Emily cut her activist teeth in the Seabrook anti-nuke movement, where she learned that consensus based decision-making does not mix well with the fast pace of an occupation attempt, especially when one’s affinity group is positioned in the marshes and the incoming tide is about to cut off retreat. Having survived that, she has been involved in social and economic justice issues ever since. Emily received a degree in human ecology from the College of the Atlantic and a Ph.D in economics from UMass, Amherst. She is a founder and co-director of Wellspring Cooperative and co-founded the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network. In previous incarnations, she was the director of the Center for Popular Economics, served on the board of RIPESS (Intercontinental Social Solidarity Economy Network), was the National Economic Justice Representative for the American Friends Service Committee and taught economics at Smith College. While living in N. Ireland, she founded a popular economics program with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, worked with the N.I. Social Economy Network and developed social economy training programs for local community development agencies.

 emilykawano@gmail.com