The New Economy Coalition is an American nonprofit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, formerly known as the New Economics Institute. It is a network of over 200 organizations based in the US and Canada working for "a future where people, communities, and ecosystems thrive...where capital is a tool of the people, not the other way around." as part of what it describes as the [|New Economy movement].
History
New Economics Institute
Shortly after the start of the financial crisis in 2008, leaders from both New Economics Foundation and the E. F. Schumacher Society recognized the need for an organization that could help bring systemic economic alternatives into the mainstream in North America. They collaborated to create a new organization called the New Economics Institute.
In March 2012, Bob Massie became the president of the New Economics Institute. In 2013, the New Economics Institute merged with the New Economy Network and became the New Economy Coalition. Also in that year, Dave Pruett writing for the Huffington Post described the organization as one of two "leading the way toward economic viability". Massie stepped down from being the coalition's president in October 2014. Farhad Ebrahimi served as intern director until May 2015 when Jonathan Rosenthal, a co-founder of the worker cooperative Equal Exchange was hired by a board and staff committee.
Policy
New Economy movement
The New Economy movement is often referred to as just 'new economy'. It considers that the current economic system needs to be restructured. The theory is based on the assumption that people and the planet should come first, and that it is human well-being, not economic growth, which should be prioritized. It draws on an aggregate of alternative economic thought that challenges the fundamental assumptions of mainstream neoclassical and Keynesian economics. Some of the approaches it includes ecological economics, solidarity economy, commons, degrowth, regenerative design, systems thinking and Buddhist economics. Gar Alperovitz described the New Economy movement as “... a far-ranging coming together of organizations, projects, activists, theorists and ordinary citizens committed to rebuilding the American political-economic system from the ground up." In 2009, Sarah van Gelder wrote, “The new economy is about increasing quality of life, improving health, and restoring the environment." The movement is entirely distinct from the definition of a service-based new economy as popularized during the late 1990s by Stephen B. Shepard, among others.
Focus
The NEC focuses on issues in the United States and Canada and organizes there, although it does work in partnership with similar networks around the world. Writing for The Guardian Jo Confino noted the NEC's approach of getting organizations to work together that share common aims if not strategies.
The New Economy Coalition works to connect and promote its member organizations and the broader New Economy movement through online infrastructure, leadership development, strategic communications, granting programs, national conferences, and more.
Conferences
Strategies for a New Economy Conference
The New Economy Coalition hosted a conference entitled "Strategies for a New Economy" as a convening summit for diverse economic reformation efforts. The conference was held from June 8–10, 2012 at Bard College in New York. The conference featured workshops, strategizing sessions and lectures. More than 500 people were in attendance, representing over 300 organizations.
CommonBound 2014
In June 2014 the CommonBound conference brought together movement leaders, activists and practitioners. Nathan Schneider writing for Al Jazeera saw the conference as part of a wider commons movement.
CommonBound 2016
In July 2016 the New Economy Coalition, in partnership with the Crossroads Collaborative, brought together over 900 movement leaders, activists and practitioners in Buffalo, NY.
