3pm Eastern Time | Noon Pacific Time

Local economy leaders across the country are recognizing that in order to achieve our vision, we will need to rewrite the policies that shape our economy — policies that today often work against local, values-based businesses.  Many BALLE fellows and local economy leaders are already taking action, rewriting the rules in their own places to reorient the banking system, implement mission-based procurement policies, advocate smart land-use planning, and more.

Join BALLE for a preview of a new policy platform crafted by the Institute for Local Self Reliance in partnership with Localist leaders and BALLE Fellows. Stacy Mitchell of ILSR, Rebecca Melançon of the Austin Independent Business Alliance and Local First Policy Committee, and Eric Griego, BALLE Fellow and former New Mexico State Senator, will share the new policy platform along with tips for how to use this and other tools to elevate the public conversation in your own place.

In this webinar you’ll learn:

• The core issues leaders are tackling across the country
• How to set policy priorities and actions to achieve them
• Shared resources for moving Localist policy forward.

Register for Transforming Policy to Build Strong Local Economies

Speakers:

Stacy Mitchell, Institute for Local Self Reliance

Stacy is co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and directs its Community-Scaled Economy Initiative, which produces research and analysis and partners with a range of allies to design and implement policies that curb economic consolidation and strengthen community-rooted enterprise. Much of Stacy’s work has focused on two pivotal sectors of the economy: retail and banking.  Among the first to raise the alarm about the rise of mega-retailers in the 1990s, Stacy is a nationally recognized leader in the movement to counter their power.

Rebecca Melançon, Austin Independent Business Alliance & Local First Policy Committee

Rebecca was a founding member of the nonprofit Austin Independent Business Alliance (AIBA) and served as vice president from 2002 until 2009 when she joined the staff of AIBA as Executive Director in March 2010. As an advocate for local business, she has served on Austin’s Comprehensive Plan Task Force, the Travis County Economic Development Subcommittee and hosts the Local Business Conference in Austin. Rebecca is a member of the Local First Policy Committee that worked with ISLR to craft the policy platform previewed in this webinar.

Moderator: Eric Griego, Fast Forward Consulting, former NM State Senator

Eric puts his two decades of experience in economic development and public office toward collaborating with local governments, foundations and community leaders to redevelop key parts of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and to create jobs and grow local businesses in some the state’s hardest hit communities. His Doctoral research and consulting work focuses on redefining community health to include economic resiliency, vibrancy and diversity. Eric served as an Albuquerque City Councilman, Assistant Cabinet Secretary for Economic Development, and a State Senator for four years.