Taking Back Our Economy

Welcome to the ninth CEA Presents Taking Back Our Economy podcast series hosted by Tim Jenkin. Today, our fellow founders of the Community Exchange Alliance: Anitha Beberg, Christine Gray, Edgar Cahn, and Martin Simon are joined by a special guest, Tom Greco, who is “a preeminent scholar, author, educator, and community economist, who, for more than 35 years, has been working at the leading edge of transformational restructuring. He is widely regarded as a leading authority on moneyless exchange systems, community currencies, financial innovation, and community economic development, and is a sought after speaker internationally.” In this episode, we will discuss the role of alternative means of exchange plays in our present troubled economy.

Resource Links: 

https://beyondmoney.net/ What We Might Learn from the Amish https://beyondmoney.net/2021/05/10/how-then-shall-we-live-what-we-might-learn-from-the-amish/ 

Fundamentals of Alternative Currencies and Value Measurement https://beyondmoney.net/monographs/fundamentals-of-alternative-currencies-and-value-measurement/

Tom's book: https://beyondmoney.net/the-end-of-money-and-the-future-of-civilization/

The aim of Community Exchange Alliance is to form a learning community where people come to share their experience, information, and how-to advice about exchange systems such as sharing, swapping, gifting, bartering and local community currencies and also about networks of exchange systems. The Alliance was formed by Anitha Beberg, Edgar Cahn, Christine Gray, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon, a group of individuals who have dedicated, between them, over one hundred person-years to helping grow different types of local means of exchange that can help to build strong, resilient communities where people feel valued for their contributions and are supported in their needs. We believe that bringing leaders and members of exchange systems together to share what they have done, what they have learned, the tools that they have developed and how it has changed their community, will bring insights to those with long experience in exchange systems, as well as, helpful information for newcomers to this growing movement.   If this podcast inspires you to learn more check out our website at http://www.communityexchangealliance.org​ or follow us on twitter @comm_exchange. You can subscribe to this channel for upcoming sharing sessions. Thank you for listening.

Welcome to the eighth CEA Presents Taking Back Our Economy podcast series hosted by Martin Simon Today, our fellow founders of the Community Exchange Alliance: Anitha Beberg, Christine Gray, Edgar Cahn, and Tim Jenkin are joined by a special guest, Cormac Russell, from from Nurture Development in Dublin, Ireland. Our topic today is "Rekindling Democracy through Active Citizenship and Community Building." 

In this episode, we will go over how building the core economy/the unpaid care economy of home, family, neighborhood and community helps strengthen democracy.   Cormac Russell is a social explorer, an author and a much sought after speaker. He is Managing Director of Nurture Development and a faculty member of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute.  Over the last 25 years he has inspired and trained communities, statutory agencies, NGOs and governments in community-led development in Africa, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe and North America. His most recent book is entitled: Rekindling Democracy – A Professional’s Guide to Working in Citizen Space 

Resource Links: 

https://www.nurturedevelopment.org/ 

http://rekindlingdemocracy.net/ 

https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute/Pages/default.aspx  

The aim of Community Exchange Alliance is to form a learning community where people come to share their experience, information, and how-to advice about exchange systems such as sharing, swapping, gifting, bartering and local community currencies and also about networks of exchange systems. The Alliance was formed by Anitha Beberg, Edgar Cahn, Christine Gray, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon, a group of individuals who have dedicated, between them, over one hundred person-years to helping grow different types of local means of exchange that can help to build strong, resilient communities where people feel valued for their contributions and are supported in their needs. We believe that bringing leaders and members of exchange systems together to share what they have done, what they have learned, the tools that they have developed and how it has changed their community, will bring insights to those with long experience in exchange systems, as well as, helpful information for newcomers to this growing movement.  

If this podcast inspires you to learn more check out our website at http://www.communityexchangealliance.org​ or follow us on twitter @comm_exchange. You can subscribe to this channel for upcoming sharing sessions. Thank you for listening.

Welcome to the seventh CEA Presents Taking Back Our Economy podcast series hosted by Dr Edgar Cahn. Today, our fellow founders of the Community Exchange Alliance: Anitha Beberg, Christine Gray, and Tim Jenkin are joined by a special guest, John McKnight, from the ABCD Institute. Our topic today is "Neighborhood Planning From the Ground Up: Building on people’s strengths."

“John was raised a traveling Ohioan, having lived in seven neighborhoods and small towns in the eighteen years before he left to attend Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois. He graduated into the U.S. Navy, where he had three years of “postgraduate” education in Asia during the Korean War.

He returned to Chicago and worked for several activist organizations, including the Chicago Commission for Human Relations, the first municipal civil rights agency in the United States, where he learned the Alinsky approach to community organizing. He then became the Director of the Illinois American Civil Liberties Union, and organized local chapters throughout the state.

In the John Kennedy administration, John was recruited into the federal government, where he worked with a new agency that created the affirmative action program. Later, he was appointed the Midwest director of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, where he worked with local civil rights and neighborhood organizations. 

In 1969, John’s alma mater, Northwestern University, invited him to return and help initiate a new interdisciplinary department, The Center for Urban Affairs, to conduct research into urban change agents and progressive urban policy. At the center and its successor, the Institute for Policy Research, the work of John and his colleagues neighborhoods focused on the usefulness of local resources, capacities, and relationships, leading to a ground-breaking guide: Building Communities from the Inside Out that describing a new approach to community building that became a major development strategy practiced in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. As an aside, it was during this time that John was one of the trainers of Barack Obama as Obama learned the skills of community organizing. John is also the author of The Careless Society, a classic critique of professionalized social services and a celebration of communities’ ability to heal themselves from within. He also wrote The Four-Legged Stool which explains the differences between action by hierarchical institutions and communities. John joined Peter Block in practical explorations of how communities become 'villages' with the capacity to raise their children- The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods.”

The aim of Community Exchange Alliance is to form a learning community where people come to share their experience, information, and how-to advice about exchange systems such as sharing, swapping, gifting, bartering and local community currencies and also about networks of exchange systems. The Alliance was formed by Anitha Beberg, Edgar Cahn, Christine Gray, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon, a group of individuals who have dedicated, between them, over one hundred person-years to helping grow different types of local means of exchange that can help to build strong, resilient communities where people feel valued for their contributions and are supported in their needs. We believe that bringing leaders and members of exchange systems together to share what they have done, what they have learned, the tools that they have developed and how it has changed their community, will bring insights to those with long experience in exchange systems, as well as, helpful information for newcomers to this growing movement.

If this podcast inspires you to learn more check out our website at http://www.communityexchangealliance.org or follow us on twitter @comm_exchange.

Welcome to the seventh CEA Presents Taking Back Our Economy podcast series hosted by Dr Edgar Cahn. Today, our fellow founders of the Community Exchange Alliance: Anitha Beberg, Christine Gray, and Tim Jenkin are joined by a special guest, John McKnight, from the ABCD Institute. Our topic today is "Neighborhood Planning From the Ground Up: Building on people’s strengths."

“John was raised a traveling Ohioan, having lived in seven neighborhoods and small towns in the eighteen years before he left to attend Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois. He graduated into the U.S. Navy, where he had three years of “postgraduate” education in Asia during the Korean War.

He returned to Chicago and worked for several activist organizations, including the Chicago Commission for Human Relations, the first municipal civil rights agency in the United States, where he learned the Alinsky approach to community organizing. He then became the Director of the Illinois American Civil Liberties Union, and organized local chapters throughout the state. 

In the John Kennedy administration, John was recruited into the federal government, where he worked with a new agency that created the affirmative action program. Later, he was appointed the Midwest director of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, where he worked with local civil rights and neighborhood organizations.

In 1969, John’s alma mater, Northwestern University, invited him to return and help initiate a new interdisciplinary department, The Center for Urban Affairs, to conduct research into urban change agents and progressive urban policy. At the center and its successor, the Institute for Policy Research, the work of John and his colleagues neighborhoods focused on the usefulness of local resources, capacities, and relationships, leading to a ground-breaking guide: Building Communities from the Inside Out that describing a new approach to community building that became a major development strategy practiced in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. As an aside, it was during this time that John was one of the trainers of Barack Obama as Obama learned the skills of community organizing. John is also the author of The Careless Society, a classic critique of professionalized social services and a celebration of communities’ ability to heal themselves from within. He also wrote The Four-Legged Stool which explains the differences between action by hierarchical institutions and communities. John joined Peter Block in practical explorations of how communities become 'villages' with the capacity to raise their children."

The aim of Community Exchange Alliance is to form a learning community where people come to share their experience, information, and how-to advice about exchange systems such as sharing, swapping, gifting, bartering and local community currencies and also about networks of exchange systems. The Alliance was formed by Anitha Beberg, Edgar Cahn, Christine Gray, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon, a group of individuals who have dedicated, between them, over one hundred person-years to helping grow different types of local means of exchange that can help to build strong, resilient communities where people feel valued for their contributions and are supported in their needs. We believe that bringing leaders and members of exchange systems together to share what they have done, what they have learned, the tools that they have developed and how it has changed their community, will bring insights to those with long experience in exchange systems, as well as, helpful information for newcomers to this growing movement.

If this podcast inspires you to learn more check out our website at http://www.communityexchangealliance.org or follow us on twitter @comm_exchange. You can subscribe to this channel for upcoming sharing sessions. Thank you for listening.

Welcome to the sixth CEA Presents Taking Back Our Economy podcast series hosted by Anitha Beberg. Today, our fellow founders of the Community Exchange Alliance: Christine Gray, Edgar Cahn, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon are joined by a special guest, Bruce Anderson, from the Core Gift Institute. Our topic today is "What Are Our Core Gifts and Why They Matter?"

Bruce Anderson is a recognized speaker, community activist, and leadership coach. Co-founding Community Activators in 1990, he collaborated with other groups and developed extensive training and action-based materials about how to identify and use gifts. These methods are used around the world by a wide range of individuals and groups including executive coaches, youth programs, therapists, social workers, employment programs, faith congregations, and mental health agencies. The Core Gift Institute was founded in order to deepen and carry forward the work of gifts. It was designed to be a welcoming place for finding information about discovering and giving gifts and increasing health and abundance in individuals and communities. With degrees in Education and Rehabilitation Administration, Bruce brings a unique blend of experiences, including being the mayor of a town, teacher, mediator, executive director of social service agencies, design/build home contractor, and commercial fisherman. He is an adjunct faculty member at University of California and Faculty-Fellow at the Asset-Based Community Development Center at DePaul University in Chicago.

Bruce is known for bringing intriguing ideas from other cultures and times, personal stories, and practical ideas into the workshops and sessions he leads. He is the author of The Teacher’s Gift and two audio CDs: Hope at Work: Creating Positive, Resilient Organizations, and Our Door is Open: Creating Welcoming Cultures in Helping Organizations.

Resource Links:

https://www.coregift.org/

Gifts and Thriving Slide: https://communityexchangealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GiftsAndThriving.pdf

Gift Basket Slide: https://communityexchangealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GiftBasket.pdf

The aim of Community Exchange Alliance is to form a learning community where people come to share their experience, information, and how-to advice about exchange systems such as sharing, swapping, gifting, bartering and local community currencies and also about networks of exchange systems.

The Alliance was formed by Anitha Beberg, Edgar Cahn, Christine Gray, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon, a group of individuals who have dedicated, between them, over one hundred person-years to helping grow different types of local means of exchange that can help to build strong, resilient communities where people feel valued for their contributions and are supported in their needs. We believe that bringing leaders and members of exchange systems together to share what they have done, what they have learned, the tools that they have developed and how it has changed their community, will bring insights to those with long experience in exchange systems, as well as, helpful information for newcomers to this growing movement. If this podcast inspires you to learn more check out our website at http://www.communityexchangealliance.org​ or follow us on twitter @comm_exchange. You can subscribe to this channel for upcoming sharing sessions. Thank you for listening.

Welcome to the sixth CEA Presents Taking Back Our Economy podcast series hosted by Anitha Beberg. Today, our fellow founders of the Community Exchange Alliance: Christine Gray, Edgar Cahn, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon are joined by a special guest, Bruce Anderson, from the Core Gift Institute. Our topic today is "What Are Our Core Gifts and Why They Matter?"  

Bruce Anderson is a recognized speaker, community activist, and leadership coach. Co-founding Community Activators in 1990, he collaborated with other groups and developed extensive training and action-based materials about how to identify and use gifts. These methods are used around the world by a wide range of individuals and groups including executive coaches, youth programs, therapists, social workers, employment programs, faith congregations, and mental health agencies. The Core Gift Institute was founded to deepen and carry forward the work of gifts. It was designed to be a welcoming place for finding information about discovering and giving gifts and increasing health and abundance in individuals and communities. With degrees in Education and Rehabilitation Administration, Bruce brings a unique blend of experiences, including being the mayor of a town, teacher, mediator, executive director of social service agencies, design/build home contractor, and commercial fisherman. He is an adjunct faculty member at University of California and Faculty-Fellow at the Asset-Based Community Development Center at DePaul University in Chicago.  Bruce is known for bringing intriguing ideas from other cultures and times, personal stories, and practical ideas into the workshops and sessions he leads. He is the author of The Teacher’s Gift and two audio CDs: Hope at Work: Creating Positive, Resilient Organizations, and Our Door is Open: Creating Welcoming Cultures in Helping Organizations.  

Resource Links:  https://www.coregift.org/ Gifts and Thriving Slide: https://communityexchangealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GiftsAndThriving.pdf Gift Basket Slide: https://communityexchangealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GiftBasket.pdf  

The aim of Community Exchange Alliance is to form a learning community where people come to share their experience, information, and how-to advice about exchange systems such as sharing, swapping, gifting, bartering and local community currencies and also about networks of exchange systems. The Alliance was formed by Anitha Beberg, Edgar Cahn, Christine Gray, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon, a group of individuals who have dedicated, between them, over one hundred person-years to helping grow different types of local means of exchange that can help to build strong, resilient communities where people feel valued for their contributions and are supported in their needs. We believe that bringing leaders and members of exchange systems together to share what they have done, what they have learned, the tools that they have developed and how it has changed their community, will bring insights to those with long experience in exchange systems, as well as, helpful information for newcomers to this growing movement.  

If this podcast inspires you to learn more check out our website at http://www.communityexchangealliance.org​ or follow us on twitter @comm_exchange. You can subscribe to this channel for upcoming sharing sessions. Thank you for listening.

Welcome to the fifth CEA Presents Taking Back Our Economy podcast series hosted by Christine Gray. Today, our fellow founders of the Community Exchange Alliance: Anitha Beberg, Edgar Cahn, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon are joined by a special guest, Gabriele Donati,  Founder of TimeRepublik. Gabriele started his timebanking software company with his high school friend Karim Varini in 2012. Our topic today is "People First. Software Second. The Need for Community and Relationships." 

The aim of the Alliance is to form a learning community where people come to share their experience, information, and how-to advice about exchange systems such as sharing, swapping, gifting, bartering and local community currencies and also about networks of exchange systems. The Alliance was formed by Anitha Beberg, Edgar Cahn, Christine Gray, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon, a group of individuals who have dedicated, between them, over one hundred person-years to helping grow different types of local means of exchange that can help to build strong, resilient communities where people feel valued for their contributions and are supported in their needs. We believe that bringing leaders and members of exchange systems together to share what they have done, what they have learned, the tools that they have developed and how it has changed their community, will bring insights to those with long experience in exchange systems, as well as, helpful information for newcomers to this growing movement.  If this podcast inspires you to learn more check out our website at http://www.communityexchangealliance.org​ or follow us on twitter @comm_exchange. You can subscribe to this channel for upcoming sharing sessions. Thank you for listening.

Welcome to the fourth installment of CEA Presents Taking Back Our Economy podcast series hosted today by Edgar Cahn. Today, our fellow founders of the Community Exchange Alliance: Anitha Beberg, Christine Gray, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon are joined by a special guest, Dr Polly Wiessner, a professor of anthropology at Arizona State University. In her 30 year career as an anthropologist, Dr Wiessner studied indigenous exchange systems and how the introduction of modern money-based economies has impacted them. She has lived and worked with the Bushmen of the Kalahari and the indigenous peoples of Papua New Guinea as a participant researcher. In Papua New Guinea, she helped the indigenous peoples secure government funding to create a cultural center where tribal members continue their language and customs and their system of justice. The aim of the Alliance is to form a learning community where people come to share their experience, information, and how-to advice about exchange systems such as sharing, swapping, gifting, bartering and local community currencies and also about networks of exchange systems. The Alliance was formed by Anitha Beberg, Edgar Cahn, Christine Gray, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon, a group of individuals who have dedicated, between them, over one hundred person-years to helping grow different types of local means of exchange that can help to build strong, resilient communities where people feel valued for their contributions and are supported in their needs. We believe that bringing leaders and members of exchange systems together to share what they have done, what they have learned, the tools that they have developed and how it has changed their community, will bring insights to those with long experience in exchange systems as well as helpful information for newcomers to this growing movement.  If this podcast inspires you to learn more check out our website at http://www.communityexchangealliance.org or follow us on twitter @comm_exchange. You can subscribe to this channel for upcoming sharing sessions. Thank you for listening.

Welcome to the third Community Exchange Alliance Presents Taking Back Our Economy podcast series hosted by Tim Jenkin. Today, our fellow founders of the Community Exchange Alliance: Anitha Beberg, Edgar Cahn, Christine Gray and Martin Simon are joined by a special guest, Will Ruddick, who has been promoting community currencies for many years in Kenya.

In this episode, the topic of discussion will be, “How money has shaped our world, and what our world would be like if non-monetary means of exchange are to become predominant.”

The focus will mainly be on the second part of the topic, namely, what would the world look like if non-monetary exchange became predominant, but in order to do that we need to understand how money has shaped our present world. And even before we do that, we need to define what we mean by ‘money’!

The aim of the Alliance is to form a learning community where people come to share their experience, information, and how-to advice about exchange systems such as sharing, swapping, gifting, bartering and local community currencies and also about networks of exchange systems.

The Alliance was formed by Anitha Beberg, Edgar Cahn, Christine Gray, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon, a group of individuals who have dedicated, between them, over one hundred person-years to helping grow different types of local means of exchange that can help to build strong, resilient communities where people feel valued for their contributions and are supported in their needs.

We believe that bringing leaders and members of exchange systems together to share what they have done, what they have learned, the tools that they have developed and how it has changed their community, will bring insights to those with long experience in exchange systems as well as helpful information for newcomers to this growing movement.

If this podcast inspires you to learn more check out our website at http://www.communityexchangealliance.org or follow us on twitter @comm_exchange. You can subscribe to this channel for upcoming sharing sessions. Thank you for listening.

Citations:

https://www.grassrootseconomics.org Grassroots Economics is a non-profit foundation that seeks to empower marginalized communities to take charge of their own livelihoods and economic future.

http://bloxberg.org Blockchain Infrastructure for Scientific Research

The bloxberg blockchain is a decentralized research infrastructure governed by various research institutes and scientists that provide services for science.

Welcome to the third Community Exchange Alliance Presents Taking Back Our Economy podcast series hosted by Tim Jenkin. Today, our fellow founders of the Community Exchange Alliance: Anitha Beberg, Edgar Cahn, Christine Gray and Martin Simon are joined by a special guest, Will Ruddick, who has been promoting community currencies for many years in Kenya.

In this episode, the topic of discussion will be, “How money has shaped our world, and what our world would be like if non-monetary means of exchange are to become predominant.”

The focus will mainly be on the second part of the topic, namely, what would the world look like if non-monetary exchange became predominant, but in order to do that we need to understand how money has shaped our present world. And even before we do that, we need to define what we mean by ‘money’!

The aim of the Alliance is to form a learning community where people come to share their experience, information, and how-to advice about exchange systems such as sharing, swapping, gifting, bartering and local community currencies and also about networks of exchange systems.

The Alliance was formed by Anitha Beberg, Edgar Cahn, Christine Gray, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon, a group of individuals who have dedicated, between them, over one hundred person-years to helping grow different types of local means of exchange that can help to build strong, resilient communities where people feel valued for their contributions and are supported in their needs.

We believe that bringing leaders and members of exchange systems together to share what they have done, what they have learned, the tools that they have developed and how it has changed their community, will bring insights to those with long experience in exchange systems as well as helpful information for newcomers to this growing movement.

If this podcast inspires you to learn more check out our website at http://www.communityexchangealliance.org or follow us on twitter @comm_exchange. You can subscribe to this channel for upcoming sharing sessions. Thank you for listening.

Citations:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Boyle_(Moneyless_Man) Mark Boyle is an Irish activist and writer best known for founding the online Freeconomy Community, and for living without money since November 2008. His first book, The Moneyless Man: A Year of Freeconomic Living, was published in 2010.

https://www.grassrootseconomics.org Grassroots Economics is a non-profit foundation that seeks to empower marginalized communities to take charge of their own livelihoods and economic future.

http://bloxberg.org Blockchain Infrastructure for Scientific Research

The bloxberg blockchain is a decentralized research infrastructure governed by various research institutes and scientists that provide services for science.

Welcome to the second Community Exchange Alliance Presents Taking Back Our Economy podcast series hosted by Christine Gray. In this episode, the topic of discussion will be, "Is there a role for governments in community empowerment?" 1) Does taking money from the government inevitably compromise community empowerment?  2)How do governments do harm to community empowerment? 3)When have collaborative relationships between governments and communities worked well?  

The aim of the Alliance is to form a learning community where people come to share their experience, information, and how-to advice about exchange systems such as sharing, swapping, gifting, bartering and local community currencies and also about networks of exchange systems.  The Alliance was formed by Anitha Beberg, Edgar Cahn, Christine Gray, Tim Jenkin and Martin Simon, a group of individuals who have dedicated, between them, over one hundred person-years to helping grow different types of local means of exchange that can help to build strong, resilient communities where people feel valued for their contributions and are supported in their needs.   

We believe that bringing leaders and members of exchange systems together to share what they have done, what they have learned, the tools that they have developed and how it has changed their community, will bring insights to those with long experience in exchange systems as well as helpful information for newcomers to this growing movement.    

If this podcast inspires you to learn more check out our website at http://www.communityexchangealliance.org or follow us on twitter @comm_exchange. You can subscribe to this channel for upcoming sharing sessions. Thank you for listening.  

Citations:  Michael H Shuman's Article "Stop Cluster-f**king Communities" https://michaelhshuman.com/?p=1101 Bruce Anderson's Core Gift Institute https://www.coregift.org/