Current Engagements

What it is: 

A national nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting local entrepreneurs in under-resourced communities through training, coaching, and access to capital. 

Why it matters:

Chronic and widespread financial insecurity is an endemic part of our modern society. It harms children, families, and communities and contributes to social and political conflict across many levels. While addressing this ultimately requires large-scale systems change, there is a moral urgency to respond in the near term while also pursuing a long-term vision for a new economics. In this context, there is an important role for local entrepreneurs to play on both timescales--as crucial sources of strength and resilience as well as constituting a dynamic and creative aspect of living local economies in a post-capitalist society. Grassroots entrepreneurs create jobs, opportunity, local wealth, and taxes--all while creatively applying their own gifts and talents to respond to the needs of their neighbors. Investing in their success has immediate benefit for children and families while contributing to the long term vision of a flourishing world.  

How we support:

Since 2004, we have been serving as founders and senior leaders for Rising Tide Capital. Our journey has involved writing the curriculum for The Community Business Academy, developing and refining the core program model, replicating the model across the US, and raising over $50 million to support its growth and expansion. You can find a collection of videos regarding our work at Rising Tide Capital here. We continue to support its ongoing evolution and see a crucial role for its mission in partnership with others in the years ahead as we seek to extend its impact into areas of social ventures, cooperatives, living economies, restorative investing, and bioregionalism. 

What it is: 

One of the pioneering organizations in the US promoting alternative economic models like local currencies, community land trusts, and bioregioning. 

Why it matters:

Our 21st century faces a potential unraveling of the political, economic, and ecological stability necessary for peace. The risk of social unrest, political violence, and authoritarian politics are on the rise--and resistance to these dangers will need to come in many forms. Underlying all of this is a need for patterns of community economics that can form a viable alternative to the extractive systems of capitalism. We need not just words and ideas, not just critique and indignation, but actual working examples for how to come together in economic mutuality in a different way. We need tools and templates, education and training, and the chance to come together in communities of learning and practice. The field of alternative economics has much to offer already from its deep history, and still more yet to develop in the context of 21st century technology. Organizations dedicated to both theory and practice, learning and reflection, are required. 

How we support:

After following the work of the organization for many years, in 2022 Alex and Alfa were invited to deliver the 42nd annual Schumacher Lecture together on the theme of The Greatest Migration: Beloved Community as Ecological Civilization. Inspired by the alignment of philosophy and practice in areas of ecology, economics, and spirituality, Alex Forrester now serves as Chair of the Board, where he is devoted to bringing the vision of beloved economy to life in the context of 21st century challenges and opportunities. As part of this work, Alex serves as Host of the Schumacher Conversations series, which invites top scholars and leading voices to explore the themes that shape and influence the larger vision. In collaboration with philosopher Bayo Akomolafe, these conversations have included Paul Hawken, Catherine Keller, Dougald Hine, and Erin Manning among others. You can find a collection of these recorded conversations on our Essays & Videos page.  

What it is: 

A sister venture to Rising Tide Capital, engaging with social entrepreneurs, restorative investors, philanthropic leaders, and policymakers around collaborative efforts to bring about systems change for a flourishing future. 

Why it matters:

Resilient ecosystems are built around patterns of collaboration that generate mutual flourishing. However, our economic systems, business models, and workplaces are not well-built to support the kind of cross-sector collaboration that is required to meet the challenges of our time. If we want a world of cooperative action and governance, we need frameworks that make such efforts manageable at human scale.  

How we support:

This is one of the newest of our ventures and is evolving dynamically as we explore the greatest opportunities for impact. Through lectures, workshops, podcasts, digital tools, operating templates, and special projects we have been engaging with a wide variety of organizations to explore the various pathways of what Alfa has been calling "The Greatest Migration". This has involved presentations to corporate and foundation boards, multi-day strategic visioning workshops for social ventures, conference keynotes, and more. Along these lines, Alfa has been participating as a course instructor with John Fullerton in the Regenerative Economics program offered by the Capital Institute. Future activities will eventually converge on a core suite of offerings, but for now we are engaged behind-the-scenes curriculum development while taking on a limited number of special engagements. If you would like to explore an invitation to map your own venture's pathway into a flourishing future, please contact us or visit the Future Tide Partners website to learn more. 

What it is:

For over 50 years, the Hawthorne Valley Association has been a pioneering organization in the field of regenerative agriculture, land stewardship, and education. It is one of the first certified biodynamic farms in the United States and today consists of nine inter-related social ventures at the nexus of nature, culture, spirit, and economy. The 900 acre farm serves as the context for a K-12 Waldorf School, a Farmscape Ecology Program, year-round arts and culture initiatives, and much more. 

Why it matters:

Regenerative agriculture is one of the pillars around which any positive hope for  21st century human civilization must form. Living soil is the precondition for life itself, and the practices and patterns of culture by which we nourish the soil that provides for future generations is as much an opportunity as an urgent call. The commodification of nature, of our fellow humans, and of all we consider sacred has been a defining characteristic of modernity. The response is not to return to a pre-modern state, nor to pursue a techno-utopian chimera. Instead, what is required are new ways of coming together in collaborative patterns of mutuality within the more-than-human world. This involves a relationship with land, with food, with the education and nurture of children, and the celebration of life together at the heart of community.  

How we support:

Alfa Demmellash serves as co-chair of the Board for Hawthorne Valley Association and has dedicated her energies towards the strategic planning and visioning of the organization as it navigates into a next level of operational sustainability and impact. 

What it is:

A $900M social impact fund dedicated to the deployment of affordable financing solutions for clean energy and environmental sustainability in low-income families and communities across the United States.

Why it matters:

Investments in solar panels, heat pumps, home insulation, and other grassroots environmental efforts generate significant cost savings for families and communities. The results have immediate benefits for affordability and household finances, while achieving long-term environmental benefits. And yet the current landscape for financing such efforts is fragmented and costly. A national network of nonprofit community lenders, CDFIs, and impact investors could dramatically improve the availability of these impactful resources. 

How we support:

Alex Forrester joined the board of JCF in 2025 and serves on the Investments committee and the Risk Committee for the Board while simultaneously engaging in macro-level strategy explorations for how to navigate the current political context. 

What it is:

A 200 year-old church in Hudson, NY that has been a long-standing bastion of progressive social engagement, beginning with its support for the abolitionist movement in the 1800s. The church houses important cultural events and community initiatives in addition to its Sunday services and is stewarded by a vibrant and diverse congregation of members from around the Hudson Valley. 

Why it matters:

Amidst increasing political violence and authoritarianism around the world, there is an acute need for a new 'Confessing Church' (Bonhoeffer) of the 21st century. In confronting the social unrest and conflict that will accompany ecological collapse in the decades ahead, local congregations have important roles to play as active peace-builders in their communities. There is an opportunity for the Church to meet the spiritual needs of a wounded world in new ways, through the creation of sacred places, communal rhythms, moral dissent, structural welcome, and organized nonviolent resistance. An ecumenically diverse theological framework that supports such efforts will also be crucial--one that seeks to decouple spiritual vision from the logic of empire and supremacy that is still deeply woven, sometimes imperceptibly, into many of our traditions.

How we support:

After the departure of a much loved and long-serving pastor in 2023, the congregation at First Presbyterian has had to reimagine how to navigate the years ahead as a church. Alex and Alfa joined the church during this period and found inspiration from the diversity, creativity, and generosity of fellow members. Something very unique is happening at this church, and we want to be part of it. Alex joined the board of elders and was asked if he would offer a series of sermons throughout the year. Doing so has opened an intriguing opportunity to connect philosophical and theological topics with the embodied witness of what it means to proclaim a gospel message of 'broken bread' and 'poured-out wine' in the world--and to do this in mindful engagement with other religious traditions. In 2025 Alex was appointed to a new role at the church, as Public Theologian in Residence, with a mandate to explore and deepen the church's theological engagement with contemporary issues. In the years ahead, Alex hopes to use this role to lift up a redemptive vision for the Church in the 21st century and to connect with other faith communities who seek to respond in similar ways to the urgent matters of our time.