Meet the DEAL Community

Oxfordshire

I work on sustainable innovation, focusing on resource use, including industrial symbiosis, circular economy and waste utilisation. Since 2018, I have been working with farmers, landowners, consortiums, SMEs and crop-to-product companies to explore regenerative agri-food systems, and development of biochemicals, biomaterials and other natural products to displace petrochemical and synthetic resources. With the discovery of the core original rewilding principles of letting nature take the lead and living in harmony with the planet, along with concepts from Donella Meadows and others on systems thinking and ecological economics, the revelation of doughnut economics gives a further practical framework to help communicate and explore solutions with organisations, regions and individuals. I am part of the core team of the Oxfordshire Doughnut Economics group and am working with the development of sustainable agri-food systems, including as partner on the Centre for High Carbon Capture Cropping (CHCx3) project.

Frankfurt am Main Germany

Hey  I’m a professional baker since 2010. I also deliver workshops on a baking technique called Baker’s Meditation. I am dreaming of starting up a bakery that will apply values of cooperation and will be able to thrive as one. I’m hoping to be able to connect with relevant people, join a community and find inspiration and information that will allow the project a be realised.

Shanghai

I have been working in B2B materials for over eight years and been a key driver of promoting sustainable materials and techniches in fashion industry in Great China. In 2021, I accomplished cohort of sustainable value chain in University of Cambridge (CISL）. By working with sustainability communities and platforms, I will be consulting companies to build capacity in mindset of circularity, sustainable leadership and ESG in management. 

New York, NY, USA

Curt Lyon is the Executive Director of Transform Finance, an organization that advocates for and supports investments that create a more just distribution of wealth and power in the economy. Curt came to Transform Finance in 2017 after immersing himself in the Solidarity Economy movement in Boston and seeing the transformative power of grassroots engagement with finance and the necessity to shift ownership away from extractive models. At Transform Finance, he has participated in major initiatives to drive narratives and knowledge around emerging trends in power shifting, such as Participatory Investment and Alternative Ownership Enterprises. He is co-author of several reports, including most recently Alternative Ownership Enterprises: an Introduction for Mission-Oriented Investors. He considers himself an active learner of investment structures that redistribute wealth and power, as well as movement strategies that build a more equitable economy. Curt lives in Queens, New York City. 

China quanzong

UNITAR Shanghai ESG consultant, an experienced SDG and sustainable economy practitioner. My purpose is to provide the world a better solution to face challenges and be able to continue to prosper.

Lima, Peru

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal is the global leader of Climate & Energy at WWF and interim chair of the IUCN Climate Crisis Commission. He has more than 35 years of experience in environmental law and policy. He served as Minister of the Environment of Peru (2011 to 2016) and President of the Twentieth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - COP20 in 2014.    Pulgar-Vidal was the Executive Director of the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law, an influential institution in Latin America. He has a law degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, where he is a professor, and has completed studies for a master’s degree in Business Law at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas. He is a board member of Forest Trends, Amazon Conservation Association, Peruvian Society of Environmental Law, CARE-Peru and the Science Based Targets initiative and a member of the Assembly of the World Wide Fund for Nature - Colombia. 

Reading, England, United Kingdom

I'm just a general person who I've never got the hang of traditional economics as it seemed to miss out so many bits of our world.  

Shanghai, China

Sunny Lee is based in Shanghai and provides consulting services for companies in green transformation toward circular economy that meets Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 12. She also gives lectures of sustainable business model design in Chinese universities. With more than 20 years of working experience in multinational companies for digitalization or low-carbon emission operation, she is skillful at using information technology to enhance green productivity or redefine business model to achieve triple bottom line. She used to work as a digital transformation consultant in Deloitte & Touché Taiwan. She holds a dual degree in MBA and MIS and also several certifications in sustainability development, like B Corp Consultant (B Corp China), Corporate Sustainability Professional (TAISE, Taiwan), Green Productivity Expert (Asian Productivity Organization, Tokyo)

Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Part of the team for Ipoh Donut Economy- Ipoh Smart City under IDR.   

Rio Claro, São Paulo - Brazil

Hi! My name is Edson Junior, and I am an Engineer and Environmental Technician with training focused on continuous improvement. Currently, my professional journey is oriented towards the social sector, managing projects with an emphasis on planning, impact assessment, and opportunities. Throughout my career, I have maintained continuous contact with NGOs and third-sector institutions to monitor projects and assess their impact on the target audience. However, my goal is to gain experience in the environmental field to immerse myself in the pillars of sustainability. Being part of the Deal Community is an opportunity to make connections and delve deeper into the latest environmental topics such as circular economy, reverse logistics, emerging waste management and emissions control. If possible, I hope to contribute to the dissemination of content so that more people can connect and become aware.

Brasil

Farmacêutica especialista em medicamentos da biodiversidade e massoterapeuta.

Skye and Lochalsh, West Highlands, Scotland

Scottish Independence activist studying economics and politics to inform visions of how Scotland can thrive while prioritising wellbeing of all. Retired Social and Community Worker. Also have worked as small business owner, cleaner, carer and more,

Ghent

United Kingdom

With a background in technology and digital transformation, I am currently launching a new consultancy looking to provide solutions and tools to help businesses transition to more sustainable models. I'm particularly interested in incentive models that support holistic thinking about value and how it is distributed equitably to support non-extractive organisational structures.

Naarm (Melbourne)

Human who uses textile art to explore sustainabilty. I hate waste and believe we have all the tools in our behaviours and attitudes to make things work. 

Beijing, China

I'm a master student in public policy for sustainable development and am excited about policy making for doughnut economics, post-growth, and social innovation. Moreover, I have a bit of experience in innovation management and government digitalization.   As a small side project, I started to communicate about post-growth on instagram under @exploring.postgrowth   

Brazil

Driven by a passion for Regenerative Agriculture and ecological innovation, I am Dr. Kelly Besen, dedicated to fostering transformative changes in the pivotal soils of tropical and subtropical regions. With a solid foundation anchored in a Ph.D. in Agronomy, my journey intertwines groundbreaking research with impactful initiatives, cultivating a legacy of contribution to regenerative agriculture and now working on a natural capital platform. The vision of agriculture inspires my professional ethos as a powerful agent of ecological and societal transformation. Central to this vision is Grove, where we focus on nurturing regenerative solutions, consulting for the industry and farmers, fostering a future where agriculture is a realm of sustainability and vibrant innovation. Every endeavor I embark upon is a testament to a commitment to revolutionizing agriculture through an amalgamation of technology, precise data-driven strategies, and profound community engagement. In a landscape rich with opportunity, I invite collaborators, partners, and visionaries to share a tapestry of innovation, sustainability, and transformative impact in our global agricultural practices.

Auroville, India

I'm grateful for being instrumental in co-creating various initiatives that shift our culture towards a greater sense of trust, inner connection and community. Presently, working towards developing a support system for entrepreneurs committed to lead with inner transformation through labor-of-love ventures. Since 2016 I've bee living in Auroville - an international community with over 3500 residents coming from 60+ countries aspiring to realize human unity. Prior to that, had worked for over 20 years at the intersection of marketing, technology, digital media and personal finance. With core expertise in product development and integrated marketing, have worked in diverse environments ranging from startups and large corporations to non-profits and government institutions. Also actively volunteering with initiatives like Vipassana meditation, ServiceSpace and MovedByLove.  Lots of energy towards co-creating a conscious entrepreneurial ecosystem that is kind and regenerative. Fortunate to be in a community of noble friends who support each other in aligning inner and outer transformation with values of truth, love, integrity, generosity and a spirit of "may all beings be happy".

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Perth, Australia (till December, 2023)

I am an astrophysicist but also interested in supporting and contributing to pathways to a better world. I am Vice-Chair of the International Year of Basic sciences for Sustainable Development. 

NY and Tokyo

I'm a global citizen living in NY and Tokyo. Currently learning methodologies and best practices of sustainable living within the planetary boundary in developed countries. 

Seattle, WA

I'm a product management professional based in Seattle, WA, currently seeking to transition my career into the climate tech space.  In late summer/early fall 2023, I participated in the Terra.do "Climate Change: Learning for Action" program, which was my first introduction to Doughnut Economics. At that time I was reflecting that "ever-increasing growth" as a primary success metric for companies seems not only unrealistic but tends to drive perverse incentives to generate more profit at the expense of employee morale and wellness. I wondered why companies have to perpetually grow -why can't a business be considered "successful" because it achieves and maintains a stable and sustainable level of profitability? I understand the unfortunate answer that our current economic system gives, but reading Doughnut Economics gave me hope that we can move towards a better system. I'm still very much learning about the various sectors within the climate space, but some key areas of interest for me are  ,  ,   and  .

Muscoy, CA

I'm an assistant professor of sustainable management at California State University San Bernardino. Originally from San Diego, I moved to San Bernardino from Arizona State University where I taught and researched organizational leadership from 2016-2023. I'm now back in So Cal and thrilled to meet kindred spirits who also want to create a peaceful, prosperous world that works for everybody. I use social accounting as a strategic tool to account for our values, making them visible in decision making and connecting different levels of scale (personal, organizational, community, national and global). My work is informed by bioinspired principles and two decades of management experience at the San Diego Natural History Museum and Balboa Park Cultural Partnership. My hobbies are hiking and nature photography.

Rockville, Maryland, USA

I'm a retired software engineer and have learned a little about projects and management and the way people work.  I'd like to advance the spread of and practice of systems thinking with regard to economics and with regard to the larger ecology in general.  When I first read Doughnut Economics, my reaction was that the ideas were transformational but I don't see many expressions of their application and their impact.  Since my grandchildren will inherit this mess, I'd like to help generate solutions. When I learned systems analysis and systems design there were quite a few tools that helped developers to break down systems into sub-components to enable teams to collaborate effectively on generating solutions.  I see the beginnings of such things within the Doughnut Economics Action Lab.  I would like to see more and I would like to see more collaboration with IT education within the United States.  I believe that (unfortunately) academia in the U.S. is a key driving force for change and your ideas appear to be under-represented here. I'd like to see a clearing house (list of projects) developed which could serve as a focal point for recruiting mentors and sharing expertise on how to move project planners to adopt the concepts and insights of Doughnut Economics.  I suspect that the spread of Doughnut Economics would be propagated more rapidly if it were to become embedded in the methodologies taught in the process of IT education.  I'm not sure how to sell this idea but I think it is worth reflecting on.  I think the open-source coding community would be a natural ally.  There are certainly some very successful open-source projects to think about collaborating with.  Many tech practitioners work for the satisfaction of the communities that their products serve and not just for the financial reward.  This is a feeling I have had for more than 5 decades of the work I have done.  I think you need to try different approaches to tap into that energy.