building bridges for a just, equitable & sustainable economy in the tompkins county region...

Building BridgesFor a Just, Equitable & Sustainable Economy in the

Tompkins County Region

November 15 and 16, 2011

Goal:

• A Socially Just and Sustainable Local Economy in the Tompkins County Region

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TOMPKINS COUNTY REGIONAL ECONOMY

A Socially Just and Sustainable Local Economy in the Tompkins County Region

• Creating and maintaining a community and economy that works for everyone and preserves our physical environment

• Reducing our carbon footprint by 20% by 2020. – (that gives us 8 years)

• Ensuring full economic human rights to everyone who lives or works in the county.– Full economic and civic participation of

economically marginalized communities and individuals.

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Ensuring full economic rights and economic participation of marginalized communities and individuals means:

• Eliminating structural poverty• Eliminating structural racism

(and all of the other “isms”) that have plagued our economic and social relationships

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This means:Everyone who lives here has: • enough good food to eat• a safe place to live with heat in the winter• access to affordable health care

Everyone who works here is making a livable wage

People in economically marginalized communities own things (i.e. businesses and homes).

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Goals for the next two days:• When we leave here tomorrow we will

have:– A shared vision of what this looks like, a

shared analysis of our situation and a narrative that we can share with others

– A shared set of strategies for achieving our vision that all (or most of us) believe have a good chance of working

– Stronger relationships and a shared commitment to take the specific actions that will make those strategies successful

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Personal Introductions

Discussion Questions• Name• Affiliation – (areas of interest/organization/role)

• What inspired you to be here?• What you hope to gain personally and

for your community?

Working Agreements

• What will you need from each other and from facilitators in order to participate fully?

Working Agreements• Participate fully• Listen for understanding• Share the “air” time:

– Don’t speak twice until others have spoken once

– Avoid repetition

• Check Assumptions/Ask for clarification

• Take some risks• Support risk takers• Honor privacy and

confidentiality

• Stay focused• Take care of yourself• High trust/low fear

climate• Start and end on time

Waking Up—Saying “No!

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Human Rights/Economic Rights StoriesDiscussion questions:• Are human and economic rights fully realized

and protected here in Tompkins County?• What are some examples of economic injustice

that you have either experienced yourself, or witnessed here in Tompkins County?

• How do these examples affect you personally (feelings, assumptions, behaviors)

• What would you like to see instead?

What’s Our Vision?-Saying “Yes!

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Vision of a just and sustainable local economy in Tompkins County

• What are the elements of a just and sustainable local economy?

• What would it look like?• What would be happening?• What wouldn’t be happening?• How would it feel?• What people be doing?

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Getting Grounded

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What it will take:

• A shared vision, shared analysis, common public narrative and establishing the necessary political will.

• Build and repairing relationships across the barriers of race, class and place.

• A clear and shared commitment to a new local investment strategy.

• Building capacity in several areas.

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Who lives in the county?

• Between 2000 and 2010 county population grew about 8% to about 103K

• City population grew about 2.5% to about 30K

County80% White8.6% Asian4.2% Latino or Hispanic4% Black3.2% 2 or more.4% Native American

City66.7% White16.2% Asian6.9% Latino or Hispanic6.6% Black4.3% 2 or more.4%Native American

Some interesting economic data:County

Federal spending-$948.6millionPer capita income is $24,40918.8 %Persons below poverty level-6.9% Families (13-14 hundred)-63.6% of single mothers with children under 5 9665 firms in 2007.9% Black owned5.3%Asian ownedLatino owned?

City

Per capita income is $16,04144.4% Persons below poverty level-11.1%Families (325 families)-87.1% of single mothers with children under 52935 firms in 2007Black owned ?Asian owned?Latino owned?

Median Family Income by Census Block, 2000

Percent in Poverty by Census Block, 2000

Some Key Points For A Public Narrative:• There will be a tremendous investment in a

“green” economy over the next 10-20 years in the Tompkins County Region.

• We would be wise to make as much of that investment with local money as possible.

• Currently, capital invested in economically marginalized communities does not produce wealth. Instead, money flows into and out of these communities very quickly.

• If funds are invested the way they have been in the past, it will reproduce the current inequities.

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Some Key Points For A Public Narrative:• If we want to create a just, sustainable

economy, we have to invest more locally and• We have to invest in economically marginalized

communities in different ways. • This means: – Investors have to be willing to get a slower

return on their investment (Slow Money) and understand how to “get in” and “stay in.”

– We need to identify assets in marginalized communities and think about how to capitalize those assets so they produce wealth in those communities.

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Some Capacities We Must Develop

• Job readiness (especially in marginalized communities)

• Cultural competency of employers and employees• How to identify and cultivate local markets for new

ideas, products and services• How to identify and capitalize the assets of

marginalized communities and individuals• How to identify and support entrepreneurs in

marginalized communities• Networking-(linking job ready, job seekers to local

employers)• How to create new products for local green

investing

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Some Assets We Might Pay Attention to:

• Youth• Creativity and ideas• Cultural assets• Potential Workforce

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Interdependent New Systems

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Triple Bottom Line Enterprises and

Job Creation

Skilled Workforce

Education, Training,Workforce Development

POLICY

Financing

Market DemandFor Sustainable

Products & Services

Business Support Services Consumer Education

Tompkins County Sustainable Economy System

Triple Bottom Line Enterprises and

Job CreationEmployer Hiring

Business ExpansionEntrepreneurship

Worker Cooperatives

Skilled Workforce

Workforce DevelopmentRebuilding the Wall, FL ReUse Center,

Retrofitting/Green Energy Jobs TC3 Green Collar Curriculum,

Groundswell, Workforce Tompkins,NYSERDA, Labor unions

POLICYEnergy/Climate Plans

Green Purchasing Directives,Regional Econ Dev Strategy,

Green Jobs, Green NY

FinancingPublic: TCAD, IURA, STREDC,

NYSERDA, DOL, USDAPrivate: AFCU, local banks, Park P-R-I, BR Microcapital,Slow Money CNY, ST’s LION,

FL Climate Fund

Market DemandFor Sustainable

Products & Services

Business Support Services

Business Cents, eLab, SEEN, Worker Coop Incubator,

TC Chamber of Commerce

Consumer EducationWhole Community Project,

Get Your Green Back Tompkins,Local First Ithaca, Green Resource Hub,

Finger Lakes Energy Challenge,Ithaca Green Building Alliance,CCE-TC, TC Solid Waste, TCCPI

Tompkins County Sustainable Economy System

Building a Just, Equitable & Sustainable Economy in the

Tompkins County Region

Thematic Areas & Regional Projects—Interdependent Systems

Clean Environment & Green Energy

Affordable Goods & Services for a Sustainable

Lifestyle

Local Green Investment

Socially Just Green

Businesses

Jobs & Livable Income

Educ./Prep, 21st C. Skills & Training

Fresh Affordable

Food

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Building Demand for Affordable Sustainable

Lifestyle Goods & Services

Just, Sustainable Food System —

Fresh, Affordable Food

Local Green Investment

Entrepreneurship & Incubating Small

Businesses

Green Energy Jobs

Workforce Prep, Training & Access to

Sustainable Jobs

Invest in & Grow a Just, Equitable, Sustainable Economy

Building Bridges—Sample Projects

Themes:Just and Sustainable Food System

Entrepreneurship and Incubating Small Businesses

Green Energy Jobs

Workforce Preparation, Training, and Support

Building Demand for A Just and Sustainable Life Style

Local Green Investing

Whole Community Project and

Partners

Rebuilding the Wall

Get Your Green Back

Retrofitting Housing and Businesses

Fingerlakes ReUse Center

E-LABIncubating

Entrepreneurship & Small

Businesses

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Open SpacePossible purposes of the open space time:• Networking• Planning next steps with others • Getting more information from people • Checking in with other people about how

you’re feeling and what you’re noticing--especially if you have an organizational, action group or affinity group in the workshop

Habits to Break—Habits to CultivateDiscussion Questions for Breakout Session Two-Thematic Areas:

In order to build, repair and maintain the relationships, and develop the capacities needed to be successful in this thematic area, what will we need to think and do differently?• What habits of mind and behavior are in the way?

– What habits do we need to break?– What will we have to stop doing?

• What’s needed instead? • What habits do we need to cultivate?

– What do we need to start doing, continue doing or do more of?• What will make it hard to do these things?• What support will you need?

Examples of habits to break:

• People with resources and decision-making authority:– Making decisions without getting input from people who

will be affected by those decisions– Planning activities and events and including other people

as an afterthought– Not listening when people tell you things you don’t

particularly want to hear because the information if used would disrupt your plans

• People with fewer resources and decision-making authority:– Assuming that your voice doesn’t make a difference– Assuming that you don’t have any power or influence– Pulling each other down, in-fighting, bad-mouthing each

other

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Examples of habits to cultivate:

• People with resources and decision-making authority– Establishing relationships outside your comfort

zone– Listening carefully– Including people who have been marginalized in

the decision-making conversations and at least letting them know the conversations are taking place

• People with fewer resources and decision-making authority– Keep yourself informed about what is going on– Show up– Support each other

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Open Space Discussion Questions (optional):

• Opportunities; what seems possible and what seems exciting?

• Specific next steps we are each interested in taking to make a difference in the thematic areas &/or to support one of the case samples

• Support we will need from others• Next steps we should take together (e.g. next

meetings)• What support is needed from the planning group?

Roundtable Discussion Questions:• Specific next steps we are each willing to take to

make a difference in this area, to support one of the projects

• Support we will need from others

• Any next steps we should take together (e.g. next meetings)

• Set up individual meetings to explore possible partnerships/alliances?

• What support will be needed from the planning group?

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Check-in on our goals for the past two days:

• Do we have:– A shared vision of what a just and

sustainable local economy looks like? – A shared analysis of our situation and a

narrative that we can share with others?– A shared set of strategies for achieving

our vision that all (or most of us) believe have a good chance of working?

– Stronger relationships and a shared commitment to take the specific actions that will make those strategies successful?

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building bridges for a just, equitable & sustainable economy in the tompkins county region...

Documents

time slide

grounded slide

strategies successful

shared vision

tompkins county region

sustainable local economy

economic human rights

equitable sustainable