The Economy of Francesco – North America

Dear Friends,

We need you. The cry of the earth, the cry of the poor, the problems of the global economy — we need your most important work. That’s the invitation of the Economy of Francesco. We need your boldest leadership unleashed and connected to the people, institutions and centers of power that can make lasting change. We need your courage.

Are you ready to take the leap? We hope you’ll join us on Friday, October 1 at 12 noon Eastern Time.

RSVP here and then share this invitation.

Sincerely,

Felipe & Evie Bauman, Peter Stiener, Sr. Sarah Simmons, Elias Crim

(Your Oct 1 planning team)

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Friday, October 1, 2021

12:00 to 1:30pm Eastern Time
(Agenda & Zoom link to follow)

RSVP: https://bit.ly/EOFOct1

We are gathering on October 1 to:

  • encounter: meet others like us – with ambition and hope, eager to go deeper in our work to change the economy, drawing on spirituality, wisdom tradition, and community of our Church — and inspiration of Pope Francis and St. Francis of Assisi
  • share our mapping of U.S. Economy of Francesco practitioners — including co-ops, co-op capital actors, and many other change-makers and practitioners (and invite you to help us add more to this map – via Slack, Miro…)
  • invite you to join a Co-op Investing Circle, Laudato Si Action Circle, local friends of CCHD circle or other small praxis group we’ll be piloting later this Fall

We look forward to seeing you there!

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What’s been happening in North America?

In the U.S. we gathered as a couple hundred folks in February, April, and in November of 2020. We launched this Slack workspace. About 80 folks came together fo a few 4-week intensive workshops:

  • Spiritual Community Building for a New Economy (April 2020)
  • Setting a New Shared Ownership Agenda (August 2020)
  • Investing in Livable Futures: Bold Action Grounded in Catholic Social Teaching (March 2021 — supported by the Franciscan Sisters of Mary)

In the past few months, we begun building on the initial work from these workshops focused on formation, support, and bold action from large Catholic asset stewards, and connecting some of those investors to the growing co-op and shared ownership landscape: https://francescocollaborative.org/

In May, we launched: Ownership Matters — “Are you seeing what we’re seeing?” — our newsletter to help you track the investors, organizations, and people on the move shaping the Francesco / solidarity economy. Subscribe to receive it here: https://ownershipmatters.net/

What do we hope might emerge after October 1?

At our October 1 gathering, we will share the initial work we’ve started around planning small groups (Laudato Si Circles, Co-op Investor Circles…) intended to support each of us in our own inner work / spiritual journeys (and building community with others just like us) and also support the many Francesco change-makers and organizations already living into the new economy we seek. We’re taking inspiration from some of the best of personal transformation and people-powered social movements (i.e. Center for Action & Contemplation, Akimbo, PowerLabs, Ayni Institute) — and hoping to create welcoming, inclusive spaces to invite you to join us, host a small group, become a coach, or just join a group to find the community you’ve been looking for.