Most organizations and people are working in silos, unable to fully realize their goals because our dominant systems, institutions and leaders are disconnected and competing for resources.
Positive systemic change requires deep connection and collaboration. To build and support thriving systems and solutions, we need highly skilled leaders, effective coalitions and connected networks.
The Just Economy Institute (JEI) connects, educates and supports financial innovators and change makers who are shifting the flow of capital and power to solve complex social and environmental problems. Over the past eight years, JEI has provided the connections, learning opportunities and community support leaders need to effect positive change and speed the transition to a just economy.
What makes JEI unique:
- Community-Centered Solutions: We prioritize community engagement and solutions based on the experiences and needs of those most impacted by extractive economic practices.
- Cross-Sector Collaboration: Our approach is grounded in the belief that all of us are needed to create a just economy. We convene, educate and connect insightful change makers in ways that help them form highly effective partnerships, coalitions and collaborations.
- Holistic Approach: We focus on the inner work that deepens self-awareness and the capacity to collaborate skillfully, the practical work of leveraging capital to support community well-being and the collective work of building power to drive lasting, positive change.
- Integrated Capital: We highlight ways to leverage and integrate different types of capital to build economic, racial and environmental justice.
- Connected Thought Leadership: We are connectors, educators and amplifiers who share effective models of community wealth building, innovative financial practices and collaborative leadership.
JEI programs:
- A nine-month fellowship: a learning and leadership program and community of practice for financial innovators, social entrepreneurs and community organizers
- A community action network: gatherings, tools, support, advice, coaching and connections
- Field building: sharing insights, resources, strategies and practices with the field; hosting convenings about activating capital for positive impact
- Our Money, Ourselves: an online gathering for women and gender-expansive people who are activating capital for systemic change
The JEI Fellowship:
JEI convenes, connects and educates diverse leaders to help them catalyze new collaborations, gain more clarify and confidence in their leadership and share strategies to support the well-being of all communities and the planet. JEI Fellows become part of an influential and innovative network of leaders and learn about ways to activate the positive potential of capital from a group of experts in the field.
The nine-month program consists of three in-person immersions, ten online sessions, one-on-one advisor calls, online resources, peer coaching and Creative Capital Projects. The program is grounded in an understanding of the current extractive economic system and the ways capital can be used to effect systemic change. Fellows explore their relationship with money, discover new ways to create community wealth and gain clarity on the work they’ve been called to do.
JEI faculty, speakers and one-on-one advisors are experts in social movement investing, integrated capital, community wealth building, regenerative agriculture, investor/donor organizing and transformational leadership.
JEI Fellows:
The work of capital activation requires creative, intelligent and passionate leaders who have the skills needed to navigate power, conflict and possibility. Each year, cohorts of up to 28 Fellows participate in JEI’s fellowship program.
JEI currently supports 209 Fellows and alumni who have:
- a deep commitment to effect positive change and create a just economy
- the ability to influence the flow of financial and social capital
- a clear desire to learn and grow, both personally and professionally
- strong emotional intelligence
Program Topics:
The nine-month fellowship program is relational and experiential. Concepts and discussion topics include:
- Financial Activism: Shifting the Flow of Capital and Power
- A History of Extractive Capitalism in the U.S.
- Integrated Capital: Strategies and Case Studies
- Catalytic Capital for Soil Health and other Climate Solutions
- Money, Race and Power: Examining Beliefs and Assumptions
- Community Wealth Building: Models and Approaches
- Social Movement Investing: Strategies and Examples
- The Power of Relationships: Connecting, Learning and Bridging
- Whole Portfolio Activation: Strategic Investing
- Transformational Leadership: Effective Practices for Change Agents
JEI Team, Faculty and Facilitators:
Deb Nelson, JEI; Esther Park, Cienega Capital & #NoRegrets Initiative; Tina Beck, JEI; Yichen Feng, LUNAR; Akaya Windwood, Third Act & New Universal; Nikki Silvestri, Soil and Shadow; Aisha Nyandoro, Springboard to Opportunities & Magnolia Mother’s Trust; Maddy Clark, JEI.
Presenters/Educators:
Esther Park & Sallie Calhoun, #NoRegrets Initiative; Mateo Nube, Movement Generation; Dana Bezerra, CREO; Donna Daniels, Possibility Labs; Betty Francisco, Boston Impact Initiative; Rachel Robasciotti, Adasina Social Capital; Ruth Shaber, Tara Health Foundation; Keoni Lee, Hawai’i Investment Ready; Dawn McGee, Goodworks Ventures; Deborah Frieze, Boston Impact Initiative; Robert Trent Vinson, Woodson Institute for African American and African Studies; Tzeporah Berman, Stand.earth; Rajasvini Bhansali, Solidaire Network; Janice St. Onge, Flexible Capital Fund; Laurika Harris-Kaye, RUNWAY; and Jasmine Rashid, Candide Group.
JEI & ICI:
The Just Economy Institute (JEI) was formerly called the Integrated Capital Institute (ICI). ICI was incubated by RSF Social Finance and launched in 2017. In 2021, JEI launched as an independent institute and a fiscally sponsored project of Possibility Labs, a nonprofit 501(c)(3).
