Meet the DEAL Community

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.

Nice, France

Léna FELDERHOFF, Consultant, Trainer & Lecturer - Founder of Mission Eco Humans   After 6 years of commitment to the Ecological and Social Transformation, with an expertise in pedagogy of change, knowledge and participation in local and national initiatives of transformation, and a multi-actor network, Léna has created an awareness-raising parcourse bringing together Trainings, Workshops (Climate Fresck, Digital Fresk, 2 Tons, Our low carbon lives, Fresk of New Stories etc.) and Consulting services (Carbon Footprint Assessment, Transition Plan etc.).   Léna also gives Conferences and facilitates events, for instance with her book as a co-author “Basculons dans un monde vi(v)able”.   Léna participates in the development of the Passeport Transition 06 which trains the region's CEOs.   Léna also teaches in top Management School : SKEMA BS and EDHEC BS, but also engineer schools like Eurecom, Polytech and Université Côte d'Azur.    Prior to that, Léna worked for KPMG in CSR, co-created the Training center for Ecology : LUMIA in Mouans-Sartoux (next to Cannes). She also co-lead the first COP in France, organized by students : the “COP1 Étudiante”, which has become now a national movement in Higher Education with a COP2 Étudiante, COP 3 Étudiante...    Whatever her activities, one constant prevails : Léna's enthusiastic and communicative energy that will make you want to act!     ****  Whatever my interventions, even for a 10min speech at an event, I always try to raise awareness on the Donut economic model. It gives me a lot of hope and inspiration of what could a new desirable future be like. I want to diffuse and apply the model to companies and territories, by using the DEAL tools and co-facilitating workshops :)

Stockholm, Sweden

Associate professor in immunology trying to fid out how I best can contribute to solving the worlds most pressing issues and current challenges. As a biologist I am very concerned about the climate changes and decreased biodiversity, but also believe that human intelligence have the potential to correct the current trajectory  -  if our collective mindset wants to.  Energy and time need to be included in the models we create to understand the world, which is why I really like the doughnut economics model. 

Forres

Kobenhavn og Paris

I am an associate professor in Sustainability at ESCP Business School Paris and I am on a sabbatical leave in Copenhagen. I am passionante about what is going on with Kbv Doughnut 

Lexington, KY, US

April Taylor is a Black queer Appalachian organizer. She has served as an Economics and Governance program manager at the Highlander Research and Education Center where she developed curriculum and provided accompaniment to grassroots groups in the South doing solidarity economy work. She has been involved in grassroots organizing for more than two decades working at the intersection of racial and economic justice. She is a co-founder of the Wild Fig Books & Coffee worker cooperative, Kentucky’s only Black owned bookstore. She also helped lead the push by Lexington citizens to make unprecedented changes to local police accountability and transparency and helped lay the groundwork for Lexington to elect more Black women to local offices during the 2022 election cycle than any other point in the city’s history. She serves on the Governance Council of the Southern Movement Assembly and has supported Movement for Black Lives work to catalyze solidarity economy organizing. April consistently holds space for impacted people to exchange knowledge and resources and to collectively dream and organize to use cooperative economics to meet each other’s basic needs and move beyond the exploitative white supremacist capitalist patriarchy towards liberation for all people. When she’s not building community and working towards liberation, she enjoys spending time at the Moonbow in Cumberland Falls and connecting with nature.

Athlone, Ireland

Senior Lecturer Business Faculty

Copenhagen, Denmark

Originally from the UK, but living in Denmark after 3 years in East Africa. Background in "classical" economics (that never really felt right) and have been working as an entrepreneur for the past 5 years: running podcasts for organisations, increasingly with a focus on climate. Outside of work, I'm mainly at playgrounds with my 2 y/o daughter. Doughnut Economics brings together several strands of interests and so am excited to join DEAL and learn more!