Meet the DEAL Community

Great Barrington, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, United States

Karen Christensen is a writer, environmentalist, and publisher whose work as an innovative global publisher has depended on systems thinking. She has worked with academics in every discipline, including ecological economics. Her current focus is social cohesion and climate adaptation. Karen began corresponding with Ray Oldenburg, who coined the term ‘third place, in 1991. She invited him to join the board of the Encyclopedia of Community and in 2012 began to visit him in Florida. He left her with the task of writing a new version of The Great Good Place, which explains the vital role third places can play in solving climate change, loneliness, and political polarization. Karen brings to the subject both international experience and work as an advocate for public transportation. She founded the Train Campaign and is CEO of Berkshire Publishing Group. Join me on Substack: thinking globally, acting locally https://karenchristensen.substack.com & preparing for climate change without losing your mind https://homecology.substack.com/about.    

Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain

For five years I have specialized in the development of sustainable tourism by obtaining a PhD from Erasmus University in 2022. I am now putting this expertise into practice. I work with governments, marketing organizations, and tourism companies on sustainable change - always supported by a scientific basis.     Much of my research has revolved around regenerative tourism using the doughnut economics model as a tool. Between 2020 and 2022, I developed workshops based on doughnut economics and applied them to a tourism context. Together with seven urban destinations in the Netherlands, we investigated how the model can be used in tourism to facilitate a sustainable transition. The research has been published and can be read in the journal Tourism Geographies. The title of the publication:  Urban tourism transitions: doughnut economics applied to sustainable tourism development. After my period at Erasmus University, it was time for a change. I traveled by train to Austria to spend a month walking in the mountains and thinking about the future. After my defense in December 2022, I moved to the Spanish countryside (Asturias) to build my sustainable dream life there, including a large vegetable garden and food forest. In addition to my work as a freelance researcher, writer, and advisor, I spend many hours here sustainably renovating an old house and creating an edible garden.

Boulder, Colorado, United States

​​I’m a researcher and writer, passionate about redistributing power and wealth and reimagining the responsibilities of markets and the government. After a career leading teams and a business in the tech industry, I pivoted to pursue a graduate degree in Anthropology to allow myself the room to pursue the question that I care about—how can we redistribute power to workers? I'm now seeking a full-time role in leadership or research positions at public policy, research, and/or nonprofit organizations that are focused on transforming corporate responsibility and how our markets operate.    

Milano, Milan, Italy

  #nature  

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Service designer by profession and life long student. Passionate about incorporating sustainability into design of services. Here to learn from the smartest minds. 

USA

I'm the director of a new documentary film titled FINDING THE MONEY about an underdog group of economists on a mission to instigate a paradigm shift by flipping our understanding of the national debt, and the nature of money, upside down. From my background in environmental studies and ecological economics I wanted to understand the systemic causes and solutions to our biggest challenges like climate change and inequality. That lead me to a story about money and economics. The story we tell about money matters. The film follows economist Stephanie Kelton on a journey through Modern Money Theory or MMT to unveil money not as an obstacle towards improving human and environmental well-being, but as the organizing tool we can use to shape our economies to thrive within planetary boundaries.

Brussels, Brussels-Capital, Belgium

A Circular economy facilitator, I: - Help organisations make a successful transition to the circular economy in a transparent, fluid and efficient way, using collective intelligence. - Support companies in improving their ESG performance. - Raise awareness of the environmental crisis and of alternatives that are more respectful of our planet and its resources. - give presentations and lectures in organisations and the academic world.

Paris, France

Assistant Professor of Sustainable finance, IESEG School of Management 

Atlacomulco, Atlacomulco, Mexico 50455, Mexico

siempre me he preguntado que sigue...

Braga, Portugal

Hi, my name is Sílvia, I live in the wonderful city of Braga upt in the North of Portugal. I am a trained economist, a marketing enthusiast and a social entrepreneur at heart. I started my own business in Marketing & Communication in 2010 and in 2020 I founded my own brand: re.store! re.store is the Planet-and-People friendly brand built on the circularuty principles. We upcycle textile waste, leftovers and samples from the Portuguese textile industry (so far, +6.e tons) and transform them into new, functional products with a purpose. All our products are stitched by our social partners (social institutions, refugees, prison inmates, social causes) to whom we pay a financial salary (+€58k so far) and an emotional one because we foster their self esteem and sense of belonging in society. We also share our experience, stories and motivation at schools and universities as well as in organizations because we believe we must contribute to the collective awareness that we need to change and transform our consumer behaviour. And this is the 3rd P in our strategy: Pedagogy for change (1st being People and 2nd being Planet). I am thrilled to be able to join this community, to share our experience and concerns and learn from others, thus contributing to the importance of a sustainable and socially inclusive TOMORROW!       

Birmingham, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom

I work for an educational awarding body that quality health and safety professionals to make workplaces safer and healthier. 

Switzerland

Sofi Khwaja-Horekens  Co-founder and CEO of Thesus (formerly Alice + Whittles), an award-winning social and environmentally progressive outdoor footwear brand servicing the global market for sustainable footwear. Thesus is leading the way in building a regenerative footwear business, one that has a positive impact at every stage of its value chain. Sofi has moved ThesusTM beyond supply chain "sustainability" toward a regenerative mindset - developing relationships with long-term partners around the globe who are values-aligned, centering planetary boundaries, nature, and materials innovation in the business model. ThesusTM celebrates diversity and inclusion in the outdoors and inspires millions of people living in growing cities around the world to Be Outside, connecting with themselves, their community, and the Planet.  In addition to her work with Thesus, Sofi is currently adjunct faculty with the Villars Institute, a nonprofit foundation and think tank with a mandate to accelerate the transition to a net zero and nature-positive economy through systems change.  Before launching ThesusTM, Sofi worked in management consulting, law, policy, and fieldwork with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Canada, Switzerland, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. She currently lives in a small village in the Swiss Alps with her husband Nicholas (co-founder of Thesus) and their son Emile.  • Woman of the Year 2022 - BSB, Canada • CAFA Nominee 2022 for Sustainability - Canada. • Speaker on Eco-preneurship - SalesForce, AAFA, Aga Khan Museum, Soho House, and various secondary and post-secondary educational institutions. • Former board member of the Fair Rubber Association

London, London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom

During the day, I'm a young tech worker from Australia, working in fintech roles, allowing me how to best structure and grow an organisation.  Outside of this I have spent time in various community organising roles in environmental, political and social causes in Australia.  I've recently moved to London and am looking for opportunities to leverage these skills to help bring about positive social change. 

Île-de-France, France

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Started a part time PhD at  UCL that’s looking at adopting doughnut economics and the resource based view within health systems

Jakarta, Indonesia

Presently, I work at One Data Indonesia, Ministry of National Development Planning, Republic of Indonesia, as a Communications Manager. While I'm not working on my PhD in Science in Management, I enjoy teaching System Dynamics and Agent Based Modeling on occasion.

Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil

I hold my degrees in Economics from UFJF, UFRGS, UFPE and a post-doctorate in Education and Economics from UFTM. I'm a Full Professor at the Faculty of Economics at UFJF. I research themes in Industrial Organization and Education and Economics. I currently coordinate an extension project of a multidisciplinary nature, with an emphasis on studies and practices focused on human development in academia and the civil community. I also worked taking Economics to High School in an extension project of Economics and Art. At the interface between teaching, research and extension, I'm also interested in studies on the quality of teaching and learning in Economics.

Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, United Kingdom

Rewilding to live as we should on this beautiful planet. Hoping to meet like minded people to reestablish an ecosystem of ideas and action. 

London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom

Impact Hub London is a social enterprise and a part of the Impact Hub Global Network. Our mission is to accelerate entrepreneurial action that benefits people and the planet.  We follow our mission through two arms: Firstly, we have a working space in Kings Cross & Euston and hence a community of entrepreneurs, secondly, we provide business support programmes focused on inclusion, climate change, and life sciences. Our vision is to make impact-driven entrepreneurship a reality for everyone.

Glasgow

Hello, DEAL Community! I'm Brian, the founder and managing director of EGG Lighting, established in 2013 with a vision for sustainable intelligent lighting and sensor control systems. With a M.Sc. in Communications Technology & Policy from the University of Strathclyde, my mission has been to pioneer sustainable solutions through advanced circular techniques like remanufacturing and digital product passports. As an Enterprise Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Circular Glasgow Ambassador, I am deeply committed to the principles of circular economy and sustainability. Under my leadership, EGG Lighting has been recognized with multiple awards, including the Green Apple Awards 2022 for Lighting Remanufacture and the CeeD 2022 award for Remanufacturing. Our work emphasizes creating environments that allow people to thrive, reflecting my passion for merging technology with sustainability. #SustainableUrbanDevelopment #InnovativeTechnologies #CircularEconomy

Netherlands and U.S.

Decades of business and organizational development, mentoring, influencing, SME deal making, investment and operations. Shifting focus to development and expansion of worker co-ops as a form of business ownership, education and community development. Focused on conversions and ways to develop portfolios of worker owned businesses.

Dublin, Ireland

Mexican sociologist and aspiring writer based in Dublin. Very excited to be part of this community.  Sociólogo y escritor mexicano radico en Dublín. Muy contento de unirme a esta comunidad.  

Lower Saxony, Germany

I am an Enterprise Architect by profession and a learning explorer by passion. Always have been curious what knowledge is and how learning works, first for myself, later in my job, still later when I cofounded an alternative private school for self-determined learning. In all my undertakings it was always the people and how they fostered their relationships that made (or sometimes broke) success.  I am Thinker and a Maker which sometimes helpful and sometimes exhausting. For more than a decade now,  I am building and testing my personal sustainability model, and now I want to help spreading this change. I am also a visual and creative person, so the Doughnut was immediately appealing for me because it is so easy to approach and to see the whole system effect at a glance.  I like the structure and the content I found here, so I will stay around for some time 😉 Special interests: