Past Conferences

Accessing Content from Past BALLE Conferences

DVDs, CDs, and MP3 downloads of all of our keynotes, plenaries and breakout sessions from our 8th annual conference, held in Charleston May 21-23, 2010, are available from Hungry Mind Recordings.
DVDs and CDs of keynotes, plenaries, and breakout sessions from our 6th annual conference, held in Boston June 5-7, 2008, are available from Fleetwood Multimedia.
DVDs and CDs of keynotes and plenaries from our 5th annual conference, held in Berkeley May 31 - June 2, 2007, are available from Conference Recording.

Overview of Past Conferences:

2010 ♦ Charlston, South Carolina

Lighting the Way to a New Economy

Featured Speakers:

Annie Leonard, Director, The Story of Stuff

Marjorie Kelly, Tellus Institute

David Korten, Yes! Magazine

India Pierce Lee, Program Director Cleveland Foundation

Jennifer Buffett, Co-Chair & President, NoVo Foundation

Judy Wicks, Co-Founder, BALLE

Moderator, Bob Dandrew, The New World Foundation
Eric Henry President, TS Designs
Kimber Lanning, Founder Local First Arizona
Jamila Payne, President Milla by Mail
Vicki Pozzebon, Executive Director, Santa Fe Alliance
Dr. Mark Albion, Co-Founder, Net Impact
Sandy Wiggins, Founder & Principal, Consilience, LLC,
David Orr, author, Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse
April Harrington, Treasurer, Oklahoma Food Cooperative
Ben Burkett, member, Federation of Southern Cooperatives Land Assistance Fund
Lyle Estill, Social Entrepreneur.
Moderator, Michael Shuman, Research & Economic Development Director, BALLE
Lily Yeh, Founder, Barefoot Artists
Woody Tasch, Chairman & President, Slow Money
Leslie Christian, CIO & CEO, Portfolio 21 Investments
Joel Solomon, President & CEO, Renewal Partners
Bernie Mazyck, President & CEO, South Carolina Association of Community Development Corporations
Don Shaffer, Moderator, President & CEO, RSF Social Finance

2009 ♦ Denver, Colorado

Rising to the Challenge: Entrepreneurs Building Living Economies

2009 Annual BALLE Conference Slideshow

Featured Speakers:

Melissa Bradley-Burns, senior strategist, Green for All

Lisa Daniels, founder, Windustry

Connie Evans, Association for Enterprise Opportunity

Bob Gough, secretary, Intertribal Council on Utility Policy

Melissa Hardy, worker-owner, BioFuel Oasis

Elliot Hoffman, cofounder and CEO, New Voice of Business
June Holley, cofounder, Network Weaving, and cofounder, ACEnet

David Korten, Yes! Magazine
Hunter Lovins, president and founder, Natural Capitalism Solutions

Susan Matteucci, founder, Southwest Creations Collaborative

Michel Nischan, chef, The Dressing Room, A Homegrown Restaurant

Barry O'Neill, president, CUPE BC

Michael Shuman, research and policy director, BALLE

Tom Stearns, founder, High Mowing Seeds
Jerome Ringo, president, Apollo Alliance

2008 ♦ Boston, Massachusetts

Grow Deep: Business Leaders Building Strong Communities

Featured Speakers:
Majora Carter, founder, Sustainable South Bronx Boston Poster

Rep. Ed Markey (MA), US House of Representatives
Bill McKibben, author, Deep Economy

Juliet Schor, author, Born to Buy

Brenda Palms Barber, executive director, North Lawndale Employment Network

Don Shaffer, president, RSF Social Finance

Jeff Mendelsohn, founder, New Leaf Paper

Hilary Brown, founder, Local Burger

Eric Henry, president, TS Designs

Michael Shuman, vice president, Training and Development Corporation

Penelope Douglas, president and cofounder, Pacific Community Ventures

Bryan Gooch Redd, cofounder, Upstream 21

Clifton Kellogg, ShoreBank

Woody Tasch, founder, Slow Money

2007 ♦ Berkeley, California

Leading the Evolution of Local Economies

Featured Speakers:
Paul Hawken, author, Natural Capitalism and Blessed Unrest

Van Jones, founder, Green for All

Denise O'Brien, candidate, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture
Simran Sethi, host, Ethical Markets
Tom Bates, Mayor of Berkeley, CA

David Korten, author, The Great Turning

Michael Shuman, vice president, Training and Development Corporation

Judy Wicks, founder, White Dog Cafe

Michelle Long, cofounder, Sustainable Connections

Paul Saginaw, cofounder, Zingerman's Community of Businesses

Bo Burlingham, Inc. Magazine

Jack Stack, SRC Holdings

2006 ♦ Burlington, Vermont

Creating Sustainable Communities

Featured Speakers: Burlington Poster

Rep. Bernie Sanders (VT), US House of Representatives

Gary Erickson, founder, Clifbar

John Abrams, cofounder, South Mountain Company, author, The Company We Keep

Hunter Lovins, co-author, Natural Capitalism, founder, Natural Capitalism, Inc
Frances Moore Lappe, founder, Food First and Small Planet Institute
Omar Freilla, founder, Green Worker Coops
Ben Cohen, cofounder, Ben and Jerry's

Greg Watson, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative

2005 ♦ Vancouver, British Columbia

Third Annual International Conference of BALLE

Featured Speakers: Vancouver Poster

David Suzuki, host, The Nature of Things
Jim Hightower, author, Thieves in High Places

Thomas Linzey, founder, CELDF

Donna Morton, founder, Centre for Integral Economics

Joel Solomon, president, Renewal Partners

Malaika Edwards, cofounder, People's Grocery

Gregor Robertson, Happy Planet Juices
David Van Seters, Small Potatoes Urban Delivery
Judith Plant, New Society Publishers
Tim Taylor, Environmental Home Centre

Judy Wicks, founder, White Dog Cafe

Holly Harlan, founder, Entrepreneurs for Sustainability