WEAll California

Convening on Metrics
2024-05-09 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Zoom
Our Convenings are designed for you to meet others working in the Wellbeing Economy, Local Democracy, Economic Justice and Climate spaces.
The Convenings are spaces to come together for thought provoking yet supportive conversations.
Following our last learning event on Metrics, we thought it was a perfect time to have a group discussion on Metrics.
If you have never been to one of our Convenings before, we host a welcoming space. You don’t need to come regularly to feel welcome.
You can watch the learning event with Dark Matter Labs and David Suzukia Foundation at https://www.youtube.com/@WEAllCalifornia
SIGN UP HERE

Invigorating Local Democracy with David Pepper
2024-05-14 13:00 - 14:15
David Pepper is the author of two books on Democracy at the local and state level. David served as the Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party, teaches election and voting rights law and is a frequent contributor on many news outlets. David has a wonderful way of explaining how our lack of attention to local and state voting can work against our interests. He will share some of his insights and tools on how to invigorate Democracy in your community.
After the presentation, David will answer your questions.
Our event today is through a partnership with Reimagining Democracy Hub at Ulab and with special thanks to Anne Adams for arranging this special event.
Tuesday, May 14 1pm to 2:15pm Pacific
SIGNUP HERE
David writes an almost daily Substack. If you would like to see how “history rhymes”, check out a recent Substack on a 1936 FDR speech that David feels is relevant to today’s chaos. https://davidpepper.substack.com/p/fdr-in-1936
We also highly recommend his recent book – Saving Democracy.
Many of the great groups that David highlights in Saving Democracy are linked to on his website https://savedemocracy.us/

Working Group
2024-05-15 16:00 - 17:00, 2024-09-18 16:00 - 17:00
WEAll California is run by dedicated volunteers. We meet weekly to discuss events, do research on Wellbeing Economy efforts and discuss how to reach more people.
If you are interested in seeing what our Working Group meetings are like, please email us at connect@weallcalifornia.org for more details.

Allies Support Group
2024-06-03 16:00 - 17:00, 2024-06-11 16:00 - 17:00
Fellow Wellbeing Economy Allies,
Often, our events are aimed at learning from others, educating new arrivals, or organizing around an issue. But this work is really hard!
Personally, I have recently been struggling to explain my priorities and choices to people conditioned to a different mindset. Especially as the election approaches in the fall, we will be having more and more conversations with our families, friends, and communities about what we want our future to look like.
So, this summer we are introducing a new type of event: Wellbeing Economy Alliance Support Groups!
The goal is to create a safe space for our community to support each other by offering words of encouragement, giving advice for specific challenges, or even just a little commiserating to remind each other that we are not alone. There will be no predetermined topic; please bring your own reflections to share.
The first session will be on Monday, June 3rd at 4-5pm PST hosted by me (Jessie Green).
The second session will be on Tuesday, June 11th at 4-5pm PST hosted by David Green.
You can register for one or both sessions on this link
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfg7Ss0bdfofAHt4qW5anPf2yOV7AFd9kVk70fuvx70bFnCrw/viewform
If neither of those dates work for you, we plan to hold two sessions per month going forward, so keep your eye out!
The Support Group is a SAFE SPACE. This means it is always…

Confidential: Support Group sessions will never be recorded
Respectful: welcoming and judgment-free with zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind

I look forward to seeing some of you there!
Yours in wellbeing,
Jessie
Wellbeing Economy Alliance California is a volunteer run group that produces free events to support, connect and educate people working towards a society committed to wellbeing for all.

Engaging Residents in Local Democracy with Richard Young
2024-06-18 12:00 - 13:00
Richard Young is the Founder of CivicLex, a civic health organization that educates and engages Lexington, Kentucky residents in local democracy. CivicLex has evolved over time based on paying attention to what works. Richard is also very active in efforts in other communities to learn from what has worked well in other cities.
Richard will share CivicLex’s 5 Key Missions to engage residents and then we will move into Q&A. If you are new to WEAll CA learning events, you ask the questions. We encourage you to turn on your cameras and engage with our community.
We first became aware of Richard through an article he wrote for Next City. We encourage you to check it out.
SIGNUP HERE

Next City Article https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/american-democracy-is-at-a-low-point.-we-need-to-strengthen-it-at-the-local

How to Advance a Wellbeing Narrative Workshop
2024-07-09 16:00 - 17:00
Wellbeing approaches, slowly gaining traction around the world, set human and planetary wellbeing as the definition of progress, centering policies, budgets and other actions on that goal. Accelerating this work in cities and countries requires a broader narrative about progress—shifting from economic growth at all costs “to” wellbeing for all people. In this session, Metropolitan Group and RAND will present key insights from work on advancing a wellbeing narrative, what it will take, and considerations in engaging diverse sectors.
Anita Chanda of RAND Corporation and Jennifer Messenger of Metropolitan Group, authors of How to Advance a Wellbeing Narrative join us for a one-hour interactive workshop to help us improve how we message to our communities.
SIGNUP HERE

Discussion about Supreme Court and Inequality
2024-07-23 16:00 - 17:00
We invite you to come into a discussion with other WEAll CA members. Our discussion events are not asking for long term commitment. Just an opportunity to meet other people from a variety of disciplines who are working towards a more, fair, just and sustainable world.
Our discussion topic this month is about the Supreme Court. They have been in the news a lot and you may have some thoughts.
In this interactive session we will be alternating between one-on-one breakouts and the full group. We will consider a few questions, such as:
What is the relationship between our Supreme Court and Inequality?
Given the way the Supreme Court operates, what are realistic ways that we can have justices that support a fair, just and sustainable world that works for all?
In what ways could our groups or organizations collaborate?
Let’s discuss!
SIGNUP HERE

Nick Romeo - How to Build a just economy
2024-08-08 16:00 - 17:00
Journalist Nick Romeo has spent years covering the world’s most innovative economic and policy ideas for The New Yorker. Nick studied the successes and challenges of people working to build economies that are more equal, just, and livable and wrote The Alternative – How to Build a Just Economy.
Nick combines original, in-depth reporting with expert analysis to help uncover what builds a Just Economy.
At this session, Nick will share with us some of the myths that got us to this moment and his analysis of where we could put our attention.

Join us Thursday, August 8th at 4pm Pacific
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeNsgamzrILrzncdxzxvqjhoBssmgH5Z6WjN157P3iLZHhoPA/viewform

Interested in the book? Please buy it at an independent bookstore like the one below:
https://www.pegasusbookstore.com/book/9781541701595

To learn more about Nick’s work, visit https://www.nickromeowriter.com/

Co-create a Wellbeing Economy Policy Platform
2024-08-20 17:00 - 18:00
Join us for our next Community Connect session where we will discuss “What are the 10 Top Policy Changes We Want to See”.
We will start with listening to each other’s policy priorities to see how we can rise up the top paths to a Wellbeing Economy.
This discussion is not about reaching full consensus or walking away with an official platform. Our goal is to connect people and deepen the discussion about what people would like to see.
This conversation could lead to several other conversations such as upvoting what the community sees as the biggest leverage points, look at language and messaging or perhaps even publishing a list of policy priorities.
We welcome you into discussion.
Tuesday August 20th 5 to 6pm Pacific
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZLLCLB6UMigEuSoOM0r0kJOh5qaam9QIxKiCSOM5aHWum3A/viewform

Re-Imagining Democracy Hub
2024-09-10 13:00 - 14:30
We are inviting people into a different type of discussion. The Re-Imagining Democracy Hub started under as part of the u-Lab course offered at MIT started 4 years ago. The group meets monthly on the second Tuesday of each month from 1 to 215 pm Pacific time. It is a generative conversation that sometime employs the u-Lab techniques but requires no training.
The topic varies each month.
Please email connect at weallcalifornia dot org if you would like more information.

How to do more than Vote for November's Election
2024-09-12 16:00 - 17:00
We made an educated guess that our members are already committed to voting. So in honor of National Voter Registration Day, we wanted to create a list of ways that we can all support democratic participation in the November election.
Rex and David will share some less familiar ways to support the election and get more people to vote. This will be an interactive session so we can learn from each other and form connections with others working towards Wellbeing Economies on the local and national levels.
We will be sharing links to organizations that help staff polls in neighborhoods that don’t have enough poll workers, how to help cure ballots that are rejected and how to help your constituents check their registration.
If you have social media tools and examples, we hope you will bring them.
Our goal for this session is to encourage people to spread the word about the importance of voting to maintain and strengthen our democracy.
We hope you’ll join us on Sept 12th at 4pm! Register by clicking the button below.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScvH-Z_XbJWAHu0cQsbFLMsHBNTXe2MiZ5fX00-oEvV_4ZpGw/viewform

Academics for Wellbeing Economies
2024-09-17 11:00 - 12:00
Our kickoff meeting for Professors, University Staff and Teachers for all ages. We will be discussing how we can work across institutions and educational disciplines to create awareness of Wellbeing Economy whole system thinking. The group will decide on where we focus from these topics:

Curricula – Needs and Possibilities
Student Participation Opportunities
Cross Institution Collaborations

To join us or find out more information, please send an email to connect@weallcalifornia.org

LA County’s Efforts to Produce a Wellbeing Economy
2024-09-26 09:00 - 10:00
It might surprise you to learn that Los Angeles County is conducting a variety of initiatives that lean into the Wellbeing Economy concept. Join us for this interactive session with Caroline Torosis, the Senior Deputy for Economic and Workforce Development to LA County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell.
Caroline will share with us the wide variety of techniques they are using to:

Boost local small businesses
Help create more Employee Owned Businesses
Expand participation in Co-Governance
Lift people at the bottom end of the wealth gap

Caroline Torosis is a government affairs attorney and workforce development expert for the County of Los Angeles, Caroline has dedicated her career to passing policies that protect the rights of our workers, consumers, and tenants while allowing our small businesses to promote a fair and vibrant marketplace where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
SIGNUP HERE

California Ballot Measures Examined
2024-10-24 17:00 - 18:00
Confused by the competing ads for and against measures on the November 5 ballot?
Come hear the League of Women Voters give an unbiased, nonpartisan explanation of the pros and cons of each measure. Learn about the issues, the context and the arguments for and against each proposition so you can make an informed decision
We will cover all the Propositions, but we will start with the one voted “Most Curious About”. Vote when you register at the link below.

Prop 2: School bond
Prop 3: Marriage Equality
Prop 4: Climate bond
Prop 5: Affordable housing
Prop 6: Slavery
Prop 32: Minimum wage
Prop 33: Rent Control
Prop 34: Healthcare
Prop 35: MediCal
Prop 36: Prop 47 recall

Thursday, Oct 24 from 5pm to 6pm Pacific
SIGN UP LINK BELOW
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQ2cl3AqgCTM-23gQGdCPCxdGvXi83JZcXA0GP42vrHaa5EQ/viewform

Monthly Community Connection
2025-01-14 16:00 - 17:00
Our last community connection of 2024 was enriching. An attendee described it as cathartic.
The feedback we received is that people want a community to discuss how we create a society of wellbeing and to support each other through the emotional ripples of this work.
Each month we will have at least one connection session. The next question is finding times that work for our community. We have scheduled two sessions on January 14th to see how these times work for you.
If you can’t make either and want to lobby us for a different day or time, email us at connect @weallcalifornia.org.
Tuesday, Jan 14 at either 10am or 4pm
Sign up here

Working Group Meeting
2025-01-15 16:00 - 17:00, 2025-02-19 16:00 - 17:00
All of WEAll CA’s events, research and advocacy is done by a team of volunteers.
If you are interested to learn more about what we have planned in 2025 or you would like to contribute to our efforts, please reach out to connect@weallcalifornia.org

Local Economy Success Story
2025-01-27 16:00 - 17:00
Just San Bernardino is creating a community-centered economy planned for the people and led by the people by uplifting community voices. The project is four years old and has accomplished many impressive successes in community building, incorporating arts into their economic plans and putting forward a series of economic mobility initiatives.
Co-Directors Miriam Nieto and Carolina Sanchez will share details about their multi-prong approach to economic mobility and thriving community.
If you haven’t been to one of our learning sessions, they are structured so that our attendees can ask questions. This session is ideal for people leading local initiatives to see how other communities are achieving successful outcomes.
If you would like to learn more about Just SB in advance of our session, you can look at their impressive People’s Plan report online.
Join us Monday, Jan 27 at 4pm Pacific
Signup FORM

If you would like to receive the recording of this event, please sign up.

Narrative Workshop
2025-01-28 16:00 - 17:00
An important part of creating a society centered around Wellbeing is helping others to see the possibilities and to choose actions that move us collectively in that direction. For all the progress we make, it seems that we aren’t winning as much as we hoped.
As part of our series on Wellbeing messaging and narratives, let’s dig into the other competing narratives and why they work so well.
This group discussion will be focused on four questions

What are the existing narratives that undermine a Wellbeing Economy message
What tactics are being used to perpetuate those narratives
What should we learn from the success of these tactics
What else would the group like to learn about messaging in 2025

Our goal is to create a place where we can individually and collectively improve our ability to lead change, be more persuasive and identify messaging that works.
If you missed our first workshop on how to craft a Wellbeing Narrative, you can find the recording on our YouTube channel which also has a link to the original study the session was based on.
We are holding two sessions – one for morning people and one for afternoon people.
You can sign up for 9am or 4pm HERE

Book Club - The Serviceberry
2025-02-06 18:30 - 19:30
The first Thursday of each month, we will read and discuss one chapter of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s excellent new book – The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
The book is beautifully written and feels so important to the discussion of envisioning and co-creating a healthier world. One of our main themes for 2025 is how do we create the language and stories that help more people believe such a world is viable.
The chapters are relatively short, so we hope you will read (or reread the chapter) so it is fresh in your mind.
On Thursday, Feb 6 at 630pm, we will discuss the first chapter.
Sign up HERE

Please consider buying it from Abe Books or a local, independent bookseller.
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=32072116536

Monthly Community Connection
2025-02-11 16:00 - 17:00
Our Community Connect sessions do not have planned topics. We want to bring together activists, artists, community leaders and specialists to see what is needed and what can be created.
If you need some support or you are just looking for a place for deep conversation about our society, we invite you in.
We will hold the community support sessions on the second Tuesday of each month. We are experimenting with what times work best for the community.
This month, we will again do 10am and 4pm Pacific.
Email us if you prefer other times (connect@weallcalifornia.org).
Sign up HERE

Introduction to Wellbeing Economics
2025-02-13 18:30 - 19:30
Join us for an Introduction to Wellbeing Economics.
We will answer many of your hot and sizzling questions, such as:

What the heck is a Wellbeing Economy?
What is the difference between this and DeGrowth or Circular Economies?
What exactly does Wellbeing Economy Alliance California do?
What can I do to create a Wellbeing Economy in my community?

This will not be a webinar. Sure. We will give the razzle dazzle, but the focus will be on answering participants deeper questions.
Join us Thursday, February 13 from 630 to 730pm Pacific
SIGNUP HERE
If you are unable to make this time, please let us know at connect@weallcalifornia.org so we can plan a future Introduction.

Create a Local Support System for Coops
2025-02-18 16:00 - 17:00
Cooperatives are essential for creating more equitable communities. They uplift workers, create a fairer economy, and build community wealth and power. For cooperatives to grow and thrive, they need a supportive and connected ecosystem that includes established practitioners, values-aligned technical assistance and financing providers, and political, philanthropic, and institutional investment.
At this session, we will look at the different ways that local leaders are creating robust cooperative ecosystems to meet critical community needs.
We are joined by Zen Trenholm, Senior Director of Employee Ownership Cities and Policy from the Democracy at Work Institute (https://institute.coop/) to share their hands-on experience helping communities develop the language, tools, and infrastructure to build and scale worker ownership.
Sign up HERE

Narrative Workshop #2
2025-02-18 17:30 - 18:30
Join us as we discuss and brainstorm Wellbeing Economy Strategies.
Over the course of 2025, we will host a series of discussions and learn from experts in the field of messaging and narrative.
In our January discussion, we looked at the messages and tactics of competing narratives.
For our February meetings, we will consider the following questions:

What are the important elements of an effective strategy?
Who are the primary and secondary audiences?
What are the pros and cons of having a unified message?
What are the top three messages we want to break through?

We welcome people who have not joined other sessions. You will receive a summary of the January meeting when you register.
Join us on Tuesday, February 18th at either 9am or 530pm Pacific
Sign up HERE
Once you have signed up, you will receive a summary of our last session.
You can also watch the Learning session on Wellbeing Narratives from 2024 on our YouTube channel

Developing a Wellbeing Economy Platform
2025-02-25 16:00 - 17:00
One of our group projects for 2025, is to create a Policy Platform.
From a Process perspective, we want to accomplish multiple goals:

Spur dialogue across our community about what issues are most pressing
Dig into specific policy options and deepen collective knowledge
Have discussion about where and how disagree with the hopes of finding common ground

From an Outcomes perspective, we hope a unifying platform will allow us to:

Go to current local and state legislators with a series of requests
Make proposals to Attorney Generals about how they can pursue equity
Use joint actions to demonstrate how many people support these policies

This process began at a community session in 2024. We took the notes from that session and turned it into a first draft for comment. You can see the first draft here and the running feedback on that draft here If you would like to submit comments in advance of this session, please email them to connect@weallcalifornia.org
We will work on a revised draft and circulate that to people signed up for this community feedback session.
If policy is what lights you up, we encourage you to join us. We welcome everyone, especially those looking to learn more about specific policy strategies.
Over the course of 2025, we will host a series of deep dives into each of the Platform “planks” to create the detail. This session will be focused on the Introduction, tone and what “planks” to include.
Join us on Tue Feb 25 at either 10am or 4pm Pacific for our Platform discussions.
SIGN UP HERE

University Connection
2025-02-26 11:00 - 12:00
Purpose of this group

Bring together Academics, Student Counselors and Student Leaders Activists
Seed “Wellbeing Economy” systemic thinking and concepts into curriculum across disciplines
To create experiential learning opportunities for students to better understand these concepts and develop leadership skills

Two main topics for this meeting:

Opportunities in the crises
Student Engagement

To join or for more information, please email connect@weallcalifornia.org

Working Group Meeting - Join Us
2025-03-05 16:00 - 17:00
All of WEAll California events and programs are run by our volunteer working group.
Our 2025 Strategy includes

Community Connection Events
Narrative Workshops
Policy Workshops
Speaker Series

and more.
To learn more about how to participate, please email us at connect@weallcalifornia.org

Building Local Wealth by Converting Businesses to Employee Owned Models
2025-03-06 11:00 - 12:00
As we look for pathways to lift up more people, there is one tool that many communities overlook – converting existing businesses into Employee Owned businesses. Project Equity is a national nonprofit that provides education and technical assistance in the field of employee ownership, with specialized expertise in transitioning existing businesses to various models of employee ownership.
Annie Palacios of Project Equity is a leader in this field and will explain how to:

Find local businesses that are looking to sell in the near future
How to educate business professionals about this emerging trend
How to prevent long standing businesses from closing down
The different type of support to convert local businesses

As with all of our learning sessions, this will be an interactive discussion where you can ask Annie questions.
Sign up HERE
