For what it's worth
Something’s happening here, and what it is is becoming clear...
We see a lot of folks finding it harder to get by, much less get ahead. Even folks who’re better off aren’t as well off as they used to be. And kids can’t imagine having a life half as good as their folks'.
Meanwhile, we got ridiculously wealthy people for no good reason, and a government that’s gotten pretty good at keeping things the way they are for the folks who like keeping them that way. People are getting more frustrated, more tired, and worse – people who should be working together are all too ready to get hot over the smallest thing. That’s not by accident.
But we’ve also seen good people in real places doing things that actually work. Problem is, not enough folks are talking, connecting, and doing. We need more people gathering, talking, helping, doing things…and sharing what works, what doesn’t and why. We need more folks working on the puzzle, moving forward together.
So that’s what we’re here to do: share what we know and share what we’re thinking about. But we’ve seen enough to know it doesn’t have to be this way. If any of this seems right to you, pull up a chair.
-- Cooper & Ash
Howdy, name's Jefferson Cooper, but folks have always just called me Cooper. Grew up in a small border town right on the Rio Grande. After high school I just wanted to work outside so did a lotta landscaping. I started volunteering with an ecology restoration project and after a while I started getting paid for that kinda work, which I loved.
Then, as it always seems to, some life happened...so I decided to get out for a bit. So, old as I was, I headed to New England to get a degree in Community Economic Development (where I met my good friend Ash). Came back home with a better sense of where I was headed. Now I teach ecology and economics at the community college and spend my weekends working on community food forests and local re-greening projects.
I spend a lotta time thinking about Community, the Commons, how federated localism might work, and the local and regional policies to make it all stick.
Hey everyone! Ashley Thomas here, but I like to go by Ash. I grew up in The County in northern Maine spending my time hiking, camping, and snowmobiling. I went to Boston for college to try a different pace of life. I double majored in marketing and cultural anthropology then decided to stay and work for a few years before eventually getting my MBA. I got hired on by a mid-size private equity firm helping their recent acquisitions with strategy and organization design ...and couldn't stand it. The work was fine, the motives were...lets just say not for me.
After a few years of that, I needed out. I moved back to Bangor, stayed with friends, worked at a bakery days and bartended nights. It was exactly what I needed.
Eventually I settled in a small coastal town near the Canadian border and got back to business, but on my own terms. Now I work for a small non-profit focused on regional food stability through networked food hubs and volunteer with an advocacy group working to keep big business out of small towns.
What I'm into: who has power, who doesn't, and what people without it have always known about working together and getting things done.