. #2 Emphasis on BottomUp Organizing To succeed, it is important to reach out into new constituencies, and to reach within all levels of leadership and membership base of the organizations that are already involved in our networks. We must be continually building and strengthening a base which provides our credibility, our strategies, mobilizations, leadership development, and the energy for the work we must do daily. #3 Let People Speak for Themselves We must be sure that relevant voices of people directly affected are heard. Ways must be provided for spokespersons to represent and be responsible to the affected constituencies. It is important for organizations to clarify their roles, and who they represent, and to assure accountability within our structures. #4 Work Together In Solidarity and Mutuality Groups working on similar issues with compatible visions should consciously act in solidarity, mutuality and support each other’s work. In the long run, a more significant step is to incorporate the goals and values of other groups with your own work, in order to build strong relationships. For instance, in the long run, it is more important that labor unions and community economic development projects include the issue of environmental sustainability in their own strategies, rather than just lending support to the environmental organizations. So communications, strategies and resource sharing is critical, to help us see our connections and build on these. #5 Build Just Relationships Among Ourselves We need to treat each other with justice and respect, both on an individual and an organizational level, in this country and across borders. Defining and developing “just relationships” will be a process that won’t happen overnight. It must include clarity about decisionmaking, sharing strategies, and resource distribution. There are clearly many skills necessary to succeed, and we need to determine the ways for those with different skills to coordinate and be accountable to one another. 12
#6 Commitment to SelfTransformation As we change societies, we must change from operating on the mode of individualism to communitycenteredness. We must “walk our talk.” We must be the values that we say we’re struggling for and we must be justice, be peace, be community. This and other environmental justice documents can be downloaded from: www.ejnet.org/ej/ Allied Media Project Network Principles Every year we face new challenges and opportunities. Our work changes constantly, and there is no perfect formula for how we do this work. Embedded throughout our organizing is a set of principles which we have distilled from listening to our network. ● We are making an honest attempt to solve the most significant problems of our day. ●
We are building a network of people and organizations that are developing longterm solutions based on the immediate confrontation of our most pressing problems.
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Wherever there is a problem, there are already people acting on the problem in some fashion. Understanding those actions is the starting point for developing effective strategies to resolve the problem, so we focus on the solutions, not the problems.
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We emphasize our own power and legitimacy.
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We presume our power, not our powerlessness.
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We spend more time building than attacking.
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We focus on strategies rather than issues.
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The strongest solutions happen through the process, not in a moment at the end of the process.
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The most effective strategies for us are the ones that work in situations of scarce resources and intersecting systems of oppression because those solutions tend to be the most holistic and sustainable.
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Place is important. (For the AMC , Detroit is important as a source of innovative, collaborative, lowresource solutions. Detroit gives the [allied media] conference a sense of place, just as each of the conference participants bring their own sense of place with them to the conference.)
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We encourage people to engage with their whole selves, not just with one part of their identity.
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We begin by listening.
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