Jess Rimington - Beloved Economies: Transforming How We Work

Copyright 2022 by Jess Rimington and Joanna Levitt Cea

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For a copyright licence, visit accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.

Cataloguing in publication information is available from Library and Archives Canada.
ISBN 978-1-989025-02-4 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-77458-238-1 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-77458-237-4 (audiobook)

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Authored by Jess Rimington and Joanna Levitt Cea
Co-created with a co-learning community Book Doula, narrative, and writing support by Naomi McDougall Jones
Edited by Naomi McDougall Jones, Steve Woodward, and Amanda Lewis
Copyedited by Crissy Calhoun and Jenna Sofia
Research and supporting editors: M. Strickland and Nairuti Shastry
Fact checking by Emily Krieger and Carolyn A. Shea
Targeted research and editorial review by Anke Ehlert, Lauren Ressler, and Fiona Teng
Interview support and targeted editorial review by Sonia Sarkar

The process of creating this book was profoundly collaborative. Many of the individuals listed above made contributions that go far beyond what these roles traditionally mean in a book development process. Learn more in the section A Window into the Research and the acknowledgments.

Cover and interior design by Peter Cocking
Cover and interior illustrations by Jesse White
Ebook by Bright Wing Media

Printed and bound in Canada by Friesens Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books Distributed in the US and internationally by Macmillan

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A beloved economy is induced, like your birth, and is born when ordinary people with extraordinary shared aims are tied in with things that create life and care for one another.

Dr. Virgil A. Wood

T he research and this book itself have been co-creatively shaped by more than one hundred people. The following sixty people stand out in the contributions each made to the research findings and analyses. Each person played a different role: some engaged during a particular phase of the research, while others continued to participate and shape the emerging analysis throughout all phases of the research. Together we formed a co-learning community.

The common thread among all members of this co-learning community is a commitment to, and strong practice of, changing how we work to embrace power-sharing ways that depart from business as usual. Each individual is listed below by name, along with an organization, initiative, or role with which they are currently affiliated or were previously affiliated during the course of their engagement in this research. Several of the individuals below are either no longer affiliated with the entity listed or are affiliated with multiple entities.

Many individuals listed below you will meet in the pages to come. Wherever someones words, ideas, or stories are shared, they co-created this part of the content and had ultimate decision-making authority on what appears in these pages. Many of those featured read and informed the books narrative, ideas, and structure, or had the opportunity to do so, through co-creation workbooks and prototyping of the research findings and draft content.

Throughout the book, wherever one of the following people is mentioned, we introduce them by first and last name and any titles. After that, we refer to them primarily by first name, as we invite the reader into community with us. The exception to this is Dr. Virgil A. Wood, who is referred to as Dr. Wood throughout the book.

Aisha Shillingford , Intelligent Mischief

Alfredo Cruz , Foundation for Louisiana

Andrew Delmonte , Cooperation Buffalo

Antionette D. Carroll , Creative Reaction Lab

Ashby Monk , Stanford Research Initiative on Long-Term Investing

Banks Benitez , Uncharted

Ben Joosten , Incourage Community Foundation

Beth Mount , Graphic Futures

Betsy Wood , Incourage Community Foundation

Bobbie Hill , Concordia

Brian McLaren , pastor

Brian Mikulencak , Blue Dot Advocates

Brooking Gatewood , The Emergence Collective

Bruce Campbell , Blue Dot Advocates

Bryana DiFonzo , PUSH Buffalo

Connor McManus , Concordia

Dawn Neuman , Incourage Community Foundation

Debbe McCall , Heart Research Alliance

Deborah Bidwell , Biomimicry for Social Innovation

Ed Whitfield , Seed Commons

Edgar Villanueva , Decolonizing Wealth Project

Enoch Elwell , CO . STARTERS

Eryn Wise , Standing Rock

Eugene Eric Kim , Faster Than 20

Farhad Ebrahimi , Chorus Foundation

Isabella Jean , independent consultant and organizational adviser

Jane Hwang , Social Accountability International

Jerome Segura III , regional economist

Jessamyn Shams-Lau , philanthropic consultant

Jessica Amon , Community Organizers Multiversity

Jessica Norwood , RUNWAY

Joe Terry , Incourage Community Foundation

John Ikerd , professor emeritus of agricultural economics, University of Missouri

Kalsoom Lakhani , Invest I nnovate

Kataraina Davis , Maurea Design

Katherine Tyler Scott , Ki ThoughtBridge

Kelley Buhles , Buhles Consulting

Kelly Ryan , Incourage Community Foundation

Kyle White , Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation

Lynn Cuny , Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation

Maggie Nichols , Innovation Engineering

Maile Keliipio-Acoba , Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture

Marion Weber , Flow Funding

Markese Bryant , Remix: The Soul of Innovation

Maurice BP -Weeks , Action Center on Race & the Economy

McCall Langford , Biomimicry for Social Innovation

Melissa Lee , Concordia

Nancy Zamierowski , Yellow Seed

Nina Sol Robinson , RUNWAY

Paula Antoine , Standing Rock

Rahwa Ghirmatzion , PUSH Buffalo

Rebecca Petzel , The Emergence Collective

Serena Wales , Textizen

Sharon McIntyre , New Cottage Industries & Co.

Stephanie Wilson , Social Accountability International

Steven Bingler , Concordia

Tatewin Means , Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation

Toby Herzlich , Biomimicry for Social Innovation

Vera Triplett , Noble Minds Institute

Virgil A. Wood , educator and church leader

M ore and more people have arrived at the same conclusion: our current ways of work are not working.

This book is about practices that transform work within our groups, businesses, and organizationssmall and largeto provide a pathway out of what isnt working about work. It is based on our research on teams that are experiencing a particular form of success related to what makes life goodsuccess that feels beloved.

We offer you seven specific practices that are a starting place for creating these changes in how you work. We also share how these deviations from the status quo are effective, and why such pathways into alternatives have been actively suppressed. Through this, we reveal uncomfortable truths about business as usual. And share how we came to uncover a way to generate innovation that audaciously prioritizes well-being, meaning, connection, and resilience alongside traditional metrics like quality and financial success. This book is a call to action: stop missing out on all that becomes possible when we change how we work, and instead step into our collective power for transformation.