November 2024 Pick
Ashley’s Pick: Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
A must-read classic in the discourse of regenerative business practices, Cradle to Cradle shares an innovative approach of applying biomimicry to product design, with the entire lifecycle in mind. McDonough and Braungart advocate for creating products that either biodegrade naturally or can be fully recycled, taking inspiration from nature where waste is nonexistent. The ‘cradle to cradle’ system is practical, with real solutions offered to complex environmental challenges.
October 2024 Pick
Tania’s Pick: Decolonizing Finance by Taj James Full Spectrum Capital Partners at Decolonizing Economics Summit 2023
Quick disclaimer: While this is not technically a book recommendation, it is a learning resource that emerged as essential for leaders to view, process, understand deeply, and take action upon.
Regenerative business design is not about extraction of value, but rather adding value back to the source. Viewed through the lens of supremacy culture, in a workshop on Decolonizing Finance, Taj James addresses how we participate in both oppression and being oppressed through wealth. Have a listen to this fantastic video. It will provide a deeper insight on the history of supremacy culture and how it has created the systems that promote wealth extraction from our collective systems.
By holding onto resources, we prevent them from returning to natural systems, making those systems work harder. If we recognize that all beings are part of the same system, we would make financial decisions that allow resources to flow back into ecosystems, which are naturally regenerative.
The key is moving from survival tactics (everyone for themselves) to thriving tactics (community first). While survival techniques are sometimes necessary, we must be aware when they reinforce a system that hinders true community abundance.
September 2024 Pick
Hilary’s Pick: My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Mending of Our Bodies and Hearts by Resmaa Menakem
A few years ago, I joined an anti-racist affinity group through the Social Venture Institute (SVI) community to unpack what it means to be an anti-racist in business. Our monthly discussions led us to this groundbreaking book. Through personal stories, historical context, and body-centered practices, Menakem guides readers on a healing journey of “somatic abolitionism”, offering strategies to get present with our bodies in order to release generational trauma and liberate ourselves from the influence of White body supremacy.
This work is slow and uncomfortable – and ongoing. But I feel well-resourced by the practices and insights I learned from this book. I highly recommend joining up with others to read, digest and practice My Grandmother’s Hands in community, for that is where we truly heal.
August 2024 Pick
Renee’s Pick: Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey.
The title caught my eye. As someone who was recently diagnosed with ADHD, one of the symptoms I’ve struggled with for a long time is workaholism. For those born and raised in a colonial society, we’ve been shaped by colonialist/supremacist/capitalist systems. Just like a fish doesn’t necessarily recognize that it’s swimming in water, I don’t think we realize how much we are swimming in these systems that interrelate and support one another – often to the detriment of some and the benefit of others. As our society encourages, and often supports workaholism, I’ve benefited from participating in workaholism, while also losing in the process when it comes to my health (true wealth!).
This book was a bell…
A reminder to come back to being.
A reminder to engage in rest as a necessary component of not just my wellbeing but also my activism.
Only through the activity of trying to rest do we realize that many of our systems and institutions, by design, encourage and sometimes force us to do the opposite. This book is a must-read!
July 2024 Pick
Saj’s Pick: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Written by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Potawatomi botanist, author, and educator, this book is a mix of science, spirit and story, and the message is rooted in normalizing Indigenous sustainability practices. It brings with it a really good reminder that a shift toward a more heart-centered relationship with nature is all we really need to make a huge leap in the right direction.
Likening our relationship with the Earth to that of a romantic partner, Robin offers thought-provoking examples that put a fine point on the current dysfunction of that relationship.
Imagine how selfish and unsustainable it’d be if one person in a marriage was all take, take, take, and put themselves first all the time.
Many folks start and end their sustainability journey with easily accessible acts like recycling. While recycling is certainly good, Robin brings the comparison of a partner expecting praise for only remembering your birthday and expecting a pat on the back.
Ultimately, the idea is that being kind to Mother Earth should be a willing act that’s rooted in reciprocity and mutual benefit. Not something to be done because it’s mandated by laws, or only for the sake of avoiding a complete climate disaster!
Bonus fun fact: Sweetgrass is used as a sacred plant in Indigenous traditions and ceremonies. In Robin’s Potawatomi Anishinaabe culture, sweetgrass is believed to be the hair of Mother Earth, and when braided, it’s done in 3 parts which represent the mind, body and soul. Also, sweetgrass smells really sweet when you burn it!
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