March 1, 2008

Below is a letter from Michelle Long and William Shutkin, BALLE's new interim executive director!

Dear BALLE network members, partners, and friends:

Over the past six years, and thanks largely to your ideas, vision, and hard work, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) has become the world's fastest growing network of sustainable businesses. Our shared belief in the power of local independent businesses and bottom-up networked change has begun to transform communities, building local self-reliance, aligning commerce with the common good, and bringing transparency, accountability, and a caring human face to the marketplace through living economies.

In response to BALLE's growth and the extraordinary opportunities before us, BALLE's board of directors and staff have spent the last several months reviewing where we've been and where we want to go. As we look forward to our annual conference in June in Boston, we wanted to let you know about some exciting changes afoot.
First, the board is pleased to announce that William Shutkin, an accomplished non-profit leader, social entrepreneur, environmentalist, and author, has agreed to serve as BALLE's interim executive director and new trustee. Working closely with the board and staff, Bill is helping oversee the transition to a new strategy and new leadership through June 2008, when he will join the faculty of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder as the inaugural chair of a new interdisciplinary program in sustainable development.

Second, BALLE has begun the process of evolving our operations to better match the needs and ambitions of our member networks. Under a new program model, BALLE will operate two programs, BALLE Core and BALLE Bold, in addition to the annual BALLE conference.

BALLE Core is our current program reorganized and fortified. It's where BALLE provides direct services such as our regional trainings, monthly calls, and website aimed at catalyzing and connecting network members at the early to mid stages of their development. It's also BALLE's movement-building program, increasing the number of BALLE networks and communicating Living Economy values and concepts.

BALLE Bold is our new program area, a follow-on set of services for those network members who want more from BALLE beyond network development support, who want, in a sense, to move up the BALLE ladder from start-up to Living Economy powerhouse. It's the field-building side of the house, deepening our collective knowledge of community economic development systems and helping transform local economies through a set of strategic partnerships with network leaders, economic development consultants, community development finance institutions, and others.

Core and Bold comprise our new "seed and lead" strategy. Through Core, BALLE is seeding the market for Living Economies and providing networks the services they need to grow. With Bold, BALLE is leading the market, offering opportunities for networks to expand their scope of activity and deepen their impact and knowledge.

The annual BALLE conference will support both program areas, bringing together BALLE's movement- and field-building work under one roof and providing an opportunity for BALLE network members and others to engage face to face in the process of learning and knowledge exchange, not only during the conference but throughout the year.

We have begun upgrading and realigning our operations and forging new partnerships in accordance with our new program strategy. In addition, we have reactivated our search for a permanent executive director and welcome your nominations. Look for announcements of new developments as they unfold over the coming months. We greatly value your interest in BALLE and look forward to continuing to work with you to advance our shared mission.

See you in Boston!

Michelle Long, Board Chair

William Shutkin, Interim Executive Director and Trustee