Lab Network
People’s Economy Lab is bigger than just our staff. We’re a network of organizations and individuals building a just, sustainable, and regenerative economy in Washington State, across the country, and around the world. To accomplish a Just Transition, we need to work collectively. Washington needs all of us.
Our partners span from grassroots, BIPOC-led, and identity organizations; to peer organizations working in community development; to government agencies and elected officials; to anchor institutions, funders and investors who are choosing to move from an extractive to a regenerative economy.
Lab Leaders

Faduma Fido
Lab Leader

Faduma Fido
Lab Leader
- Email:[email protected]

Shiho Fuyuki
Lab Leader

Shiho Fuyuki
Lab Leader
- Email:[email protected]

Njuguna Gishuru
Lab Leader

Njuguna Gishuru
Lab Leader
- Email:[email protected]

Deric Gruen
Lab Leader

Deric Gruen
Lab Leader
- Email:[email protected]

Laura Nash
Communications & Network Organizer

Laura Nash
Communications & Network Organizer
- Email:[email protected]
Community Leadership Committee

Bilan Aden
African Community Housing Development

Analia Bertoni
Villa Communitaria

Analia Bertoni
Villa Communitaria

Yordanos Teferi
Multicultural Community Coalition
NEW Frontline Community Fellows
In partnership with Front and Centered, and funded by Communities of Opportunity, the New Economy Washington (NEW) Frontline Community Fellowship Program supports entrepreneurs from communities of color who are integrating the principles and practice of a Just Transition. Learn more about the NEW Frontline Community Fellows.
2022 Frontline Community Fellows

Shamso Issak
Living Well Kent Collaborative

Shamso Issak
Living Well Kent Collaborative

Maria Guadalupe Ramirez
Duwamish Valley Affordable Housing Coalition

Maria Guadalupe Ramirez
Duwamish Valley Affordable Housing Coalition

Mario Sanchez
Food Oasis

Mario Sanchez
Food Oasis

Stephanie Ung & Dana Wu
Khmer Community of Seattle King County

Stephanie Ung & Dana Wu
Khmer Community of Seattle King County
Community Capital Working Group
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Increased access to affordable, relevant, innovative capital for communities of color, immigrants and refugees, and women owned small businesses and entrepreneurs
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Democratizing who participates in investing and empowering wealth redistribution and control by people in their communities
The working group meets quarterly to build relationships, share information, knowledge and experience to design inclusive community-driven solutions to improve our economy. In addition to the core working group, we host conversations with broader stakeholder groups in the community capital ecosystem, including CDFIs, credit unions, community banks, funders, investors, etc.
Working Group Members

Erin Adams
Seattle Good Business Network

Dion Cook
Denkyem Coop

Kenny Shelton
Denkyem Coop

Kate Donnelly
Laird Norton Wealth Management

Sandhya Nakhasi
Community Credit Lab

Ryan Glasgo
Community Credit Lab

Caleb Jackson
Uplift Investments

BJ Stewart
Urban Impact

Curtis Brown
Brighton Development Group

Mark Jones PhD
Community Owned Resource Development

Ruth Sawyer

Boting Zhang
Founding Lab Participants

Beto Yarce
Ventures

Beto Yarce
Ventures

Christine Hanna
YES! Media

Christine Hanna
YES! Media

Debbie Wege
BECU

Debbie Wege
BECU

Deric Gruen
People's Economy Lab Program Manager

Deric Gruen
People's Economy Lab Program Manager
- Email:[email protected]

Erin Nelson
Seattle Good Business Network

Erin Nelson
Seattle Good Business Network
- Email:[email protected]

Patrice Thomas
Rainier Beach Action Coalition

Patrice Thomas
Rainier Beach Action Coalition

Ryan Quigtar
University of Washington

Ryan Quigtar
University of Washington

Rachel Maxwell
Community Sourced Capital

Rachel Maxwell
Community Sourced Capital

Sam Farrazaino
Equinox Studios
A small river named Duden flows by their place and supplies it with the necessary

Sam Farrazaino
Equinox Studios
- Email:[email protected]

Sarah Valenta
Homesight

Sarah Valenta
Homesight

Mo!
Got Green

Mo!
Got Green

Kristin Pula
Homesight

Shevanthi Daniel-Rabkin
Democracy at Work

Shevanthi Daniel-Rabkin
Democracy at Work
- Phone:(415) 379-9201 Ext. 11
- Email:[email protected]

Victoria Santos
Young Women Empowered

Victoria Santos
Young Women Empowered
- Email:[email protected]

Will Von-Geldern
Ventures

Will Von-Geldern
Ventures