Among some activists, it is common to idolize leaderless self-organizing natural systems as an analogy for how to reorganize human endeavors. However, accountability requires transparency about organizing structures and decision-making, and leadership is essential for efforts to evolve and adapt in the face of unexpected challenges and opportunities.

Orion will discuss his experience that "leader-full" rather than "leader-less" initiatives are most effective. Efforts to establish economic democracy are rooted in shared leadership and accountable decision-making, from worker cooperatives, to credit unions, and community land trusts. The example of Boston Food Forest Coalition, as a democratic community land trust, is instructive about the obstacles to democratically sharing ownership (and therefore power) over land. It offers a model of "stewardship" that invites neighbors to step up and take on the role of leaders in their neighborhoods. From its grassroots origins, neighbors in Boston recognized the need to form an organization that would allow them to hold land and protect it from development. Close to a decade of effort, the Boston Food Forest was born and is now growing rapidly. The ethic and practice of stewardship creates a community of leaders working to realign our city with the regenerative powers of nature, creating climate resilience and racial equity on the pathway to a better future.

 SPEAKER:

Orion Kriegman (MPP ‘96) is the founding Executive Director of the Boston Food Forest Coalition and played a major role in the conception of Egleston Community Orchard in Jamaica Plain, which was the first food forest site to be adopted into the BFFC land trust. Since then, Orion has collaborated with the city of Boston, colleagues, and local neighbors to expand the number of healthy food forests included in the land trust and the number of Bostonians included in the movement. Orion has a background directing community-organizing work at Jamaica Plain New Economy Transition (JPNET), a group that worked to catalyze community leadership toward the launch of new initiatives such as farmers markets, land trusts, and spaces for community dialogue and action across race and class divisions. BFFC emerged from this work, and became Orion’s full-time focus. Prior to the creation of BFFC, Orion received his Masters in Public Policy and Urban Planning from Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He spent nine years at the Tellus Institute coordinating the Great Transition Initiative, an international network of scholars and activists examining the requirements for a transition to a sustainable planetary civilization. In 2015, Orion completed his Permaculture Design Certificate studying with the Resilience Hub in Portland, ME. Orion was recognized by the Institute for Nonprofit Practice as a 2023 Changemaker.