October 7, 2008

BALLE responds to the financial crisis

A number of BALLE thought leaders have published recent articles on the current US  financial meltdown:

David Korten in Yes! "Main Street Before Wall Street," October 2008

"Rather than seeking to restore the health of Wall Street’s predatory private institutions, a proper plan would seek to rid Wall Street of its purely predatory elements while dismantling and reassembling its usable institutions to create a new system accountable to the needs of Main Street." Read more.

Leslie Christian in Yes! "Finance to Serve the Economy," October 2008

"Our 'financial system' is not equal to the economy. The economy is the exchange of needed goods and services. The financial system exists to facilitate that exchange. Our financial system has far exceeded that rather modest role. We have come to accept the mainstream message that the financial system creates wealth by creating money. But money isn't wealth at all." Read more.

Don Shaffer in Green Money Journal, "Notes From the Leading Edge of Social Finance," Fall 2008

"How can we harness the striving energy and entrepreneurial drive of the American people to move more towards collaboration and partnership, instead of maximum individual gain, while honoring the power of free markets?" Read more.

Judy Wicks in The Sun, "Table for Six Billion, Please," August 2008

"A lot of people feel that the stock market is going to crash and that the US infrastructure is falling apart, partly because we're spending all our money on war instead of things like bridges and a healthcare system for all. And I think when the crash comes, there's going to be a panic. What we're doing now in the local movement is building the infrastructure before the panic, whether it's caused by the collapse of our economy or by global warming." Read more.

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September 26, 2008

Doug Hammond is BALLE's new executive director

The BALLE board of directors and staff are pleased to announce their selection of Doug Hammond as the next executive director of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. His appointment follows a five-month national search conducted by the firm of Waldron & Company.

"Doug's the right guy at the right time for BALLE," said William Shutkin, who guided BALLE as interim executive director for the last nine months and is now chair in sustainable development at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder. "He's got the vision, experience, and leadership to catapult BALLE and its 20,000 sustainability entrepreneurs to the forefront of a new economy and a new era. Doug's, and BALLE's, time has come."

His career as an entrepreneur and self-described community systems engineer spans nearly thirty years of developing businesses and organizations that have at their core a deep commitment to economic justice and sustainability. A founding member of Business for Social Responsibility, a long-term active member of the Social Venture Network, and a founding board member of BALLE, he has served as finance chair and treasurer of our organization since its inception and has performed many key organizational capacity-building functions. In addition he has founded and chaired business alliance networks in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts since 1992, including one of BALLE's first networks, Pioneer Valley Local First.

"The response to our search for a new executive director was extremely gratifying - through the process we met extraordinary national leaders," said Michelle Long, board chair. "I'm absolutely delighted to be able to announce Doug Hammond as the right choice for executive leadership as BALLE moves forward to do what we believe is the most exciting and important work of our times."

In accepting the position, Doug offered these thoughts: "As I prepare for this new role and consider the economic and environmental challenges we face, I am reminded of another role I had the great privilege to provide as a parent of two young daughters. I was their storyteller, and we would gather each evening to conjure up tales full of imagination and possibility. We created a set of characters for whom no situation or set of conditions was insurmountable. Not individual superheroes, but rather common-good contributors who intuitively understood that it was the path of community cooperation that led to greatest achievements. I am mindful of the parallels of those stories to our shared quest today. Epic challenges lie before us as does an urgent call for bold next steps. I’m absolutely confident that it will be through both a strategic and collaborative approach that our vision of local living economies will be fully realized. Together we are a remarkable set of common-good contributors, and as David Korten, a fellow founding BALLE board member, so clearly states in The Great Turning, we indeed are the ones we've been waiting for. I am honored to begin this next story with all of you."

Judy Wicks, BALLE's co-founder, spoke enthusiastically about the new executive director: "I have worked closely with Doug for fifteen years in the responsible business arena and for the past seven years in taking BALLE from its infancy to a critical force in addressing the dire economic, environmental, and social challenges we face today. Doug has the passion, entreprenuerial know-how, and strategic approach to lead us at this critical juncture. He is committed, heart and soul."

Doug has outlined ambitious priorities for his first ninety days as executive director that include assessing operational capacities, reaching out to network leaders, meeting with individual and organizational funders and partners, moving forward on BALLE Bold initiatives, and other strategic priorities for the organization. He begins his work for BALLE on October 1 and will move into full-time capacity by January. Doug currently resides in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, and will be moving to San Francisco later this fall