BALLE Announces New Executive Director

The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) is proud to announce that Michelle Long will join its staff as executive director as of September 1. Long is the co-founder and former executive director of Sustainable Connections, a BALLE network based in Bellingham, Washington. Long also served as a BALLE board member since 2003, and was BALLE's first national coordinator along with her husband, Derek Long, from 2002 to 2003.
 
"Michelle is a successful BALLE network leader and national spokesperson," said Judy Wicks, BALLE co-founder and board chair. "She has achieved long-term shifts in Bellingham consumer behavior and community support for independent business, social entrepreneurship, and environmental sustainability. As BALLE moves into our next decade of programming and growth, we will greatly benefit from Michelle's expertise at the helm."
 
Under Long's leadership, Sustainable Connections became one of BALLE's largest and most successful networks. Its membership, now over 700 locally owned businesses, has led Bellingham in becoming the nation's top EPA-certified green power community, a leader in green building, in fostering hundreds of new relationships between farmers and food-buyers, and shifting the purchasing behavior of 3 in 5 households toward choosing independent retailers and services whenever possible. Just last month the National Resources Defense Council named Bellingham the #1 small City in urban progress toward sustainability in the nation.
 
A regular speaker and trainer, Long gives workshops on forming local business networks, creating Local First campaigns, and running successful non-profit organizations. Her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, CNN, USA Today, The New York Times, and NPR, as well as books and articles by authors including Paul Hawken, Bill McKibben, David Korten, Michael Shuman, and Frances Moore Lappe. Just this year, Long was named a "top 5 leading lady of sustainability" by the Sustainable Industries Journal.
 
Long will be joining a regionally distributed management team that includes author and economist Michael Shuman, Research and Public Policy Director (based in Washington, D.C.); Mary Rick, Strategic Partnerships and Business Development Director (based in San Francisco, California); Alissa Barron, Communications and Network Services Director (based in Washington, D.C.); and Todd Mills, Events Manager (based in San Francisco). Placement of senior management in strategic regional locations is intended to enhance BALLE's effectiveness in serving disperse member networks.
 
This fall, Long will lead board, staff and networks in strategic planning to develop new services for existing and emerging networks and grow BALLE's international learning community. To guide this effort, the board has adopted a series of long-term strategic goals and priorities for BALLE work in three main areas: network development, education and economic development, and local living economy public policy.
 
Since BALLE's founding in 2001, cities and towns embracing living economy principles have increased their economic vitality through greater community wealth and green jobs; improved their level of self-reliance and underlying sustainability; and mobilized diverse groups to work together including entrepreneurs, activists, professors, and policymakers.
 
Notes Long, "This is a key moment of change. We know local living economies represent the path forward. But we must also understand that for this to dramatically ramp up and be an accessible, real solution for communities of every geographic, racial, economic, and political stripe, we must go further, faster."
 
"Michelle will lead us in doing just that," said Wicks.
 
The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) is North America's fastest growing network of socially responsible businesses, comprised of 75 community networks with over 20,000 members across the U.S. and Canada. BALLE networks create local living economies through the building blocks of independent retail, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, green building, zero-waste manufacturing, and community capital. Founded in 2001, BALLE works to foster vibrant communities, a healthy natural environment, and prosperity for all.