Cohousing: A New American Dream

Grace Kim takes the virtual stage at the Seoul Cohousing Symposium to discuss the new American dream home, cohousing.

As loneliness becomes a growing health concern across the globe, people are looking for creative solutions to solve this often overlooked issue. A common cause in America is the lack of community that comes along with the “American Dream Home”. We see this happen in suburbs where, despite proximity, it can be rare for people to get to know their neighbors. Cohousing is centered around community; a place where residents feel support from family and friends, belonging, security, and a sense of wellbeing. Sounds pretty nice, right?

Leadership Tomorrow – Geoff's Reflections on Challenge Day 7: Economy

Schemata Workshop is excited to announce that Principal Geoff Anderson has been selected as a participant in the Leadership Tomorrow (LT) class of 2021.

LT is an intensive civic leadership program focused on interconnections between elements of Seattle Foundation’s “Healthy Community” framework. The program helps participants further develop their leadership skills and practices, focusing on the goal of creating a healthy, just, and inclusive Puget Sound region. In particular, the program has been actively evolving its approach to racial equity, supporting participants’ development as antiracist civic leaders.

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To prepare for this Challenge Day, the class researched and discussed two economic concepts: “Doughnut” Economics, and the Gift Economy. 

The concept of Doughnut Economics was developed by University of Oxford economist Kate Raworth.  She proposes a modernized way to evaluate the economy beyond just looking at the GDP. She explains that because every part of our society is driven by continual growth, “the plane can never land.” Instead of using the GDP as the only measure of economic success, Raworth developed a dashboard of indicators called the “Doughnut,” an economic model based on maintaining balance between planetary and essential human needs. See her TED talk here: Kate Raworth TED2018 "A healthy economy should be designed to thrive, not grow"

The idea that our economy should thrive as opposed to grow is so refreshing to me. It relates to my struggle with searching for live/work balance. Instead of defining my own success by the quality of my life, I feel the pressure of the continual need to get more done to grow my worth.

The topic for our last Leadership Tomorrow Challenge Day was “Economy.” I am certainly not one to claim that I understand all the ways our economy works, but I do have a basic grasp of the fact that our capitalist system is based on exploiting land, mineral, petroleum, forest, animal, and even human resources to create wealth. I can also appreciate that it is easier to make and hold on to wealth once you have it. In a capitalist society, money is power. Put in the context of race and equity in America, it is easy to see the history of the use of a capitalist economic system to influence the power of whites in this country. Over the past few decades, we have seen an increasing number of government policies that are widening the economic gap, shifting a disproportionate amount of wealth and power to fewer people, most of whom are white. 

The topic of “Economy” is directly related to all other topics we have studied - Neighborhoods & Communities, Basic Needs, Healthcare, and the Environment. As I do with all the previous topics, I believe we can evolve our thinking around the economy to better serve the entire community more equitably.

To prepare for this Challenge Day, the class researched and discussed two economic concepts: “Doughnut” Economics, and the Gift Economy. 

Kate Raworth

The concept of Doughnut Economics was developed by University of Oxford economist Kate Raworth.  She proposes a modernized way to evaluate the economy beyond just looking at the GDP. She explains that because every part of our society is driven by continual growth, “the plane can never land.” Instead of using the GDP as the only measure of economic success, Raworth developed a dashboard of indicators called the “Doughnut,” an economic model based on maintaining balance between planetary and essential human needs. See her TED talk here: Kate Raworth TED2018 "A healthy economy should be designed to thrive, not grow"

The idea that our economy should thrive as opposed to grow is so refreshing to me. It relates to my struggle with searching for live/work balance. Instead of defining my own success by the quality of my life, I feel the pressure of the continual need to get more done to grow my worth.

Marie Goodwin

The concept of a Gift Economy was introduced in an excerpt called “The Gift of Strawberries” from the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The discussion centered on the perception of the value of a gift as opposed to the value of a purchase. When we purchase something, we exchange money for an item that is deemed to have that value. That item becomes our property, and that is the end of the transaction. However, if we receive that same item as a gift, our perception of that item’s value is altered. We appreciate where the item came from and feel a sense of gratitude towards the giver. In a Gift Economy, the exchange establishes a feeling or bond between the giver, the recipient, and the item. The core idea here is that the more a gift is exchanged, the more valuable it becomes. This is fundamentally different than capitalism, which I described earlier as being based on exploiting resources.

There has always been a significant difference in the perception of value between Native Americans the Europeans who colonized the Americas. Some stark examples of this difference are the ban on the Potlatch native to Pacific Northwest indigenous peoples, and the use of the term “Indian giver” as a pejorative. The Potlach tradition was outlawed in Canada and the US because the white settlers “considered it ‘a worse than useless custom’ that was seen as wasteful, unproductive, and contrary to 'civilized values' of accumulation.”[1] Likewise, the term “Indian giver” comes from a “fascinating cross-cultural misinterpretation between an indigenous culture operating in a gift economy and a colonial culture predicated on the concept of private property.”[2].

Even in our private property and growth-dependent economic system, most of us can comprehend that the economy stalls if people stop exchanging things. Money and goods need to be constantly moving and not hoarded in order for the economy to work for everyone. I do not believe that capitalism by itself creates poverty or the expanding wealth gap. Rather, I see that the policies and regulations those in power put on our economic system do. Because of this, I like to think there is a way to improve our economic system so that it works better for more people and that we can integrate more of the Doughnut and Gift Economy concepts into a more equitable, sustainable, and universally beneficial economy. Here are some questions to ponder:

• Can we alter how we define “success” to be more than just rooted in financial growth?

• Should we be better at teaching basic financial literacy in public schools? Access to that knowledge creates access to the resource and power-sharing.

• Will we ever be able to move away from a model that sees healthcare as a commodity to a system that serves the basic healthcare needs of the community?

• Can we look to the next generation to think more broadly and see that sharing wealth ultimately benefits everyone? See Resource Generation.

As we come out of the post-COVID-19 economy, can we reshape how we support our local, family-owned businesses? Or did the pandemic accelerate our journey towards a more online, “no-contact” type of economy that benefits big businesses, like Amazon, grow even more? Or will we spend intentionally?

[1] “Potlatch,” Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation, June 30, 2021), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potlatch.

[2] Kimmerer, Robin Wall. 2015. Braiding Sweetgrass. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions.

Leadership Tomorrow – Geoff's Reflections on Challenge Day 6: Environment

Schemata Workshop is excited to announce that Principal Geoff Anderson has been selected as a participant in the Leadership Tomorrow (LT) class of 2021.

LT is an intensive civic leadership program focused on interconnections between elements of Seattle Foundation’s “Healthy Community” framework. The program helps participants further develop their leadership skills and practices, focusing on the goal of creating a healthy, just, and inclusive Puget Sound region. In particular, the program has been actively evolving its approach to racial equity, supporting participants’ development as antiracist civic leaders.

Several years ago, I decided to explore Seattle’s Duwamish River on my kayak, wanting to take a closer look at this vital part of Seattle’s history, economy, and environment.  The scarcity of safe access points on the river was certainly an indication of the value our society has placed on this key waterway. This experience was at the top of my mind throughout Leadership Tomorrow’s Environment Challenge Day, as we learned about the Duwamish River, its history, the communities who live on and around it, and the impacts of industrial development and climate change.

In my experience, most people who live in and around Seattle don’t know a lot about the Duwamish:  where it begins, its original route, or how it became what it is today.  For the record, the Duwamish River begins at the confluence of the Green River and the Black River (hardly a river anymore) at Fort Dent in Tukwila. Until the early 1900s, it meandered into an estuary leading out to Elliott Bay and Puget Sound. In 1909, the Duwamish was rechanneled and straightened to accommodate industrial and commercial development. As a result of the industrial contamination caused by this development, the lower Duwamish was declared a Super Fund site by the EPA.

The impacts of this pollution most profoundly affect the Duwamish River Valley and the communities on its banks, such as Georgetown and South Park [1]. This community has long been subject to environmental injustices: disproportionately high health issues caused by pollution, and fewer benefits, such as safeguarding traditions on historic Indian lands along the Duwamish.  These communities will also be most directly impacted by rising sea levels caused by global warming.[2]

In fact, the communities along this river, from the native Duwamish to current day residents, including Black, Latino, and Indigenous people, have long had to bear the burden of environmental pollution, harm, and displacement. I’ve personally been a long-time proponent of ”Save the Planet” idealism. However, I am starting to better understand that how this often comes at the expense of the real-life concerns and needs in these communities. I was surprised, for example, that groups such as Front and Centered are opposed to a Cap-and-Trade policy as typically designed because the “trades” can make pollution in these communities even worse, reinforcing environmental racism by concentrating pollution in already overburdened communities.

I believe our region should lead by example and accelerate the push towards an economy based on innovative renewable resources that benefit the communities in the Duwamish Valley. To do this, we must allow the people most impacted by pollution to lead the conversations and decision-making. The passage of the HEAL Act this past legislative session is a powerful statement for this type of action. It will help reinforce efforts like those of the King County’s Climate Action Plan and the work of the Climate Equity Community Task Force (CECTF) Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan to continue and even expand on bringing multi-cultural and multi-racial cross-sector experiences to climate-related community building.

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1. See the WA State Department of Health website for more information (https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/wtn/WTNIBL)

2. Horne, Debra. "Two Seattle Neighborhoods Bracing for the effects from Climat Change" for Kiro News. https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/two-seattle-neighborhoods-bracing-for-effects-from-climate-change/879009084/

Leadership Tomorrow – Geoff's Reflections on Challenge Day 5: Education

Schemata Workshop is excited to announce that Principal Geoff Anderson has been selected as a participant in the Leadership Tomorrow (LT) class of 2021.

LT is an intensive civic leadership program focused on interconnections between elements of Seattle Foundation’s “Healthy Community” framework. The program helps participants further develop their leadership skills and practices, focusing on the goal of creating a healthy, just, and inclusive Puget Sound region. In particular, the program has been actively evolving its approach to racial equity, supporting participants’ development as antiracist civic leaders.

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Geoff’s Reflection on Challenge Day 4: Arts + Culture

One of the goals I set for myself at the beginning of this Leadership Tomorrow (LT) year was to become more mindful of the privileges I am afforded as a white male that others, especially in the BIPOC community are not privy to.

March’s Leadership Tomorrow sessions presented  poignant and personally-challenging experiences at a level that I had not experienced yet in this program The first of these  came on Education Challenge Day.

Education Challenge Day

As a jumping-off point, we began our work on this topic by viewing “I Sued the School System”, a viral video in which the artist criticizes the traditional school system for “killing creativity, individuality, and being intellectually abusive” (more here) ”

This Leadership Tomorrow Challenge Day was eye-opening and challenging. For our prework, we delved into the history of Indian Boarding Schools and other racist education policies. Although heartbreaking, this is a part of our country’s violent history and something everyone should all have a better understanding of. We also studied current racial biases in education, and more about the School to Prison Pipeline (See Challenge Day 3)

Beginning the process of understanding the full extent of the privileges I had growing up in a wealthy, predominantly white suburb was challenging. I understood that my family chose where we lived growing up because of the “good schools” but I was ignorant to what this meant for many of our cohorts who were not afforded this privilege. I appreciated the benefits I had due to this privilege, but it was jarring to realize how utterly rare it is to have the resources and teachers I did. I cannot believe how much I took for granted. I wish that everyone could have the same access to great schools with long-term, dedicated teachers, extra-curricular activities, and even the unique programs that are provided by well-intentioned PTSA Boards at schools in wealthy districts.

LT program participants are given the opportunity to meet and interview area leaders in small team groups. My small team met with Michelle Merriweather, President & CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, to learn about her background and the journey that she took to arrive at this point in her career. Our conversation centered on leadership styles and the work that the Urban League does in the Seattle area. The most impactful moment of the interview, for me at least, occurred as we were winding down our talk, and Michelle was asked how she handles being a black woman in leadership, and the challenges inherent in that specific experience.

Michelle described how she uses ‘code-switching’ in professional situations such as conversations with funders or doing advocacy work. She continued by saying that about eight months ago, amidst BLM protests, she made a deliberate decision to no longer code-switch but has a fear of paying for this decision later – “on the other side,” as she put it. As a white man, I never have had to even consider code-switching, or the repercussions thereof, and this was something that I had never realized was a privilege.