During this webinar, attendees will receive an overview of an approach to doing economic development in a different way. Speaker Christi Electris from the Croatan Institute will provide participants with:
- A comparison of traditional sources of capital versus stakeholder sources of capital for financing enterprise development
- Introduction to Crowdfunding
- Information on how Crowdfunding can support the New Economy and the Grassroots
- Case study of how one organization used crowdfunding to support their economy using the Wealthworks model.
Speaker:
- Christi Electris is a Senior Associate and founding team member at Croatan Institute. She has also been part of the Tellus Institute in Boston since 2007. Ms. Electris has led multiple in-person crowdfunding trainings for WealthWorks participants, as well as a 12-week interactive online training program. Most recently, she developed and co-taught a tailored course on crowdfunding and giving circles for economic development social justice organizations from Appalachian and the South. She also teaches crowdfunding and social media to community members in the Boston area, where she lives. Ms. Electris is the author of “Guide to Crowdfunding for WealthWorks Value Chains: Understanding Options, Getting Started” (2014). She has developed and led social media strategies for author Marjorie Kelly upon the release of her most recent book (Owning Our Future), shaped Tellus Institute’s social media strategy for the release of the Great Transition Initiative online journal, and consulted on a variety of website and database development projects. Ms. Electris is co-author of “Climate-Related Investment for Resilient Communities: DivestInvest Opportunities in Community-Oriented Climate Solutions” (2016), “Worker Equity in Food and Agriculture: Practices at the 100 Largest and Most Influential U.S. Companies.” (2012), and “Total Portfolio Activation: A Framework for Creating Social and Environmental Impact across Asset Classes” (2012), among many studies on sustainable, responsible, and impact investing. She has conducted research for a variety of projects in energy, climate, agriculture, well-being, sustainability indicators, corporate redesign, and long-range sustainability scenarios. A computer scientist and quantitative policy analyst by training, Ms. Electris has worked as a researcher at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and a research and teaching assistant for MIT’s Global System for Sustainable Development group, the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment and the Sloan School of Management. She studied computer science at the University of Pennsylvania, with minors in mathematics and cognitive science, and holds a Masters of Science in Technology and Policy from MIT and a Masters of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.