Changemakers

WELCOME CHANGEMAKERS!!

 

Changemakers are people who take creative action to solve a problem that is negatively affecting themselves or others, the community, nature, or the planet. They are intentional about solving the problem and relentless in the face of obstacles or challenges. Using a passionate combination of personal fortitude, knowledge, and resources, they push through until their dream becomes reality. Changemakers are the force of social evolution; anyone can become one.

We provide videos about Undaunted Changemakers engaged in solutions for an equitable economy and a sustainable planet on reservations and in communities across the United States. Their solutions are founded on the value of all life is connected and wealth defined as the wellbeing of people, culture, community, nature and the earth. We hope these videos inspire you in your own journey as a changemaker.

A Community Spirit of Caring Begins with You is about how one person can make a positive difference in the world and how that person can be you. It walks you through regaining your sense of joy to bringing people together to engage with you in creating positive change wherever people work, play and live. It was written in 2001 when the Earth Charter was launched in the U.S. and shares the knowledge, experience and skills that  Jan Roberts gained on her journey as a changemaker. To order the book simple click on it. 

VIDEOS & THEMES

The (New) Economy solutions feature Indigenous economists, visionaries and advocates for prosperity for the many, not just the few.

I ALREADY KNEW OUR CULTURE WAS OUR STRENGTH   Indigenous Economist Rebecca Adamson is founder of Lakota Funds, the first microenterprise lender in North America and First Nations Development Institute, a nonprofit financial organization devoted to Indigenous people’s self-sufficiency. As a board member of a Wall Street Investment Firm, she embedded Indigenous principles in the formation of their groundbreaking Calvert Community Investment Notes that lend billions of dollars to local economies. This is rough cut of interview for Wealth is More than $$$ docuseries
THE WISDOM AND PRINCIPLES OF THE INDIGENOUS ECONOMY (ZOOM) Indigenous Economy Rebecca Adamson, Founder of First Nations Development Institute, Founder of First Peoples Worldwide and long time advocate of Indigenous rights. Rebecca gives an awesome tutorial on the world view and principles of Indigenous economies. We are in process of editing an in person interview with Rebecca Adamson, who goes in depth about the values and principles of the Indigenous Economy and the differences with Western economies. 
RETHINKING OUR ECONOMY A radical take on our assumptions of money’s purpose. Innovator David Korten, Advocate & Author of When Corporations Rule the World.
THE BUSINESS OWNERSHIP REVOLUTION  Making money nurture life rather than Wall Street. Innovator Marjorie Kelly with Democracy Collaborative; co-author of The Making of a Democratic Economy
THE NEW NEW DEAL The time is right for economy’s next big change. Innovator Gar Alperovitz, political economist, co-founder of Democracy Collaborative & The Next System Project.

TRIBAL WEALTH BUILDING ON RESERVATIONS includes regenerative communities, buffalo restoration, Lakota language immersion schools and youth leadership and skill building

WHACK A MOLE PROJECT (ZOOM) Indigenous Economist Rebecca Adamson shares an early economic development on Pine Ridge Reservation that illuminates the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) astonishing bureaucracy and the vibrant Indigenous entrepreneurship of the Pine Ridge people that succeeds despite the BIA.
STOLEN SISTERS & STOLEN LANDS (ZOOM) Bre Perez and Christina Flint-Lowe are daughters of full blooded Creek mothers and grew up in Florida. They share their thoughts about the violence against Indigenous women, the results of Manifest Destiny and Governmental Treaties on Indigenous lands and the growing Land Back Movement.

COOPERATIVES ARE WORKER OWNED, FARMER AND COMMUNITY COOPERATIVES

HISTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN COOPERATIVE ECONOMY  Jessica Gordon Nembhard is a Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Department of Africana Studies at John Jay College, of the City University of New York Author: Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought & Practice.
THE EVERGREEN WORKER OWNED COOPERATIVES Creating prosperity in Cleveland. Social Entrepreneur Ted Howard, co-founder of Democracy Collaborative & former Senior Fellow for Social Justice at Cleveland Foundation. We’ll be offering indepth coverage of the EV COOPS with interviews with CEO John McMicken,  Jeanette Watson, Chief Investment officer for Evergreen Cooperatives’ Fund for Employee Ownership, and India Pierce Lee, Senior Pierce Lee, Senior Vice President of Program at Cleveland Community Foundation. 
 CHOCOLATE COMPANY COOPERATIVE No need to sacrifice pleasure while striving to do good. Divine Chocolate is the only company co-owned by the cocoa farmers in Africa.  Sophi Tranchell, CEO Divine Chocolate
POWER TO THE PEOPLE Member-owned electric company reaches 100% in use of renewable resources.  Jim Devlin, Operations & Engineering Manager at Kodiak Electric Association in Alask
HELLO, NEIGHBOR How 75,000 people around the globe are using social media to get to know their neighbors and pool their resources.  Rebecca Rockefeller is the co-founder of the Buy Nothing Project.
TIME WELL SPENT Time, not money, is the currency at the Hour Exchange. Stephen Beckett, lead programmer and participant in Hour Exchange Portland.
HOUR WORLD Social currency and community capital replace dollars in this bank. Linda Hogan, Founding Member of hOurworld Cooperative.
COMMUNITY COOPERATION The citizens of Charleston come together to protect their water. Retired Reverends Mel Hoover and Rose Edington , Unitarian Universalist Congregation.

FAIR BANKING includes city owned bank and Indigenous institutions building financial capacity on reservations and in communities. 

RADICAL BANKING What North Dakota has been doing for a century that saved the state from the 2008 market crash.  Ellen Brown, Founder Public Banking Institute
CHECK OUT LAKOTA FUNDS & FEDERAL CREDIT UNION  Tawney Brunsch is Executive Director of Lakota Funds and Chairman of the Board for the Lakota Federal Credit Union on Pine Ridge Reservation. Lakota Funds was the first micro-enterpise founded in the U.S. It was founded by Rebecca Adamson, Indigenous Economist. The Federal Credit Union is the first one to be established on a reservation in the U.S. Both support Indian Country through low interest loans for entreprenuerial enterprises, home and business ownership. We will expand coverage of the these institutions when we return to Pine Ridge Reservation.

DIVERSITY is the understanding of family values for loving and caring for all our children and all community members and treating them the way we wish to be treated.

RECLAIMING SACRED BEINGS One man’s quest to restore Native American cultures in the nurturing and upbringing of children..  Terry Cross (Seneca Nation), Founder of National Association of Indian Children’s Welfare.
NO RESERVATIONS New Native American organizations combat stereotypes and foster leadership in innovative ways.  Darius Smith (Navajo), Director Denver Anti-Discrimination Office & Liaison to American Indian Commission.
THE MISSING PIECE An Arizona teacher discovers a key to closing our schools’ achievement gap.  Curtis Acosta, Mexican American Ethnic Studies Educator
GAY RIGHTS IN FLORIDA The woman putting Florida at the forefront of the gay rights movement. Nadine Smith, Co-Founder & CEO Equality Florida.
DIVIDED WE SINK The importance of unity in efforts to save our planet.  Mel Hoover, Reverend Emeritus Unitarian Universalist Congregation.
HEALING JOURNEY  Bre Perez and Christina Flint-Lowe are daughters of full blooded Creek mothers. They grew up feeling “not seen” growing up and living in Florida. They share their journey to connect to their Indigenous roots and how they are enabling their children to do the same in a society that ignores their culture.
HEALING WINDS OF CHANGE An Ogalala woman’s drive to create a pillar of Indian power, commerce, and community.  Shadana Dickerson Sultan (Ogalala Lakota), Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Indian Chamber of Commerce
LESBIANS WHO LUNCH A conversation with Nadine Smith, CEO & Co-Founder of Equality Florida and friends 
THE SACRED WITHIN THE PROFANE A Santa Clara Pueblo Indian artist strives to honor items in a Pueblo dump while following tribal traditions and questions a culture of consumption. Innovator Nora Naranjo-Morse (Tewa), Mixed Media Artist & Poet

FOOD solutions include the the way we produce, consume, and make available fresh, healthy foods on our reservations, in our communities and in our schools.

SISTERS OF THE LAND Future farmers and policymakers learn spiritual land stewardship in Indiana.  Sisters of Providence with the White Violet Eco Justice Center in Terra Haute, Indiana.
LOCAVORE’S DILEMMA  Good food grown locally doesn’t have to be so hard to find.  Carolyn Goodwin, Co-Founder of Sound Food in Bainbridge Island, WA.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Rocky Horror Picture Show, feeding college students, and improving local farmers’ lives.  Mark LoParco, Director of University of Montana Dining at the University of Montana in Missoula.
EAT MORE CHOCOLATE No need to sacrifice pleasure while striving to do good. A Chocolate Company co-owned by African Cocoa Farmers.  Sophi Tranchell, CEO Divine Chocolate
A CULTIVATED CITY How urban agriculture is blossoming in Portland, Oregon. Innovators Caienna Bierwirth & Rex Rolle, Simpson Street Farmers; Dena & Noel Lieberman, Sun Blossom Farm
HATCHING SOLUTIONS Working with nature to increase salmon populations without chemicals. Al Seale, Pillar Creek Hatchery Manager in Kodiak, Alaska
AMERICAN FOOD YOU’VE NEVER TASTED This Native American eatery serves food you’ll have to see before you eat.  Ben Jacobs ( Osage Nation), Co-Owner of Tocabe: An American Indian Eatery
NO SCRAP LEFT BEHIND A retired teacher prioritizes reducing waste and feeding the hungry. Dennis Karas, retired teacher and professional gleaner.

HOME OWNERSHIP includes community trusts, tiny homes, righting old wrongs with reparations and 3D print homes. 

THE MIRACLE OF CAMP QUIXOTE A group of churches and nomads discover together the true meaning—and power—of sanctuary.  Jill Severn & Timothy Ransom, Panza Board of Directors Members, who were instrumental in the establishment of a model tiny home community for the homeless.
BEYOND GENTRIFICATION A Portland neighborhood leader seeks to reverse trends and bring opportunities and amenities to communities facing the invasion of affluent immigrants. Jeff Gerwing serves on the Cully Eco-District Advisory Board in Portland OR and is an Associate Professor at Portland State University
COMMUNAL LIVING Communal living with all its benefits that uses a new model for decision-making that trumps consensus. I Heather Carver is a resident at Columbia Eco-Village in Portland, OR

EDUCATION solutions honor and nurture every student’s wellbeing, culture and ability to learn. 

THE MISSING PIECE An Arizona teacher discovers a key to closing our schools’ achievement gap.  Curtis Acosta, Mexican American Ethnic Studies Educator
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Rocky Horror Picture Show, feeding college students, and improving local farmers’ lives. Mark LoParco, Director of University of Montana Dining at the University of Montana in Missoula.
RECLAIMING SACRED BEINGS One man’s quest to restore Native American cultures in the nurturing and upbringing of children..  Terry Cross (Seneca Nation), Founder of National Association of Indian Children’s Welfare.
SISTERS OF THE LAND Future farmers and policymakers learn spiritual land stewardship in Indiana. Sisters of Providence with the White Violet Eco Justice Center in Terra Haute, Indiana.

 

THE ARTS solutions provide a powerful conduit for mainstreaming societal issues and solutions as well as strengthen a sense of community.

THE SACRED WITHIN THE PROFANE A Santa Clara Pueblo Indian artist strives to honor items in a Pueblo dump while following tribal traditions and questions a culture of consumption. Nora Naranjo-Morse (Tewa), Mixed Media Artist & PoetA MOVEABLE MUSICAL VILLAGE New Orleans’ artists use recycled materials to build homes that are able to double as musical instruments. Delaney Martin, Artistic Director of Dithyrambalina and Co-founder of New Orleans Airlift.TURNING THE BLUES GREEN How simple music could be driving economic development. John Horhn, Mississippi State Senator & Malcolm White, Director Mississippi Tourism.

REPARATIONS are a portfolio of solutions to address the wealth inequity of Black Americans caused by their enslavement beginning in 1619

A CONVERSATION ABOUT REPARATIONS FOR BLACK AMERICANS with Kirsten Mullen, Co-Author From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in 21st Century
HISTORY OF RACIAL WEALTH INEQUITY (ZOOM) William Darity, Ph.D. is researcher and economist and professor at Duke University. He is co-author of From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in 21st Century. He speaks about the History of Racial Wealth Inequity in this interview. 
ROSEWOOD MASSACRE REPARATIONS (ZOOM)  Civil Rights Attorney Steve Hanlon and his team’s victory for Rosewood reparations in 1994 was the first win for descendants of African Americans, who had suffered White violence after the Civil War. He shares the strategy used to convince the State of Florida of their moral and legal obligation. Steve also has successfully fought for systemic change for public defenders in order to provide true justice to their indigent clients at the state level and his fight in now going national.
A Sampling of Reparations for Black Americans Being Proposed and Enacted Around U.S.   Janet Roberts, founder of Cultural Innovations in Action, spoke recently to the Athena Society in Tampa about reparations addressing the racial wealth inequity endured by Black Americans for over 400 years. Reparations include direct payment to descendants of slavery, community wealth building in Black communities, funding for Black institutions and Black farmers and Equal Justice in the courts.
SHORT LIVED HOPE OF RECONSTRUCTION (ZOOM)  A. Kirsten Mullen, co-author of From Here to Equality:Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century describes the hopeful realities of the Reconstruction Era and the forcefulness of the active forgetting effort to create the myth of the “Lost Cause” and the heroes of the confederacy that persists today. She is a writer, folklorist, museum consultant, and lecturer whose work focuses on race, art, history, and politics
 
FOR TRUE JUSTICE (ZOOM) A. Kirsten Mullen is co-author of From Here to Equality:Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century. The prosperity of this country is linked to the forced labor of the ancestors of 40 million black Americans and to the stolen land of the country’s indigenous people. At the center of any policies to address racial wealth inequity must be reparations.
PERSONAL & COMMUNITY HEALING IS ESSENTIAL  Hakim Williams,Ed.D. born in poverty in Trinidad  realizes his calling as a healer of racial trauma in communities . He is Director of Peace & Justice Studies and Professor of Africana Studies at Gettysburg College conducts restorative circles in the U.S. and Trinidad.
 
JUSTICE solutions include equal justice in the courtroom for ALL people and reform of the U.S. prison industry

WORKLOAD REDUCTION FOR PUBLIC DEFENDERS Steve Hanlon, J.D. is a longtime public interest and civil rights attorney focused on theconnection of the law with public policy. He has successfully fought for systemic change for public defenders in order to provide true justice to their indigent clients at the state level and his fight in now going nationally. Stephen F. Hanlon https://www.lawyerhanlon.com/

OVER INCARCERATION William Darity, Jr. Ph.D. is an economist and researcher. He is Professor of Public Policy at Duke University. Together with Kirsten Mullen, he co-authored “From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century. Skype interview with Jan Roberts, Founder of Cultural Innovations in Action.