Skip to main content
Username
Joe Carry
Proposer First Name
Joseph
Proposer Email
joseph@decumanusgreen.com
Proposer Last Name
Carry
Proposer Company/Organization
Decumanus Green Design/Build, Inc.
Proposer Phone
(413) 281-0046
Proposer Job Title
Owner
Proposer Additional Info
Before starting my own own design/build firm, I did a Phd in Religious Studies, where my focus was on the study of political hermeneutics and method in the human sciences. Throughout my professional career, I have used concepts from those areas of study to understand my own business and other similarly ideologically aligned businesses. This session presents a distillation of that understanding as well as a sampling of the business narratives that helped shape it.
Proposed Session Description
Building a really great, progressive business is the ambition of many. But realizing that ambition over time, building a business committed to justice and sustainability that is itself just and sustainable, requires a very special quality of character, one defined by its SOP, its Smarts, Openness and Prodigality. The session will begin with a brief exploration of these fundamental qualities of character, which have been distilled from the fields of systems thinking, cognitional theory and philosophical anthropology, and examine their relevance for progressive businesses committed to the long haul. It will then engage a group of panelists, experienced business owners who have built compelling models of a progressive business, in an interview-style conversation to reveal the nitty-gritty and widely varying particulars of each owner’s engagement with the SOP qualities.
Diversity and Inclusiveness
The selected panel will represent an intentionally diverse range of sociological groups. The conversation will directly address issues of justice, equality, diversity and inclusion.
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to: Identify key concepts for thinking about their businesses in a critical fashion.
Participants will be able to: Apply those critical concepts to their own business practices.
Participants will be able to: Identify and avoid the recurring pit falls of operating a progressive business.
Participants will be able to: Draw inspiration from the concrete experience of panelists who have built resilient businesses focused on social change.
Has this session been presented before?
No
Session Format
Interview or structured conversation among panelists
Session Format Details
There will be a brief introductory presentation followed by an interview-style conversation with panelist. It will end with a Q&A session between panelists and attendees.

Strongest Content Connection - Boston 2022

Comments about your speaker roster
The idea for this session grew out of research I am doing to develop and teach a college level course on entrepeneurialism and sustainability. As part of that research, I have been doing interviews with NESEA Bottom Lines company owners. Panelists will be drawn from among those interviewees.
Reviewer 1
Washington, Maria
Proposal #
121
Committee Decision
Rejected
Full Description
As the environment sickens and political polarization and economic inequality accelerate, there is a dire need for alternative ways of doing business. This session will take both an analytical and narrative approach at looking at small businesses that are actually meeting that need in creative, compelling, and hope-instilling ways.