Purchase Past Webinars
Webinar recordings are now available for purchase for $10 each! You will find offerings from each of our webinar series: Community Capital, Local First, and Prosperity For All.
Discounts Available
Business Members of BALLE Champions and BALLE Leaders receive 50% off the list price, or $5 per recorded webinar. Be sure to log in to receive your discounted rate. Learn more about membership.
Recordings are Free for Champions
If you are a staff or board member of a BALLE Champion, get access to our recordings for free! Log in to your BALLE member account and find the recordings in the Champion Document Library. Or contact us to have the recording emailed to you; be sure to indicate which Champion you are a staff or board member of.
Here is a complete list of our offerings:
FROM OUR COMMUNITY CAPITAL WEBINAR SERIES
► May 2013 | 10:00am PT Purchase now!
The Highly Replicable LION Investing Model: Lessons Learned and New Innovations with James Frazier, founder, Local Investment Opportunities Network (LION) and Local Investing Resources Center and Renata B. Kowalczyk, co-founder, Whatcom Investing Network
We first featured LION in March 2011. Since then, the LION model for matchmaking entrepreneurs seeking capital and investors looking to support local businesses has taken off, with deep work in its home community of Port Townsend, WA and many new LION groups across North America. This webinar will show us how the Port Townsend LION has grown since 2011, will overview the other communities now using the LION approach. We’ll then hear from the Whatcom Investing Network (WIN) as one of the most promising evolutions of the LION approach.
Featured Speakers:
James Frazier is an enthusiastic supporter of the local investing movement, which encourages people to invest money within their local communities. In 2008, he helped found the pioneering Local Investing Opportunities Network (LION), based in Port Townsend, Washington, which has drawn attention for its success in connecting investors with local small businesses and nonprofits. Building on this, in 2012, he started, and continues to coordinate, the non-profit Local Investing Resource Center, an educational website and advocacy center dedicated to expanding local investing in communities across the USA, and beyond.
From Wall Street to Bellingham, WA - Renata B. Kowalczyk is on the fore-front of re-designing the way local businesses do business, transforming the way people work together, and re-defining what it means to create value. Whether designing products and systems for JP Morgan Chase and Merrill Lynch or pioneering coworking communities that bridge the gap between unused space in office buildings and the isolated solo-preneur, Renata is helping build high impact, value based, and people focused economies everywhere. Described by many as a spark plug for collaboration, Renata draws on her experiences of living in Poland under the communist regime, arriving to NYC three days after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, attaining the American Dream, and walking away from it in 2008 to be part of co-creating new local economies. You can learn more about Renata at www.renataBK.com
► April 2013 : Special podcast with Michael Shuman, Elizabeth U, and Jenny Kassan!
Speakers:
Michael Shuman is director of research for Cutting Edge Capital. He has led community-based economic-development efforts across the country and has authored or edited seven previous books, including The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (2006), Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age (1998) and Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Acheive Real Prosperity. In recent years, Michael has led community-based economic-development efforts in St. Lawrence County (NY), Hudson Valley (NY), Katahdin Region (ME), Martha's Vineyard (MA), and Carbondale (CO), and served as a senior editor for the recently published Encyclopedia of Community.
Elizabeth Ü, Executive Director of Finance for Food, is passionate about connecting sustainable food- and ag-based businesses with capital. She is the author of Raising Dough: The Complete Guide to Financing a Socially Responsible Food Business, a book designed to help entrepreneurs navigate the complex and ever-evolving world of financing options, from traditional debt and venture capital, to community-supported models, non-voting preferred stock, crowdfunding . . . and the list goes on!
Jenny Kassan is CEO of Cutting Edge Capital. She has over seventeen years of experience as an attorney for and creator of social enterprises. She has raised funds for and launched a public space cleaning and maintenance business, a landscapers’ cooperative, and a public market. She has extensive experience with direct public offerings, nonprofit-for-profit joint ventures, cooperatives, and creative financing tools.
Listen to the Free Podcast Now!
► March 2013 : Edible Credits: The Credibles Model for Crowdsourced Funding of Local Food Businesses
Speaker:
Arno Hesse is cofounder of Clearbon, which focuses on funding and financing solutions for small businesses. As a founding member of Slow Money and its local chapter Slow Money Northern California, Arno works on directing investments into local food systems.
► February 2013 : The Farmer Reserve Fund Model: Business Microloans that Leverage Credit Union & Community Partner Capacity
Speaker:
Tim Crosby, Director of Slow Money NW, works in the Pacific Northwest on the logistics, policy, and financing of the regional food system. Tim is on the Steering Committee for the Sustainable Agriculture and Food System Funders Network.
► January 2013 : Entrepreneur Showcases: Pitching Business Plans to Drive Local Investment
Speakers:
Jill Epner is a food entrepreneur and the chair of the Entrepreneur Support working group at Slow Money Northern California where she helps connect food & farming entrepreneurs with individual investors. She is also writes a weekly Food Entrepreneur blog series where she offers a candid behind-the-scenes look at starting a food business.
Marco Vangelisti is an impact investor, a founding member of Slow Money and an adviser to Ecocity Builders. After a 20 year career in finance, Marco left the corporate world in April 2009 and has since been instrumental in the formation and development of the Slow Money Northern California chapter where he currently leads the investor working group.
► December 2012 : Invest Local Ohio: A Revolving Loan Fund Supporting Local Businesses Through Unaccredited Investors
Speaker:
As an accomplished entrepreneur, Steve Fireman has taken his experience and success as a business founder and owner to the non-profit world, where he currently serves as the President and General Counsel of the Economic and Community Development Institute. Additionally, Mr. Fireman focuses his practice on representing and counseling small business clients.
► November 2012 : Timebanking as Community Capital: Creating Prosperity & Community Services Without Currency
Speaker:
Stephanie Rearick founded the Dane County TimeBank in Madison, Wisconsin in 2005 and continues to serve as its Director. In 1995 Rearick helped to form Madison Hours local currency. She also served on the Timebanks USA Board of Directors from January 2007 to August 2011, serving as Co-Chair from March 2010 to March 2011.
► October 2012 : What's Next for Local Crowdfunding
Speakers:
Jenny Kassan, Cutting Edge Capital and Frank Knapp, American Sustainable Business Council and President and CEO of South Carolina Small Business Chamber.
► September 2012 : Community Partnership Lending with Alternatives Federal Credit Union
Speaker:
Leslie Ackerman of Alternatives Federal Credit Union
► August 2012 : Local Stock Offerings Part Two: Worker Ownership and Direct Public Offering
Speaker:
Chris Michael founder/partner at Workers Development
► July 2012 : Local Stock Offerings Part One: The Community Store in Saranac Lake & the Quimper Peninsula
Speakers:
Melinda Little of the Community Store in Saranac Lake
Marty Gay of the Quimper Mercantile Company
► April 2012 : Funding Our Foodshed: Models for Group and One-on-One Loans from Slow Money North Carolina
Speaker:
Carol Peppe Hewitt, Cofounder, Slow Money North Carolina
► March 2012 : Community Supported Enterprise: A Model for Accessing Multiple Community Lending & Investment Streams
Speaker:
Linda Ramsdell, Co-Owner, Claire's Restaurant and Bar
► February 2012 : Lending Circles: A Loan Model for Accessing Community Capital and Building Prosperity for All
Speaker:
Daniel Lau, Program Manager, Mission Asset Mission Asset Fund
► January 2012 : Co-op Power: A Model for Local Investment, New Business Development and Job Creation
Speaker:
Lynn Benander of Co-op Power and Northeast Biodiesel
► December 2011 : Creating and Implementing Sustainable Business Training and Development Programs
Speakers:
Kate Houstoun, Managing Director of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia
Stacey Price, Executive Director of Think Local First DC
► November 2011 : The Age of the Network Leader: Effective Leadership in a Time of Speed, Unpredictability and Complexity
Speaker:
Deborah Frieze is a former co-president of Berkana and co-founder of the Berkana Exchange
► October 2011 : Funding Your Network Programs
Speakers:
Derek Long is the Executive Director of Sustainable Connections
Mickki Langston cofounded the Mile High Business Alliance
FROM OUR LOCAL FIRST WEBINAR SERIES
► May 21, 2013 : Emory's Sustainable Food Initiatives
After hearing from two local food catalysts connecting growers with markets, we’ll move next to hearing from a buyer’s perspective: Emory University, a pioneer in local and green purchasing and campus sustainability.
Emory University has set an ambitious goal to purchase 75% local or sustainably-produced food by 2015. To help grow and support local suppliers from which they can buy, they are helping sponsor the development Atlanta Lettuce Works, a worker-owned cooperative greenhouse business.
We'll explore the drivers and goals of Emory’s efforts to source local food and their planning and execution process for making this a reality, including clear goals and implementation steps for 10 categories of food purchases. We’ll learn about their challenges and successes to date, all with an eye toward replication in other communities with other universities and large institutional buyers.
Speaker:
Emily Cumbie-Drake, Program Coordinator, Emory University
Cumbie-Drake works with University committees and various groups on campus in fulfilling Emory’s sustainability vision. She is a graduate from Emory College in 2010 with a B. A. As an Emory student, she was actively engaged in sustainability efforts on campus, including serving on Emory’s Sustainable Food Committee and managing the Green Bean Coffee Cart. Cumbie-Drake was a 2010 Robert T. Jones Scholar and most recently worked as a volunteer for Heiffer International.
► April 16, 2013 : Development of Local and Regional Food Systems
Speakers:
Alan Moore, Director of Distribution and Business Development, Local Food Hub and co-founder of BALLE network, Lowcountry Local First in Charleston, SC
Robin Robbins, Appalachian Harvest General Manager, Appalachian Sustainable Development
Purchase now!
► March 2013 : How to Accelerate Local Procurement: Webinar: Leveraging Green Purchasing & Supplier Diversity
Join Ted Howard & Steve Dubb of The Democracy Collaborative as they explore the role of community foundations and place-based supporters in supporting local procurement, bringing anchors and agencies to the table, and funding conveners working to shift procurement to local businesses.
► January 2013 : Source Detroit: Shifting $16.5M in Procurement Dollars to Local Businesses
Speaker:
David Barna, a Detroit native, recently earned a Law degree from Georgetown University and was a post-graduate fellow with a prominent consumer advocacy group in Washington, D.C. He currently lives in Downtown Detroit and works with Midtown Detroit Inc. as lead on the “Source Detroit” Anchor Procurement Program.
► December 2012 : Next Generation Local Purchasing: Jumpstarting Local Procurement by Anchor Institutions
Speakers:
Ted Howard is the founding Executive Director of The Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland. Howard directs the Collaborative's partnership with The Cleveland Foundation on the Evergreen Cooperative Business Initiative, a path-breaking strategy to create green jobs and wealth for low-income families in six of the city's underserved neighborhoods.
Walter Wright joined the Cleveland Foundation in 2011 as the project director of the Greater University Circle Community Wealth Building Initiative. This effort is supported by Living Cities, a collaboration of 22 of the nation’s largest foundations and financial institutions. The initiative supports community and enhances wealth building opportunities in Greater University Circle, and new development in the Health Tech corridor.
► November 2012 : Next Generation Local Purchasing: Jumpstarting Local Procurement by Government Agencies
Speaker:
Kimber Lanning is an entrepreneur and economic specialist who works to cultivate strong, vibrant communities and inspire a higher quality of life throughout Arizona. Lanning is actively involved in fostering cultural diversity, economic self-reliance and responsible growth for the Phoenix metropolitan area. The organization changed the City of Phoenix procurement policy to favor locally owned businesses and helped build a regional directory of certified local business vendors. She is also a BALLE Fellow and board member.
► October 2012 : Why Does Local Matter? Making the Case and Responding to Critics
Speaker:
Stacy Mitchell is a senior researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and directs its initiatives on banking and independent business. Her book, Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses (Beacon Press, 2006), has appeared on several top-ten lists and was described by Bill McKibben as “the ultimate account of the single most important economic trend in our country.”
FROM OUR PROSPERITY FOR ALL WEBINAR SERIES
► December 2012 : Bringing Diverse Communities Together to Build an Inclusive Food System: Lessons from People's Grocery in West Oakland
Speaker
Nikki Henderson began her work in social justice through the foster care system in Southern California, having been raised with seven older foster brothers. Through mentoring, tutoring, and directing Foster Youth Empowerment Workshops, she developed her passion for youth leadership development among communities of color. She later shifted into sustainability, developing course curriculum for the University of California system and advocating across the state for environmental justice and political ecology.
► November 2012 : Communications Strategies that Reach, Build, and Empower
Speaker:
Kimberlee Williams is CEO and Marketing Director of FEMWORKS in Newark, New Jersey, an accomplished media and marketing strategy firm. She is also founder of Forward Ever Sustainable Business Alliance that challenges the residents of Greater Newark to shift their shopping to support their community of local independently owned African American, Latino and Portuguese businesses.
► October 2012 : What is Prosperity for All, and What Does it Mean for the Localist Movement?
Speakers: Maggie Anderson, Founder of The Empowerment Experiment, author of Our Black Year; Lynn Benander, Executive Director of Co-op Power; Alfa Demmellash, BALLE Board Member, Founder and CEO of Rising Tide Capital.
