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

Our staff team convenes thought leaders from communities most impacted by the extractive economy, supports the incubation of Just Transition projects, and amplifies innovative work that contributes to a new economy.
Photo portrait of Faduma Ahmed against a white wall wearing a head scarf.

Faduma Fido

Lab Leader

Professional photo portrait of Shiho.

Shiho Fuyuki

Lab Leader

Close-up on Deric Gruen smiling

Deric Gruen

Project Manager & Lab Leader

Laura Nash smiling

Laura Nash

Communications & Network Organizer

Community Leadership Committee

The People’s Economy Lab is guided by our Community Leadership Committee, a group of frontline leaders who are rooted in some of the communities most impacted by the current economy. We prioritize Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), immigrants, and people with lower incomes. The Community Leadership Committee represents communities in geographic areas that face a legacy of systemic, largely racialized, inequity that influences their residents’ living and working conditions, the quality of their air and water, and their economic opportunities. These include the Central District, South Seattle, South King County, South Park, and unincorporated King County.

Bilan Aden

African Community Housing Development

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

Close-up photo portrait of Shamso

Shamso Issak

Living Well Kent Collaborative

Maria Guadalupe Ramirez

Duwamish Valley Affordable Housing Coalition

Stephanie and Dana stand next to each other in a park, their hands folded in a prayer position.

Stephanie Ung & Dana Wu

Khmer Community of Seattle King County

Community Capital Working Group

Our Community Capital Working Group is comprised of leaders in Seattle’s community with a shared vision for a vibrant inclusive economy that focuses on:
  • Increased access to affordable, relevant, innovative capital for communities of color, immigrants and refugees, and women owned small businesses and entrepreneurs

  • 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

The committee is led by Shiho Fuyuki and Njuguna Gishuru of the People’s Economy Lab.

Founding Lab Participants

The People’s Economy Lab framework was created by a group of organizers, thinkers, and do-ers that are creating a community-centered economy in Seattle. While many are in new roles and the Lab is revising its structure, their contributions live on.
Deric Gruen - People's Economy Lab Program Manager

Deric Gruen

People's Economy Lab Program Manager

Erin Nelson from Seattle Good Business Network

Erin Nelson

Seattle Good Business Network

Patrice Thomas from Rainier Beach Action Coalition

Patrice Thomas

Rainier Beach Action Coalition

Ryan Quigtar from University of Washington

Ryan Quigtar

University of Washington

Rachel Maxwell

Rachel Maxwell

Community Sourced Capital

Sam Farrazaino from Equinox Studios

Sam Farrazaino

Equinox Studios

A small river named Duden flows by their place and supplies it with the necessary

Mo! from Got Green

Mo!

Got Green

Kristin Pula from Homesight

Kristin Pula

Homesight

Victoria Santos of Young Women Empowered

Victoria Santos

Young Women Empowered