About The Campaign
Beloved Economies expands our imagination of what’s possible for the economy.
Based on extensive research with organizations and companies across the U.S. that are boldly breaking out of business as usual, Beloved Economies is a campaign to shift mainstream perceptions about what’s possible for the economy—and why changing the way we work matters in getting us to a better place.
The Beloved Economies campaign is a narrative-change campaign. Why narrative-change? The stories we tell ourselves as a society—our societal narratives—affect how we collectively think, act, and what we aspire to. When we shift dominant narratives about the economy and our role in it, we create new possibilities for policy, business structures and practices, legal frameworks, and more. As poet Lucille Clifton said, “We cannot create what we can’t imagine.”
Beloved Economies aim to spark imagination and intentionality in how we work, toward bringing to life economies that work for all.
Our campaign strategically distributes research-backed content about what’s possible—and already happening—for U.S. economies of shared power, purpose, and wellbeing–including through a book, podcast, actions resources, and more. Our approach is profoundly co-creative: Each piece of content distributed by the Beloved Economies campaign has been created with an average of 80-100 collaborators, from a wide array of enterprises and organizations at the forefront of building economies that work for all.
Our time-bound campaign will come to a close in 2023, in collaboration with core partner organizations carrying forward Beloved Economies’ offerings as part of their long-term work building economies that all of us can love.
The Research
The seven-year, collaborative research endeavor informing the Beloved Economies campaign demonstrates how economic change can happen through and by us, when we intentionally imagine and build new ways of working in our teams and groups. Specifically, the research illuminated seven practices that underpin the work of enterprises breaking out of business-as-usual and finding a distinct form of success and influence.
The Book
Beloved Economies: Transforming how we work offers readers an imagination-expanding vision of what work could be, and seven, research-backed practices as a springboard for any of us to begin transforming how we work. The book is co-authored by Jess Rimington and Joanna Cea, and crafted through a profoundly collaborative process with a “co-learning community” of sixty people from a wide array of enterprises.
The Podcast
The Light Ahead: Stories for a beloved economy is a podcast that creatively explores the question, “What would 2030 look like if the U.S. had an economy that truly worked and cared for everyone?” Through short narrative fiction episodes, The Light Ahead brings to life scenes from beloved economic futures—and brings listeners into behind-the-scenes conversations with the different activists and screenwriters who co-created each episode.
Engage
The Beloved Economies campaign is convening events and opportunities to engage—both online and in-person—over the coming months.
About the Name
The name of this initiative is inspired by a phrase coined by Reverend Dr. Virgil A. Wood, a pastor, educator, and an advocate who has been working for economic justice and transformation for more than seven decades.
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The Beloved Economies campaign invites us to awaken to the power we have to reinvent and repair how we work, as a way to transform our economy from within. In collaboration with over 100 groups across the U.S.—including organizations dedicated to social and economic justice, values-aligned businesses, artists, researchers, and more—Beloved Economies reveals that it’s not only what we do, but how we do it that can be a powerful lever to move us into economies that all of us can love.