This is the third of an eight-part series centered around the themes of an inspiring new book, “Assets in Common,” published by Common Trust and Purpose. The series explores innovative employee ownership models, shared services cooperatives, mutual credit systems, steward-owned holding companies and more, all based on research into real initiatives working at scale. More than a dozen working examples are outlined in the book, which light the way for an economy that can help reverse wealth concentration, community fragmentation and environmental destruction. Learn more and get a copy of the book at assetsincommon.org.
Welcome to the third post and second conversation in our series about the book, “Assets in Common”, featuring interviews with the authors. In this episode, our host Neal Gorenflo interviews authors Chelsea Robinson, Charity May and Jay Standish.
The authors explore case studies showcasing successful shared services and steward ownership models. Key examples include Sardex, a complementary currency system in Italy, and CarpetOne, a cooperative of independent flooring stores. The discussion highlights how these models promote resilience, competitiveness, and community benefits through collaboration and shared assets.
Grab the book at: assetsincommon.org
Learn about Common Trust at: common-trust.com
Chelsea Robinson is a serial founder and builder of impact organizations, a movement organizer, facilitator, and program designer. Convening for collaboration and innovation/accelerator programs are her specialties. Chelsea has worked with philanthropies, nonprofits, governments, and startups for over 12 years. Most recently Chelsea was the Co-Executive Director at Open Lunar Foundation, leading an international network of cross disciplinary experts to build open infrastructure projects for the Moon. Good governance and stakeholder decision making is a lifelong passion and focus for Chelsea, having studied and practiced in the field of governance design for companies and countries alike. Chelsea has been involved in Purpose informally since its founding, and has direct experience as a member of worker-coops and shareholding in commons holding companies, having written about these topics in books such as Better Work Together.
Charity May is the Founder and Principal of Sacred Futures, an advisory practice that guides partners in the reimagining, designing and implementing of governance, leadership and ownership models, sustainable growth strategies, and financing vehicles to cultivate renewal and reciprocity between human and more-than-human Worlds. She has directed the investment, structure and development of over $575 million for education facilities, conducted the underwriting, analysis, origination and structuring for over $3.8 billion of leveraged finance transactions, and managed a portfolio of middle-market companies totaling $134 million in debt commitments. Charity is a systems designer, writer and advisor, supporting the governance and strategic development of funds, projects and businesses committed to building towards a regenerative economy.
Jay Standish is an entrepreneur and creative with a background in community and real estate. The last company he founded, OpenDoor Coliving, ran for 10 years and operated over 400 units of community housing across three states with over $70M in AUM. Jay wore many hats – raising capital, acquiring + developing real estate, implementing community programs, hiring a team and building an automated marketing platform. Prior to OpenDoor, Jay co-founded Impact Hub Seattle, a coworking space for social entrepreneurship part of a global network. Jay has an MBA in Sustainable Systems and also has a skillset in design and visual arts. Jay has wilderness experience including a 75-day expedition in Western Australia.
