Mechanism’s first-ever impact report is now live!

Driven by interviews with our program and event participants, this report tells the story of how we’re executing our mission in select regions across the U.S.

By speaking with the people our programs were designed to support, we learned more about how our work is:

• Engaging residents to lay the foundation for community-led production
• Empowering workers and the leaders that support them
• Creating knowledge and action partnerships that span geographies
• Disseminating groundbreaking ideas on production as a source of community power

“I’m thankful for Mechanism and I'm thankful for the Greater Cincinnati Makers Collaborative,” said Jenny Brewer from the Cincinnati Recycling & Reuse Hub, a partner in our Cincinnati Local Lab. “We just love the collaboration.”

The report also explains why we made the shift from Urban Manufacturing Alliance to Mechanism last fall, and why we’re urgently moving forward on our new path.

Download the report below, and please consider sharing with those in your network! The greater our reach, the greater impact we can expect over the next year, and the year after that, and the year after that.

Read Mechanism’s first-ever impact report here.

Scavenger Hunt: Read our Impact Report and Win a Prize

To celebrate the release of our impact report, we’re offering a delicious prize to someone in our network.

The first person to read through our impact report and email us correct answers to the following questions will get an Asheville Area Food Guild box delivered in the mail! The box includes treats from many of the local businesses we’ve worked with as part of our Western North Carolina Local Lab.

Here are the three questions you must answer correctly:

• Instead of “manufacturing”, what term does Mechanism use?
• In two neighboring states, Mechanism partnered with intermediaries to support employee well-being. Findings are now being integrated by dozens of small manufacturers to improve job site conditions, thanks to our local partners. In which two neighboring states did we work, and what is the name of this initiative?
• Over the past year, Mechanism has seen more than 40% growth in new followers on which social media platform?

Once you have the answers, send them to info@mechanism.community! The first person to email us with the right responses gets a food box. (Offer limited to network members who reside in the U.S.)

Help Shape Our Future! Become Mechanism’s Newest Board Member

Mechanism is accepting recommendations and applications for new board members.

We’re looking to expand our current board with new people who are passionate about creating community-led production ecosystems, and can play an active role in helping us navigate our evolution as Mechanism.

Ideal candidates will:

• Be a steward for strengthening and amplifying our reach
• Have active relationships with foundations, family offices, and impact investors
• Genuinely believe in our mission
• Have experience navigating institutional change

Read the whole job description here to get a more complete sense of who we’re interested in hearing from.

If you’d like to recommend someone — or if you yourself would like to apply — fill out the form at the link below! Applicants will be contacted by late October.

Apply or recommend someone for Mechanism’s board here.

Co-ED Nepal Asatthawasi Selected for Just Economy Institute Fellowship

Mechanism’s Co-Executive Director Nepal Asatthawasi has been named a fellow in the Just Economy Institute's 10th cohort of social change leaders.

JEI's fellowship program builds networks of innovators, entrepreneurs, and organizers who are shifting the flow of capital and power to solve social and environmental problems. Fellows learn effective capital activation strategies and gain an essential understanding of the mindset and culture needed to support the fundamental rethinking of the purpose of wealth.

Congratulations to Nepal, and many thanks to JEI for the selection!

Learn about Nepal and the other JEI fellows here.

Mechanism Joins Panel at Shared Kitchen Summit

Mechanism’s Senior Program Manager Laura Masulis will participate as a panelist at the upcoming Shared Kitchen Summit in Providence, RI, from October 12-14.

Laura will join the panel “From Kitchen to Capital: What the Raising Dough Research Reveals About Scaling Food Businesses” to share insights on business finance and capital access strategy for makers.

Now in its sixth year, the Summit brings operators together from across the country for three days of hands-on sessions, peer-to-peer problem solving, and real conversations about what it actually takes to run a shared kitchen — from managing member relationships to navigating growth and compliance.

The event is sold out, but we’ll report on Laura’s panel at our LinkedIn page!