Micah

Circles: Deep Democracy, Development, Fiscal Sponsorship, General, Greenhouse Circles

I am working on expanding my definition of self, in everything I do, and in all the ways I do it, so that when I act selfishly it will be for the betterment of the whole. 

Micah (he/him) is of mixed race (black and white) and mixed religion, and grew up in two different socio-economic homes. He is a cisgendered, working/middle class parent of two living on Munsee/Lenape land in the Mahicantuck Valley, commonly referred today as Kingston, NY, working to prove possibility and to liberate the imagination in order to see a Just Transition. He serves on the board of Radio Kingston, is co-host of The Breathing Room – a radio segment discussing and leading mindfulness as well as host of Hip Hop 101 on Radio Kingston. Micah is also a workshop leader of TMI Project.

Hélène Lesterlin

Circles: Community Fund (Kingston Common Futures), Deep Democracy, Development, Communications, General

I am a pragmatic optimist, a voracious reader, and a hope-filled instigator, working towards a vision of the future that is joyful, abundant, and equitable.

Hélène (she/her) is inspired by the values articulated by Italo Calvino: lightness, quickness, exactitude, visibility, multiplicity, and consistency. In her daily work, she fosters connection, social impact, and access to aligned funding, working with community leaders, entrepreneurs, and activists to help envision, design, and build healthier economic and social ecosystems. She is a life-long student, and is currently focused on regenerative economics and how systemic change at all levels can be catalyzed by democratizing the control of capital. Her role at GWI spans program design, organizational strategy, fundraising, and communications, in addition to her shared leadership work as a Worker Trustee, and continuing to support the launch of Kingston Common Futures (a community-designed, community-focused fund). She serves on the boards of Start.coop, an accelerator for cooperative startups, and Co-op HV, a loan fund and co-op development organization that is a project of Seed Commons. She enjoys public speaking, writing, and acting as a mentor and coach to mission-led entrepreneurs and community-based initiatives. As a side hustle, she is incubating a new project to support the emergence of place-based community investment funds. In the recent past, she co-founded and ran a cooperative coworking space, and helped launch and manage social impact startup accelerators. To this current body of work, she brings fifteen years experience in her early career as a producer, curator, choreographer, and interdisciplinary contemporary artist, devoted to nurturing creativity and experimentation in media, art, dance and theater. She is an abstract painter, a backyard gardener, a dual citizen of France and the US, a mother of two, grateful to be rooted in the Catskills Mountains.

Caitlin Dourmashkin

Operations, Fiscal Sponsorship, Greenhouse, Learning and General Circles

As one of my favorite human beings, Zadie Smith, says “time is how you spend your love” and every day I choose to spend my time thinking of ways I can support the work of my colleagues, and therefore the work of this beloved, and important organization. 

Caitlin (she/her) brings a passion for process to everything she does at the Good Work Institute. One of the original employees of the organization, she has spent the last six years working to support each member of the team through compassionate, human-centered organizational design. 

After fifteen years spent developing programs for local economic development organizations, Caitlin has now found her calling supporting the work of others through her love of policy, strategy, design, and (surprisingly!) administration. She is the go-to on the team on issues of internal policy and operations design, and she also co-leads our fiscal sponsorship and shared leadership offerings. She is a great resource if you are curious about the operation of our Worker Self-Directed Nonprofit, but she is also just as happy to talk about dogs, parenting strategies for toddlers, skiing, and craft brewing in the Northeast.

Aja Schmeltz

Circles: Communications, Deep Democracy, General, Greenhouse and Operations Circles 

 I am a woman, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother and a friend. I am an artist, an activist, a musician, a hiker, a kayaker, a gardener, a music lover, a sports fanatic and a damn good cook. I am an agent of change, striving hard to be the change I want to see in the world.

Aja (she/her) is an Afro-Latina raising 3 daughters with her partner of 20+ years, growing food and medicine, creating art, loving hard and strengthening connections in her beloved communities throughout the Mahicantuck (Hudson) River Valley. The Just Transition is central to her work, both personally and professionally, because she strongly believes that a successful community is made up of individuals working collaboratively on all fronts to create avenues to build a healthier, thriving, more sustainable environment. 

In addition to her roles at GWI, Aja is Board President at Wild Earth, Board Chair at HUDSY, sits on the board of Land to Learn, and is a thought-partner for many initiatives and organizations throughout the region.