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/mba13Send us a textJoin our fall cohort of the Next Economy MBA, beginning September 30th! Join an alumni community of 700+ entrepreneurs, activists, and artists working to transform our economy for the benefit of all life. Plus, save 20% on tuition when you register before August 11th, 2025.Learn more ➡️ http://lifteconomy.com/mba Current federal policy decisions are affecting businesses and workers in our community in big ways. Actions like the recent tariffs and funding freezes have real-world consequences. American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN) is collecting stories to push for smarter, more sustainable policies. Add your voice to the movement: https://bit.ly/ASBNTellYourStorySupport the show

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 and the first inclusive funding portal in the US with a specific focus on climate solution projects with a social mission. We are joined today by its co-founder and CEO, Franz Hochstrasser, to talk about how this company was founded, why they saw a need for it, and how they are empowering a new league of investors to help combat climate change. For our show notes, visit https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/franz-hochstrasserSend us a textJoin our fall cohort of the Next Economy MBA, beginning September 30th! Join an alumni community of 700+ entrepreneurs, activists, and artists working to transform our economy for the benefit of all life. Plus, save 20% on tuition when you register before August 11th, 2025.Learn more ➡️ http://lifteconomy.com/mba Current federal policy decisions are affecting businesses and workers in our community in big ways. Actions like the recent tariffs and funding freezes have real-world consequences. American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN) is collecting stories to push for smarter, more sustainable policies. Add your voice to the movement: https://bit.ly/ASBNTellYourStorySupport the show

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 their workers. For full episode details, visit: https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/mrcSend us a textJoin our fall cohort of the Next Economy MBA, beginning September 30th! Join an alumni community of 700+ entrepreneurs, activists, and artists working to transform our economy for the benefit of all life. Plus, save 20% on tuition when you register before August 11th, 2025.Learn more ➡️ http://lifteconomy.com/mba Current federal policy decisions are affecting businesses and workers in our community in big ways. Actions like the recent tariffs and funding freezes have real-world consequences. American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN) is collecting stories to push for smarter, more sustainable policies. Add your voice to the movement: https://bit.ly/ASBNTellYourStorySupport the show

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-ogwangSend us a textJoin our fall cohort of the Next Economy MBA, beginning September 30th! Join an alumni community of 700+ entrepreneurs, activists, and artists working to transform our economy for the benefit of all life. Plus, save 20% on tuition when you register before August 11th, 2025.Learn more ➡️ http://lifteconomy.com/mba Current federal policy decisions are affecting businesses and workers in our community in big ways. Actions like the recent tariffs and funding freezes have real-world consequences. American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN) is collecting stories to push for smarter, more sustainable policies. Add your voice to the movement: https://bit.ly/ASBNTellYourStorySupport the show

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’s required to build a high-performing, accountable, and diverse team.For our show notes, visit https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/mba12Send us a textJoin our fall cohort of the Next Economy MBA, beginning September 30th! Join an alumni community of 700+ entrepreneurs, activists, and artists working to transform our economy for the benefit of all life. Plus, save 20% on tuition when you register before August 11th, 2025.Learn more ➡️ http://lifteconomy.com/mba Current federal policy decisions are affecting businesses and workers in our community in big ways. Actions like the recent tariffs and funding freezes have real-world consequences. American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN) is collecting stories to push for smarter, more sustainable policies. Add your voice to the movement: https://bit.ly/ASBNTellYourStorySupport the show

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 Fund’s six core values, and how they’re investing in Black farmers and food businesses to create sustainable and equitable food systems. Olivia shares her vision for the growth of the organization, its impactful ways to shift power continuously, and more! Tune in to find out how BFF is assisting the Black farming community, and what you can do to support them in doing so!For our show notes, visit https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/olivia-watkinsSend us a textJoin our fall cohort of the Next Economy MBA, beginning September 30th! Join an alumni community of 700+ entrepreneurs, activists, and artists working to transform our economy for the benefit of all life. Plus, save 20% on tuition when you register before August 11th, 2025.Learn more ➡️ http://lifteconomy.com/mba Current federal policy decisions are affecting businesses and workers in our community in big ways. Actions like the recent tariffs and funding freezes have real-world consequences. American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN) is collecting stories to push for smarter, more sustainable policies. Add your voice to the movement: https://bit.ly/ASBNTellYourStorySupport the show

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 conversations early on can help prevent problems from occurring further down the road. We are all unique individuals, so some level of divergence is unavoidable, but before you embark on a mission of transformation, it’s important to ensure that those divergences are not going to cost you your cause. For our show notes, visit https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/mba10Send us a textJoin our fall cohort of the Next Economy MBA, beginning September 30th! Join an alumni community of 700+ entrepreneurs, activists, and artists working to transform our economy for the benefit of all life. Plus, save 20% on tuition when you register before August 11th, 2025.Learn more ➡️ http://lifteconomy.com/mba Current federal policy decisions are affecting businesses and workers in our community in big ways. Actions like the recent tariffs and funding freezes have real-world consequences. American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN) is collecting stories to push for smarter, more sustainable policies. Add your voice to the movement: https://bit.ly/ASBNTellYourStorySupport the show

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 now has a total reach on Clubhouse of over 85000 people,) how she makes the Denizen content widely accessible while still being valuable to seasoned experts, examples that highlight the cooperative nature of the organization, and what her role as a steward of the community entails.  For our show notes, visit https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/jenny-stefanottiSend us a textJoin our fall cohort of the Next Economy MBA, beginning September 30th! Join an alumni community of 700+ entrepreneurs, activists, and artists working to transform our economy for the benefit of all life. Plus, save 20% on tuition when you register before August 11th, 2025.Learn more ➡️ http://lifteconomy.com/mba Current federal policy decisions are affecting businesses and workers in our community in big ways. Actions like the recent tariffs and funding freezes have real-world consequences. American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN) is collecting stories to push for smarter, more sustainable policies. Add your voice to the movement: https://bit.ly/ASBNTellYourStorySupport the show

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 restrictions. We talk with Mosa about how Groupmuse went from being a private company to being a worker-run co-op and the impact this has had on the organization as a whole. She also unpacks the role of the Musical Council, and how it has allowed musicians to express their views and have an impact on the decisions that directly affect them.For our show notes, visit https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/mba9Send us a textJoin our fall cohort of the Next Economy MBA, beginning September 30th! Join an alumni community of 700+ entrepreneurs, activists, and artists working to transform our economy for the benefit of all life. Plus, save 20% on tuition when you register before August 11th, 2025.Learn more ➡️ http://lifteconomy.com/mba Current federal policy decisions are affecting businesses and workers in our community in big ways. Actions like the recent tariffs and funding freezes have real-world consequences. American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN) is collecting stories to push for smarter, more sustainable policies. Add your voice to the movement: https://bit.ly/ASBNTellYourStorySupport the show

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 can actually be brought into alignment. For our show notes, visit https://www.lifteconomy.com/blog/mba8Send us a textJoin our fall cohort of the Next Economy MBA, beginning September 30th! Join an alumni community of 700+ entrepreneurs, activists, and artists working to transform our economy for the benefit of all life. Plus, save 20% on tuition when you register before August 11th, 2025.Learn more ➡️ http://lifteconomy.com/mba Current federal policy decisions are affecting businesses and workers in our community in big ways. Actions like the recent tariffs and funding freezes have real-world consequences. American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN) is collecting stories to push for smarter, more sustainable policies. Add your voice to the movement: https://bit.ly/ASBNTellYourStorySupport the show