New Economy Washington
(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. Each fellowship project aims to have a community impact, demonstrating core principles of democracy and self-determination, environmental sustainability, equity, and creates shared economic well-being for communities. The collective vision is bold, innovating and originating out of BIPOC communities, supported by a growing community of BIPOC thought partners, social impact entrepreneurs, investors for good, policy advocates, and creatives.
Meet our inaugural 2021 cohort of changemakers who are exploring solutions to the stark lessons learned from the impacts of the COVID crisis, racial injustice, and economic instability for millions of people. They are imagining a new economy – one that envisions sustainable, equitable, and healthy communities. The fellows are joined by four New Economy learning peers who are also developing innovative projects.
Meet the 2021 Frontline Community Fellows:

Asia Tail
Yəhaw̓ Project

Asia Tail
Yəhaw̓ Project
Yəhaw̓ is a Lushootseed word that means proceed, move forward, do the work. The project’s mission is to improve Indigenous mental and emotional health outcomes through art-making, community building, and equitable creative opportunities for personal and professional growth. The project is a growing collective of Indigenous creatives which features hundreds of artists working in a variety of mediums across Coast Salish territories.

Analia Bertoni
Villa Communitaria

Analia Bertoni
Villa Communitaria
Villa Comunitaria’s recent efforts have initiated the first steps to implement a cooperative. A group of five Latinx women and a farmer started a CSA (community-supported agriculture) box and the plan is to expand to other products next year.

Mark Jones, Ph.D
Sunyata Group

Mark Jones, Ph.D
Sunyata Group
As the founder of the Sunyata Group and the Academy of Beloved Community Development program, Mark is launching CORD, a project about under-served communities becoming joint owners of real estate and thriving businesses. This project aims to change the emphasis from highest and best use based on market value as the principal driver for policy, decision making, and implementation — to the highest and best use based on Beloved Community (community-derived high-performance teams) value as the principal driver for policy, decision making, and implementation.

Ariel Bangs
Plant-Based Food Share

Ariel Bangs
Plant-Based Food Share
The project’s approach centers fresh foods from local, BIPOC farms, culturally appropriate practices that embrace vibrant communities through culture, flavor and joy, well-being from chef-driven foods and plant-based diets, and empowering people to cook and grow their own food, using recipes developed by local POC chefs, virtual cooking and gardening classes full of “how-to’s” that encourage sustainability and entrepreneurship for communities of color.

Lata Ahmed
Drivers Union project

Lata Ahmed
Drivers Union project
Lata has been an active community leader in Seattle ever since his arrival in 2014. He has served as a community tutor and translator, a City-appointed safety advocate, a tech support expert, and on the Executive Board of the Oromo Cultural Center. Lata is a visual artist and fluent in English, Oromo, Amharic, Swahili, and Arabic.

Kamal Patel

Elizabeth Baskerville
Danny Woo Community Garden, Earthling design LLC

Elizabeth Baskerville
Danny Woo Community Garden, Earthling design LLC

Joycelyn Chui
CID and environmental justice community

Joycelyn Chui
CID and environmental justice community
Elizabeth and Joycelyn are developing a closed-loop food security system that recycles nutrients from local restaurants to urban farms and gardens in the Chinatown International District.



PROJECT VIDEOS
Njuguna’s Program Description
Driver’s Union
Plant Based Food Share
Restaurant 2 Garden
Villa Comunitaria
Yəhaw̓