We are the economy - the transformative practice of reclaiming ourselves and relationship through community wealth building

We are the economy - the transformative practice of reclaiming ourselves and relationship through community wealth building

Stephanie Gutierrez and Sarah McKinley 

In this session, Stephanie Gutierrez of Hope Nation LLC and Sarah McKinley of The Democracy Collaborative will share their stories of working to build community wealth with indigenous communities in the American West.  A local economic development approach that roots ownership and control of the economy in community for the benefit of people and planet, community wealth building is most effective when grounded in the context of a community, and particularly the culture and values of the people who shape the local economy.  Join Stephanie and Sarah as they discuss the process of translating this approach to the context of the Lakota people living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, and, in the process, how they learned that in order to reclaim our economy in service to our needs we must also reclaim our wholeness, humanity, and collective interconnectivity. 

As a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, Stephanie Gutierrez has committed her life to working with and for Native communities. Based on a colorful childhood, growing up in foster care, separated from her Lakota family, she committed herself to finding her way home, and making amends for the historical injustices her family endured for generations.  Since she was a young girl, she always believed in the power of hope.  As an adult, working across Native communities, she soon realized hope is the common denominator across all Indigenous communities. Without hope, Native people would not have endured the genocide. Hence, the creation of Hope Nation. Prior to her role as consultant, Stephanie spent 25 years in positions of executive level management, grants management and student support at a leading academic and research institution. She received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Lindenwood University and in 2014, she returned to school as a Buder Scholar, completing a Master of Social Work degree from the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University. She concentrated her studies on American Indian/Alaska Native communities, with an emphasis on community development, social entrepreneurship, and program development. Following her graduation, Stephanie had the opportunity to live and work on her mother’s homeland, the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota for Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation. Here, she broadened their Social Enterprise Program through program development, project management, creation of feasibility studies and business plans, research and development, and evaluation of the overall program. Her work continues across the country, in the areas of child welfare, community development, and economic development and always in service to Native communities.  Stephanie is married to her best friend and biggest supporter, Trace Gutierrez, and lives on a small farm in New Haven, Missouri. Her greatest accomplishment is being the mother to three children- Ashley, Tommy, and Molly, two step-children-Kelci and DJ and two grandchildren-Leland and Josephine, named after her grandmother, Josephine Her Many Horses.

Sarah McInlay is the Director for European Programs for The Democracy Collaborative and the European Representative for the Next System Project.  She works to build transatlantic partnerships to develop new community wealth building models and learning exchanges to advance the democratic economy in the United Kingdom and continental Europe. Previously, she managed the Learning/Action Lab for Community Wealth Building, supported the publication of An Indigenous Approach to Community Wealth Building: A Lakota Translation and co-authored Cities Building Community Wealth, The Anchor Dashboard: Aligning Institutional Practice to Meet Low-Income Community Needs, and Raising Student Voices: Student Action for University Community Investment. She currently resides in Brussels, Belgium.

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