​​About Ben Roberts
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​Contact info:
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​​Paugussett land, now known as Newtown, CT, USA
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​​LinkedIn
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​​Ben Roberts is a systemic change agent and “process artist,” working in service to what Joanna Macy and others have called "The Great Turning."  Inspired in 2010 by the internet’s largely untapped power to convene and support new modalities for participatory dialogue, he has been a pioneer in bringing large group conversational processes into the virtual realm via platforms such as Zoom and Slack, and in blending and creating synergies between virtual and in-person engagement.  
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​Ben’s work focuses on: 
  • ​​Weaving communities, networks, gatherings, and movements
  • ​​Co-leading the core teams of collaborative projects and initiatives
  • ​​Creating open spaces for emergent dialogue 
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​​Ben is driven by a belief that we are being deeply challenged at this moment in history by the urgent need for systemic transformation, the continued dominance of "Business as Usual," and the yearning for constructive programs with the critical mass to fully demonstrate that new paradigms are possible. At the same time, he recognizes the importance of Collapse as a context for engagement, and has been influenced by the call from Vanessa Machado de Oliveira for us to hospice modernity/coloniality in order to develop the capacity for something truly new to emerge. 
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​​Ben sees dialogue as an ideal tool to address such complexity and uncertainty. He also recognizes that our dialogic processes must evolve, just like everything else. He is currently experimenting with a “conversation weaving” approach that entangles many small group conversations in hybrid space over a period of as little as a day or as long as several months.
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​Work Highlights
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  • ​​Co-creating Funding Ecosystems for Regeneration (“CoFundEco”): May 2023-present
  • ​​Lead convener of a community that supports and shares learning from the development of ecosystemic practices for funding regenerative work in a variety of domains
  • ​​Produced a social system map to visualize the community and support self-organizing of “co-creation nodes”
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  • ​​One of three members of the global council of the Regenerative Communities Network who collaborated to design, convene, and host a two-week summit with ~1000 registrants and 120 sessions
  • ​​Led the development of the online home for the summit, using the Qiqochat platform
  • ​​Organized ~30 follow up conversations in 2023, aka “weaving in the valley of bioregional regeneration.”
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  • ​​Organized a collaborative of ~30 people, in partnership with the r3.0 organization, to produce a 170 page “blueprint” on allocating investment and grant-making for a regenerative and distributive economy
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  • ​​Strategizing on collaborative possibilities for TRCC "Circle" members, including Transition US, Movement Generation, Post Carbon Institute, Bloom Network (formerly Evolver), New Economy Coalition, Daily Acts, Shareable, New Stories, New England Grassroots Environment Fund, Permaculture Action Network, Compassion Games, and more, as well as a group of independent change agents who serve "the movement of movements."
  • ​​Collaborated to develop the "Co-project Initiative"--a democratic grant-making process where prospective grantees take the lead in deciding how to allocate a pool of grant dollars ranging from $160-$290K per year since 2014
  • ​​Designing and hosting in-person and virtual gatherings, including the annual Movement Strategy Dialogue
  • ​​Supporting a process for selecting and funding "co-labs" involving circle members
  • ​​Led development and implementation of a "movement weaving" process combining appreciative interviews, group dialogue and online reporting
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  • ​​Now What?! Global Gathering and Gift Economy, lead convener and host, 2019-present
  • ​​A series of six-week long gatherings on “the art of being fully human in a time of crisis,” that began in early 2019 and take place on a twice-yearly rhythm
  • ​​See these websites for details on the 2019 and 2020 editions
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  • ​​Amplify, integrate and ground the energy of conferences that have a systemic transformation agenda, by offering live virtual engagement opportunities before and after they take place
  • ​​Provide a way for conference participants and people in associated networks to engage with one another in dialogue, using a variety of processes including Open Space and Pro-action Cafe
  • ​​Connect and cross-pollinate across the networks of multiple conferences taking place around the same period of time, e.g. May-June 2019
  • ​​Conference partners include Commonbound, Bioneers, Imagine Convergence, Climate Change and Consciousness, the New Economy and Social Innovation (NESI) Forum, and Transform
  • ​​The Now What?! gatherings described above emerged out of this conference weaving work.
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  • ​​Leading for Wellbeing: Core team member from 2016-17
  • ​​A global initiative founded by Hunter Lovins to develop and disseminate a new narrative for an economy in service to life, as a replacement for the narrative of neoliberalism
  • ​​Established a set of virtual communication tools, including Slack, Google docs, and Zoom, to support the work of a community of ~100 global thought leaders.
  • ​​Designed and hosted a two month process to allow over forty people to collaborate on the drafting of the "Meadows Memorandum," the central manifesto for the initiative
  • ​​Helped design the participatory elements of the Oct 2016 Leading for Well-being conference in Tuebingen Germany, and also coordinated virtual participation in that event
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  • ​​Co-convened a six week community of inquiry from Dec 14 2014-Jan 31, 2015, around this calling question: 
  • ​​”What do we, as members of the dialogue and deliberation community of practice, have to be and do to enable our most positive transformational impact in the face of emerging global crises which fundamentally challenge our business-as-usual habits and systems?”
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  • ​​Exploring the intersection of the New Economy and Thriving Resilient Communities movements through appreciative interviews and large group conversations.
  • ​​A collaboration with the Post Carbon Institute, with support from the New Economy Coalition
  • ​​Lead conversation designer/host (virtual and in-person)
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  • ​​Strategizing for the emergence of a new movement to shift work cultures from "command and control" to "respect and empower."
  • ​​Member of planning and hosting team for the in-person post-conference Open Space which followed the Positive Business Conference at the the Ross School of Business in mid-May 2014.
  • ​​Led the design and hosting of a week long virtual World Cafe in January 2014
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​Brief CV
​​Ben began his work as a process host in early 2009, when he launched a weekly in-person Discussion Salon that continued through 2015. In February 2010, this work also became his full time occupation, when he became involved with the Coffee Party movement, began hosting virtual World Cafes, and became an active member of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation.
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​​From 2010-2011 Ben worked extensively on the FOUR YEARS.GO (4YG) campaign initiated by The Pachamama Alliance, beginning as a co-lead role in the design and hosting of their first three day in-person gathering of sixty thought leaders and activists.  He then created and hosted the weekly 4YG Cafe and led the 4YG Community Stewards, a regular gathering based on Peter Block's Six Conversations model.  In 2010 Ben also teamed up with with Amy Lenzo to co-found weDialogue, a business offering professional services to design and host virtual engagements, and the provider of online services for the World Café Community Foundation.  
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​​In 2011, Ben co-founded Occupy Café, an initiative that used interactive conference calls and an online community to support the global conversation inspired by the Occupy movement. The Cafe hosted weekly themed conversations through January 2013, and also "landed" on the ground during the 2012 Occupy National Gathering in Philadelphia, where their team brought together in-person and virtual participants for five days of dialogue. 
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​​Since 2013, Ben has used his skills in virtual and in-person convening, team building and facilitation, and the design and facilitation of large group dialogue in service to numerous initiatives and in a wide variety of capacities.  See above for a sample of this work.
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​​Prior to his work designing, convening and hosting dialogue, Ben worked from 2004-2009 as a financial adviser with the First Affirmative Financial Network, specializing socially responsible investing. During that time, he was deeply influenced by attending five "SRI in the Rockies" conferences, which featured thought leaders such as Gar Alperovitz, Hazel Henderson, Bernard Lietaer, Hunter Lovins, Randy Hayes, Alisa Gravitz, and many others.  During the 1980s, he worked on Wall Street in fixed income sales and trading, and then turned to entrepreneurship in the 1990s, developing and managing an innovative indoor facility for learning and practicing golf.
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​​Ben lives in Newtown, CT, with his wife Kim, who is a marriage and family therapist. They each have two children from prior marriages, and they have three grandchildren.
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​​Ben holds BA and MBA degrees from Columbia University. He has been active in local government and with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury, where he was president of the Board of Trustees from July 2011-June 2014. He is an avid cook, locavore and fermento, and also enjoys hiking and skiing. 
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