New Economy Coalition
The New Economy Coalition is a Boston-based nonprofit network connecting more than 200 organizations seeking economic systems that place people, communities, and ecosystems ahead of conventional growth priorities.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The New Economy Coalition (NEC) is an American nonprofit organization and movement network headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It connects more than 200 organizations, primarily in the United States and Canada, that work on alternative approaches to economic organization and public policy. The coalition describes its desired future as one in which people, communities, and ecosystems can thrive and in which capital and the means of creating wealth function as tools serving society rather than as ends that govern it. NEC emerged from efforts to give the North American new-economy movement a shared institutional platform. Shortly after the global financial crisis began in 2008, leaders associated with the New Economics Foundation and the E. F. Schumacher Society identified a need for an organization capable of bringing systemic economic alternatives into mainstream discussion in North America. Their collaboration produced the New Economics Institute. Separately, Sarah Stranahan created the New Economics Network in 2009 as a loose network of approximately 200 organizations interested in building a more sustainable and caring economy. The organization’s institutional development accelerated under Bob Massie, who became president of the New Economics Institute in March 2012. In 2013, the New Economics Institute merged with the New Economy Network and adopted the name New Economy Coalition. The merger gave the movement a broader coalition structure, combining organizational networking with public education, convening, communications, leadership development, and grantmaking. Massie left the presidency in October 2014. Farhad Ebrahimi served as interim director until May 2015, when Jonathan Rosenthal, a co-founder of the worker cooperative Equal Exchange, was selected by a board and staff committee. The coalition sits within a broad intellectual and practical movement rather than representing a single economic doctrine. Its associated approaches include ecological economics, the solidarity economy, the commons, degrowth, regenerative design, systems thinking, and Buddhist economics. These perspectives differ in strategy and theory, but generally challenge the assumption that economic growth alone should be the central measure of social progress. NEC’s framing emphasizes human well-being, ecological restoration, democratic participation, and the ability of communities to shape the institutions that govern wealth and production. NEC’s work is primarily connective. It promotes member organizations and wider movement activity through online infrastructure, leadership development, strategic communications, grant programs, national conferences, and other forms of collaboration. The coalition has also been described as a vehicle for bringing together groups that share broad aims even when their tactics or detailed policy programs differ. Its geographic focus is the United States and Canada, while it maintains relationships with comparable networks in other parts of the world. Major public convenings have included the Strategies for a New Economy conference at Bard College in New York in June 2012, CommonBound 2014, and CommonBound 2016 in Buffalo, New York. These events brought together activists, practitioners, movement leaders, and representatives of organizations working on cooperative ownership, ecological sustainability, community development, economic democracy, and related issues. NEC is therefore best understood not as a consumer-facing product brand but as a nonprofit coalition and movement-support platform whose principal offerings are convening, communications, infrastructure, capacity building, and advocacy support.
History
The New Economy Coalition developed in response to the need for a stronger North American institutional base for economic alternatives after the 2008 financial crisis. Leaders connected with the New Economics Foundation and the E. F. Schumacher Society concluded that a dedicated organization could help move ideas about ecological sustainability, economic democracy, and community-centered development into broader public debate. Their collaboration led to the creation of the New Economics Institute. A related initiative, the New Economics Network, was established by Sarah Stranahan in 2009. It operated as a loose network of roughly 200 organizations interested in alternatives to conventional economic arrangements. The network’s stated aspirations included a sustainable and caring economy, and it helped give disparate projects a shared identity while retaining their organizational independence. Bob Massie became president of the New Economics Institute in March 2012. During this period the institute organized the Strategies for a New Economy conference at Bard College in New York from June 8 to June 10, 2012. The event used workshops, strategy sessions, and lectures to bring together more than 500 participants representing over 300 organizations. In 2013, the New Economics Institute merged with the New Economy Network and was renamed the New Economy Coalition. The merger created a more formal coalition for a movement that included ecological economists, cooperative and solidarity-economy advocates, commons-oriented groups, degrowth proponents, regenerative-design practitioners, and other critics of growth-centered economic policy. The coalition’s purpose was not to impose a single program, but to connect organizations with overlapping goals and help them collaborate despite differences in theory and tactics. Massie stepped down as president in October 2014. Farhad Ebrahimi served as interim director until May 2015, when Jonathan Rosenthal was hired following a selection process involving the board and staff. Rosenthal had helped found Equal Exchange, a worker cooperative, and his appointment reflected the coalition’s interest in practical experiments in economic democracy as well as policy advocacy. The coalition continued its convening role through CommonBound. The 2014 event brought together movement leaders, activists, and practitioners and was associated with the broader commons movement. In July 2016, NEC partnered with the Crossroads Collaborative to hold CommonBound in Buffalo, New York; more than 900 participants attended. These conferences helped connect local and sector-specific projects with wider debates about ownership, ecological limits, community power, and the design of economic institutions. NEC’s ongoing role is best characterized as movement infrastructure. It supports its members and allied organizations through communications, online tools, leadership development, grantmaking, public education, and national gatherings. Its primary geographic focus is the United States and Canada, although it works with similar networks internationally. The coalition frames its work around an economy in which human well-being and ecological health are more important than aggregate growth, and in which wealth and capital remain accountable to people and communities.
- 2016
CommonBound 2016 in Buffalo
[1]NEC and the Crossroads Collaborative held CommonBound in Buffalo, New York, with more than 900 participants.
- 2014
CommonBound 2014
[1]The coalition convened movement leaders, activists, and practitioners at CommonBound, an event associated with wider commons-oriented organizing.
- 2013
Formation of the New Economy Coalition
[1]The New Economics Institute merged with the New Economy Network and adopted the New Economy Coalition name.
- 2012
Massie becomes president
[1]Bob Massie became president of the New Economics Institute in March. Later that year, the organization hosted the Strategies for a New Economy conference at Bard College.
- 2009
New Economics Network established
[1]Sarah Stranahan created the New Economics Network as a loose network of approximately 200 organizations connected to the new-economy movement.
- 2008
Creation of the New Economics Institute
[1]Following the onset of the global financial crisis, leaders associated with the New Economics Foundation and the E. F. Schumacher Society collaborated on a North American organization for advancing systemic economic alternatives.
Products and positioning
A nonprofit movement infrastructure and coalition platform for organizations developing democratic, ecological, community-centered, and post-growth alternatives to mainstream economic systems.
Network coordination
Coalition membership and network
NEC’s central offering is a network linking more than 200 organizations in the United States and Canada. The network provides a shared identity and opportunities for collaboration among groups working on ecological economics, cooperatives, the commons, solidarity economies, degrowth, community development, and related forms of economic transformation.
Organizational support
Movement infrastructure and communications
The coalition supports the wider movement through online infrastructure, strategic communications, public education, and connections among organizations with compatible goals. These services help independent groups share ideas, coordinate activity, and present alternative economic models to broader audiences.
Capacity building
Leadership development and grantmaking
NEC’s movement-support work includes leadership development and granting programs. These activities are intended to strengthen the organizations and individuals advancing democratic, ecological, and community-centered approaches to economic change.
Conference and convening · 2014
CommonBound
CommonBound is a coalition-associated convening series for movement leaders, activists, and practitioners. Its events have connected work on the commons, cooperative ownership, ecological sustainability, community power, and economic democracy.
Marketing campaigns
- 2016CommonBound 2016
United States · Canada
NEC partnered with the Crossroads Collaborative for a CommonBound gathering in Buffalo, New York, focused on movement collaboration and practical economic alternatives.
Outcome. More than 900 movement leaders, activists, and practitioners attended.
- 2014CommonBound 2014
United States
The coalition convened activists, practitioners, and movement leaders around economic alternatives and commons-oriented organizing.
Outcome. The event helped connect the coalition’s work with the broader commons movement.
- 2012Strategies for a New Economy
United States · Canada
NEC hosted a major summit at Bard College in New York from June 8 to June 10, bringing together more than 500 people representing over 300 organizations. Workshops, lectures, and strategy sessions addressed diverse efforts to redesign economic institutions.
Outcome. The conference served as a national convening point for organizations associated with the new-economy movement.
Brand decisions
2014
Presidential transitionOtherBackground
Bob Massie led the New Economics Institute during the period surrounding its transformation into the coalition.
Action taken
Massie stepped down as president in October 2014, followed by an interim leadership period under Farhad Ebrahimi.
Aftermath
Jonathan Rosenthal was subsequently selected as director in May 2015.
2013
Merger with the New Economy NetworkM&ABackground
The New Economics Institute and the New Economy Network represented related efforts to build a North American platform for organizations pursuing systemic economic alternatives.
Action taken
The organizations merged and created the New Economy Coalition.
Aftermath
The new coalition provided a broader network structure for convening, communications, leadership development, grantmaking, and advocacy support.
Recent events
- 2016
CommonBound 2016 convenes more than 900 movement participants[1]
Campaign · Other
The coalition and Crossroads Collaborative held CommonBound in Buffalo, New York, bringing together more than 900 movement leaders, activists, and practitioners.
- 2015
Jonathan Rosenthal appointed after interim leadership period[1]
Leadership change
Following an interim period under Farhad Ebrahimi, a board and staff committee selected Jonathan Rosenthal, a co-founder of Equal Exchange, as the organization’s director.
- 2014
Bob Massie leaves the presidency of the New Economy Coalition[1]
Leadership change
Bob Massie stepped down as president in October 2014 after leading the organization during its transition from the New Economics Institute.
- 2013
New Economics Institute merges with New Economy Network and becomes New Economy Coalition[1]
M&A · Leadership change · Other
The New Economics Institute and New Economy Network combined, creating the New Economy Coalition as a broader organizational network for the North American new-economy movement.
Sources2 sources
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