The below Progressive Opportunities sessions(listed alphabetically by session title) are available on video. Unfortunately, we were unable to catch all the sessions on camera, but ALL of the sessions were audio-recorded and are archived by Hungry Mind Recording in partnership with the East Bay Express: Progressive Opportunities Conference 2012: Audio

Alternative banking models - public banks, worker cooperative banks, and progressive banking practices
This presentation will be a discussion of how Wall Street private bankers control the amount of money in circulation and how alternative banking models can be used to fund loans for homeowners, students, entrepreneurs, and businesses on Main Street.
Speaker - Marc Armstrong, Executive Director, Public Banking Institute; Susan Harman, Public Banking Institute; Esther Park, Vice President, Strategy & Business Development, RSF Social Finance; Mike Leung, Lead Organizer, Worker Cooperative Federal Credit Union

Alternative workplace models - saving money, energy, and time while promoting creativity and collaboration through remote, flex-space, and other progressive workplace models
The number one contributor to carbon and environmental emissions in the U.S. is squarely rooted in how we work. Work-related activity creates over 90% of the carbon emissions and pollution in the U.S., with buildings and transportation accounting for almost 75% of the total. Roughly 3% of the U.S. workforce telecommutes a majority of the time today, if that number was 50% of those who can, we would cut our carbon emissions in ½, while saving 453 million barrels of oil, reduce 2.1 billion hours wasted in traffic. Essentially, it would be the equivalent of taking 15 million cars off the road. At the same time, the nature and scope of work is changing away from the "reporting to the factory" mentality and opportunities for flexible work are becoming the norm and not the exception. This session will explore the many ways that companies and individuals can bring themselves up to speed with the knowledge worker/broadband economy wave, especially here in the uber connected Bay Area. We will explore practical examples, studies, legislation, and opportunities to improve both our social and environmental fabric by exploring the future of work.
Speaker - Matthew Bauer, President, BetterWorld Telecom; (Invited) Ian Gover, CEO, Better Workplace

B Corporation: a better way to do business
B Corporations are a new kind of company that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. They meet transparent and comprehensive standards of social and environmental performance. They also legally expand their corporate responsibilities to include consideration of stakeholder interests. Being the hub of innovation and social enterprise, California now joined six other states to sign Benefit Corporation into law. This panel will discuss the why and how to for companies to join this movement and amplify the voice for sustainable business.
Speakers - Andy Fyfe, Community Development, B Lab - B Corporation; Michael Hannigan, President, Give Something Back Office Supplies; Matthew Bauer, President, BetterWorld Telecom; Timothy Yee, President, Green Retirement Plans; Jonathan S. Storper, Partner, Hanson Bridgett, LLP
Speakers presented by - Faculty Member at the Presidio Graduate School

Bikenomics - how biking will save the planet, our pocketbooks, and our local economy
We all know that bicycling is a great way to get around in the Bay Area, that it keeps us healthy and helps the planet, but did you know that biking makes economic sense too? At this session we will be talking about the dollars and cents benefits of biking. Renee Rivera, the Executive Director of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, will present on Bikenomics - how biking will not only save the planet but your pocketbook, too, not to mention our struggling local economies. Numerous studies from around the county and around the world show that investments in better biking pay off for cities in health outcomes and a boost to business. Come to this session to learn about the economic impact of bicycling as well as cutting edge innovations like bike-friendly business districts and much more.
Speaker - Renee Rivera, Executive Director, East Bay Bicycle Coalition
Speaker presented by - Pamela Evans, Coordinator for Alameda County, Bay Area Green Business Program

Campaign finance reform - the single most important campaign
Two related trends in American political, economic, and community life over the last thirty-five years pose a huge challenge to all of us committed to progressive growth of an America constituted of vibrant local living economies. The first trend has to do with distribution of wealth. Over the last third of a century, wealth has become increasingly concentrated in the hands of the 1% of the population that is wealthiest. Well over 40% of the nation's resources are controlled by that top 1% and the companies they control. The second trend has to do with the distribution of political power. Not surprisingly, the 1% of the population that is wealthiest is also the 1% of the population that has political power proportionate to its wealth. This session will explore several questions in order to shed light on these two disturbing trends as well as discuss strategies to overcome them.
Speakers - Mark McLeod , Executive Director, Sustainable Business Alliance of Oakland/Berkeley; State Senator Loni Hancock
Speakers presented by - Winston Burton, Economic Development Director, Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS)

Complementary and alternative currencies to the US dollar
Community currencies can boost a local economy by recirculating wealth locally and rewarding important community work that needs to be done. Where national currency is scarce or there is a lack of market support for community services, local currencies can facilitate better flows of resources and energy by matching unmet needs with underutilized resources. Investing in community currency means investing in your community's health and real wealth for the long haul, and therefore our own security and happiness. Democratically-controlled local money can be a powerful tool in relocalization to shift economic power and transform the economy into a more caring and cooperative one.
Speakers - Guillaume Lebleu, Bernal Bucks; Jessica Nowlan, Hope Solutions Merchant Services; Erin Kilmer-Neel, Oakland Grown Gift Card; Charlie Rebich, Oakland Acorn/Oakland Grown Gift Card; Mira Luna, Bay Area Community Exchange Timebank
Speakers presented by - Amy Barr, Sustainable Business Alliance

Crowdfunding for Local (Food) Economies (Part I)
Are you a social entrepreneur looking to raise money from friends, family, and community members? Are you a community member wondering how to support great local farmers, artisans, and businesses supporting your local economy? How can you leverage both accredited and non-accredited investors? Learn about innovative fundraising tools, public policy challenges and solutions, new financing vehicles, and local investment clubs.
Crowdfunding for Local (Food) Economies (Part II)
Discuss more real world examples and how to bring these tools and ideas to your community. This is a great chance to ask questions and discuss solutions with our expert panel!
Speakers - Mary Rick, VP, Marketing and Community, The Hoop Fund; Elizabeth Ü, Founder & Executive Director, Finance for Food; Jenny Kassan, Cutting Edge Capital; Arno Hesse, Slow Money Northern CA
Speakers presented by - Ariane Michas, Community Alliance with Family Farmers

Economic development for our communities - the potential of decentralized energy systems
Localized energy systems can address both the climate crisis and economic crisis of our cities, rolling back greenhouse gas emissions and providing clean energy jobs. This presentation explores the economic and social benefits decentralized energy system can provide to our communities, and the kind of policies and program needed to develop such a system.
Speaker - Al Weinrub, Coordinator, Local Clean Energy Alliance
Speaker presented by - Carroll Moore, Organizer, East Bay Green Drinks

End of growth
We all take economic growth for granted - until it falters, as in 2008. But what if the recent economic meltdown was not just an interruption in the story of continuous economic expansion, but the first sign of the end of growth as we know it? Will the convergence of financial instability, the end of cheap oil, and climate change usher in an era of contraction? In other words, do we have to adapt to a "new normal"? Traditional economic growth is not the best measure of human health and welfare. How might we pursue improvements in education, the arts, health, well-being, freedom, and happiness without depending upon ever-expanding consumption? What does a transition to a new economy look like that doesn't depend on a model of growth based on cheap energy, reckless consumption and financial speculation?
Speaker - Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute
Speaker presented by - Ed Church, Executive Director, Institute for Environmental Entrepreneurship

Financing for your small business
Do you know the appropriate financing and business training options for your small business? Have you been denied for a bank loan and don't know where to turn? Are you a start-up or growing business struggling to access capital? This session will provide information and resources to help you find the right type of capital that your small business needs to start or grow. It will also introduce you to business training resources that can take your business to the next level.
Speakers - Sean Murphy, COO, Inner City Advisors; Kelly Lovlien, Marketing and Operations Manager, Working Solutions; Alejandro Velez, Co-Founder, Back to the Roots
Speakers presented by - Salvador Menjivar, Executive Director, One PacificCoast Foundation

Laughter Against the Machine: a documentary film preview and discussion
Comedians W. Kamau Bell, Nato Green and Janine Brito, are Laughter Against the Machine; a unique kind of comedy troupe where the audience expects to be challenged, to laugh, and think at the same time. It's an issue-oriented, no-holds-bar show with no preconceived expectations, no party lines, and certainly no cheerleading - because they have beef with everybody, including themselves. This past fall, LATM set out to tour the nation's most volatile political hotspots, to find out what role comics can play in the revolution. After an successful fundraising campaign on Kickstarter, they shot a documentary of their tour to the most politically polarized places in the USA. In addition to visiting Occupy Wall Street actions in seven cities across the country, they crossed the border in Arizona with Immigration rights groups Culturestrike and Puente, marched with striking hotel workers in Chicago, went to a Mosque in Michigan, touched the levee in the lower 9th ward in New Orleans, and hung out with street artists against oil pipelines in DC. Like Doctors without Borders, armed with jokes instead of penicillin, Laughter Against the Machine is a comedic peacekeeping mission to bring humor to those who need it most.
Speakers - W. Kamau Bell, Nato Green, Evan Donn, Mike Paunovich
Speakers presented by - Rachel Swan, Music Editor, East Bay Express

The localization movement - the economic argument for keeping it local
There are numerous studies demonstrating how "buy local" campaigns benefit communities; how support of local retailers, producers, and manufacturers benefits city and citizen wealth; how moving your money to community banks and credit unions better serves entrepreneurs and residents; how it's friendlier to the planet to source locally; how nonprofits receive more funding from locally-based business; and how promoting local entrepreneurs and business owners verses out-of-town owned chains promotes diversity and healthy, resilient communities. Learn the economics behind the localization movement and how you can personally participate in shifting dollars locally.
Speakers - Linda Currie and Susan Silber, Transition Berkeley; Carolina Miranda, Sustainable Business Alliance; Erin Kilmer-Neel, Oakland Grown; Hut Landon, SFLOMA
Speakers presented by - Samee Roberts, Manager, Community & Economic Development Agency, City of Oakland

New community-building tech innovation presentation by LocalOn
Small business owners can learn about a new technology that promotes their business through a unique collaboration between East Bay Express, local business associations, business districts, and all their social networking channels. This tool is super easy to use and saves merchants money and time in promoting their businesses while vastly expanding their marketing reach.
Speakers - Shahbano Imran and David Tolioupov, Founders, LocalOn; Shari Godinez, Executive Director, Koreatown Northgate Community Benefits District
Speakers presented by - Terry Furry, Sales & Marketing Director, East Bay Express

The new sustainable theory of investing
Wall Street investment activity is premised on a view of a theory of finance called, "Modern Portfolio Theory" (MPT). Due to lack of an alternative, even many green investment companies rely on MPT. But MPT is based on a selfish view of utilitarian interests in which the investments of an individual or enterprise are looked at out of societal context, and measured only by short term financial returns. Strict adherence to MPT forecloses most sustainable and green investment strategies and MPT has failed even as to what it promises. Hear from a panel working on a new replacement theory that is fascinating as well as nationally important, and which puts sustainability and people's true needs at the heart of investment strategies.
Speakers - Jay Youngdahl, Fellow, Initiative for Responsible Investment, Harvard University and President, East Bay Express; (Responder) Ed Church, Executive Director, Institute for Environmental Entrepreneurship

The non-profit industrial complex, cooperatives, and how to include your friends in the (food) revolution
The session will present an overview of the cooperative business model with a variety of examples, and help participants think of ways to directly create a more cooperative economy. We will also discuss the role of non-profits and the tax shelters that support them in creating value for our communities. Some attention will be given to unique food movement organizing in the state around a non-GMO ballot initiative as a case study. The session will be participatory with small group exercises and facilitated discussion from the audience.
Speaker - Yoni Landau, Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist, CoFED (The Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive)

Slow Money - investing as if food, farms, and fertility matter
Slow Money. ACRES USA calls it a "movement." NPR calls it a "revolution." One thing is for sure: what began with a book and a set of ideas three years ago has blossomed into a network of investors, philanthropists, farmers, entrepreneurs, and everyday folks who are concerned about where their food comes from and where their money goes. Today, over $12 million has been invested directly in small food enterprises through the Slow Money network, both nationally and through over a dozen local chapters, one of which is in Northern California. We are still at the beginning and at the same time we are well on the way to our goal of 1 million people investing 1% of their money in local food systems, this decade. Come learn how, in Wendell Berry's words, these "millions of small acts" can begin to rebuild our economy… from the ground up.
Speaker - Woody Tasch, Founder and Chairman, Slow Money
Speaker presented by - Temra Costa, Sustainable Food Advocate and Author of Farmer Jane

State and national small business policy and opportunities discussion
Changing public policy through advocacy in Sacramento and Washington is essential for building a robust and sustainable economy. New business organizations have emerged to champion the priorities of the 21^st Century small business owners and investors. Small Business California conducts an annual survey to identify the top priorities for small business in California. Scott Hauge will describe how SBC is improve access to capital, energy costs, and the potential power of small business in California. The American Sustainable Business Council advocates on national issues. David Brodwin will describe their increasingly successful work to mobilize business leaders and create a counter-force in the media, supporting forward-looking policies to restore American competitiveness and promote sustainable and socially-responsible growth.
Speakers - Scott Hauge, President, Small Business California and Cal-Insure; David Brodwin, American Sustainable Business Council
Speakers presented by - Beth Gelfand, Operations Manager, Bay Area Green Tours

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