reRoute: Building Youth and Student Power for a New Economy, July 19-21, New York City

Announcing reRoute: Building Youth and Student Power for a New Economy

This summer join a diverse new generation of practitioners and organizers from across the US and Canada to share strategies, tools, and stories about our work creating a solidarity economy from the ground up in our communities and on our campuses. reRoute: Building Youth and Student Power for a New Economy will bring together under-40 activists dedicated to systemic change for three days, July 19-21 at New York University. 

The event is sliding scale and scholarships are available. Housing deadline is June 12th. You can learn more at www.neweconomicsinstitute/reroute or by emailing cheyennaweber@neweconomicsinstitute.org.

Full convergence program TBA but confirmed panels and workshops include:

*Pathways to a New Economy

with David Woods, Institute for Responsible Investment; Maliha Safiri, US Solidarity Economy Network; Alexa Bradley, On the Commons; Ed Whitfield, Fund for Democratic Communities, moderated by Atlee McFellin, Symcenter

*Making a Living in the New Economy

with Elandria Williams, Highlander Center; Farah Tanis, Black Women's Blueprint; Jessie Reilly, TimebanksNYC; Juliet Schor, Boston College, moderated by Joshua Stephens, NYC-based co-op developer

*Financing a New Economy

with Deyanira del Rio, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project; Steve Wong, the Working World; Lauren Ressler, Responsible Endowments Coalition, moderated by Kenneth Edusei, SolidarityNYC

*Teaching and Learning a New Economics

with Renaud Girac, University of Quebec; Brian Kelly, US Society for Ecological Economics; Olivia Geiger, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, moderated by Keith Harrington, New School

*Success Stories from the New Economics Institute Campus Network

with Sachie Hopkins Hayakawa, Swarthmore Mountain Justice; Marcie Hawkins-Smith, North Carolina Student New Economy Coalition; Joel Williams, the Oak Tree Spokane; David Porinchok, Northern Arizona University Action Research Program, moderated by Farhad Ebrahimi, The Chorus Foundation

Fossil Fuel Divestment and Beyond – Responsible Endowments Coalition

Possibilities For Participatory Budgeting – Participatory Budgeting Greensboro

Food Justice and The New Economy – CoFED and Mariposa Food Co-op

Building Political Power for a New Economy– SolidarityNYC/Philadelphia 

Co-op Alliance

Can The Economics Curriculum Be Reformed?  Lessons From Activists In France and Quebec – PEPS / Horizons Economiques

Universities As Anchors For A Sustainable And Just Food Economy – Real Food Challenge

Mapping The New Economy – Shareable/Data Commons Project/Solidarity NYC

How To Start A Worker Co-op – Cooperative Development Institute

Non-hierarchical Staffing Structures – North American Students Of Cooperation

Bringing Solidarity Home: creating alternative housing economies through 

cooperative living – NASCO

Timebanks From New York to California – Timebanks NYC/Bay Area Community Exchange

Cooperative and Democratic Leadership--AORTA

We'll also be offering solidarity economy tours of Brooklyn on Friday.

Empowering Economics: How Worker-Owned Cooperatives and TimeBanks Re-Value Labor and Community

University of Southern Maine Sociology Professor Ed Collom will be speaking at Local Sprouts Café on Thursday, May 31st at 2pm on “Empowering Economics: How Worker-Owned Cooperatives and TimeBanks Re-Value Labor and Community.” Other speakers include Jonah Fertig and Heather Blersch of Local Sprouts Cooperative, and Orion Breen of Hour Exchange Portland. The event is being presented by  the University of Southern Maine Student Sociology Association.

Ed Collom’s research focuses on community currency (an alternative to the mainstream economy), home schooling (an alternative to the public education system), and workplace democracy (an alternative to bureaucratic control structures). A book by Ed Collom with Judy Lasker of Lehigh and Corinne Kyriacou of Hofstra entitled Equal Time, Equal Value: Community Currencies and Time Banking in the USA will be published this August through Ashgate Publishing. http://www.usm.maine.edu/sociology/ed-collom

Hour Exchange Portland creates an alternative local economy of neighbors helping neighbors. Neighbors exchange service cash-free and tax-free based on the currency of time, where everyone’s time is equal no matter what the service being provided. Over the years Hour Exchange Portland members have exchanged over 150,000 hours of community service and provided over 25,000 hours of free health care. Anyone interested in finding out more or joining Hour Exchange Portland can visit their website www.HourExchangePortland.org<http://www.hourexchangeportland.org/>

Local Sprouts Cooperative is worker-owned cooperative that provides local and organic food and holistic learning through cooking food for our community. They have a Cafe on Congress St, provide local and organic catering and learning programs in collaboration with non-profits and schools in Portland. www.localsproutscooperative.com The United Nations has declared 2012 International Year of Cooperatives.

WHO: University of Southern Maine Sociology Professor Ed Collom, Jonah Fertig and Heather Blersch of Local Sprouts Cooperative, Orion Breen of Hour Exchange Portland, and USM’s Student Sociology Association
WHAT: Empowering Economics: How Worker-Owned Cooperatives and TimeBanks Re-Value Labor and Community
WHERE: Local Sprouts Café, 649 Congress Street, Portland, ME
WHEN: May 31st at 2pm

For more info contact hourexchangeportland@gmail.com of call 207-619-4437.
http://www.facebook.com/events/348463738554653/
Also mentioned in this Portland Daily Sun article:
http://portlanddailysun.me/index.php/opinion/columns/6881-maine-needs-a-healthy-head-start-or-we-will-fall-behind

Manos Unidas faces demolition order

CDI has been working with Manos Unidas, a multi-cultural educational and social cooperative doing outreach to immigrants, youth, homeless, and others in the Pittsfield, MA area for several years. They have been struggling to raise funds to repair their beloved community center, which was damaged in a fire and condemned by the City. Now, at the last moment, they have obtained an angel investment, but the City is still planning to demolish the building on Monday, January 16.

Manos Unidas requests that people call Mayor Bianchi at 413-499-9321 or Meredith O'Leary and Dr. Phillip Adamo at 413-448-9742 to stay the demolition of their historic building. For more on the story, see this YNN, Your News Now broadcast: http://shar.es/WiVk7.

UPDATE: The City has given Manos Unidas one week to pull together the information needed. See http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_19803728.