Staff
Christopher Schaefer - Co-Director
Dr. Christopher Schaefer is a lecturer, writer, researcher, and organizational development consultant. His interests include community development, economic justice, local economies, conflict resolution work and global peace initiatives. He has a Ph.D. in international economics and politics and has taught at Tufts University, M.I.T, Emerson College in England, and Sunbridge College in Spring Valley, N.Y., where he was a faculty member and program director for many years. He is the co-author of Vision in Action: Working with Soul and Spirit in Small Organizations and has written numerous articles on social and economic themes.
Gary Lamb - Co-Director
Gary Lamb has a degree in Mathematics and Technology and over 30 years experience in business and not-for-profit management. His most recent book, Associative Economics: Spiritual Activity for the Common Good, is published by AWSNA Publications. He is a board member of the Institute for Social Renewal and previously served as the managing editor of The Threefold Review and the director of the Hope Through Education Scholarship Program. His current interests include local food production and distribution; freedom, funding, and accountability in education; and conversation-based social transformation processes.
Michael Lapointe - Research Associate
Michael Lapointe has a BS in Finance from the University of Rhode Island. He has also completed extensive studies in Associative Economics through The Centre for Associative Economics in the UK. Previously, Michael worked as the finance manager for his family franchise businesses, through which he gained considerable experience as a franchisor. He is currently researching a phenomenological approach to money.
Sarah Hearn - Research Associate
Sarah Hearn has a BA in Government with a focus on community action and public policy. Her areas of interest include social threefolding, alternative economics, new approaches to money and finance, and school choice. Sarah has worked for different organizations in New York City that promote quality education, and more recently at the New Economics Institute in Massachusetts managing the BerkShares local currency program. She is a co-founder of Think OutWord a peer-led training in social threefolding, for which she has organized and presented at numerous conferences.