Thank You for Making Our National Gathering a Success!

To everyone who made the trip out to Philadelphia last week for our National Gathering (coming from as far as Sydney, Australia!), we can’t thank you enough.

We thank you for being willing to collaborate and eager to learn. For showing us hospitality, and being open to new ideas. For embracing a spirit of sharing, and a spirit of change, which together gave us the freedom to be curious and inventive as we broke down our traditional modes of thinking and brainstormed in a big, uninhibited way.

As almost 100 of you poured into the Bok Building’s gymnasium last Wednesday morning, we could feel the energy to drive new narratives forward around what manufacturing is and what it should be.

“An impactful moment for me was realizing how many circles were at work,” said Audra Ladd, Mechanism’s Director of Research & Experimentation. “We were in a former school repurposed as a new place of learning and creativity. We were sharing a new economy model of social and economic solidarity that, in reality, functioned for centuries before modern capitalism.”

“I could feel that we are on the right path based on the energy and openness of the group,” she added.

A special thanks once again to all the presenters who came and shared their ideas and successes around uplifting small-scale manufacturing, in a way that responds to the challenges facing our society now and in the future.

None of it would have been possible without support from our event sponsors:

DVIRC, Surdna Foundation, Lumina Foundation, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Manufacturing Alliance. Our presenting sponsor and Local Host, the City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce, gave us essential support and truly paved the way for us to have a successful event in their city.

We’ll have more to share in the coming weeks, but for now, enjoy some pictures from the great time we had together!

Co-ED Nepal Asatthawasi Guides Futures Thinking Workshops in Toronto & Philadelphia

Right before leading our National Gathering in Philadelphia, our Co-Executive Director Nepal Asatthawasi was in Toronto to help lead a presentation at the Planning in the Face of Fascism conference, May 8-10, alongside Eliza Yvette Esquivel.

Esquivel, founder of Love & Order, guided the audience through a futures thinking workshop, while Nepal anchored the conversation in how Mechanism applied approaches we learned from Love & Order to food and beverage ecosystem building in Western North Carolina as part of our Asheville Local Lab.

The workshop, titled “Reclaiming Imagination in the Face of Fascism,” explored how “authoritarian environments narrow our ability to think long-term, imagine alternatives, and act collectively,” Esquivel explained on her LinkedIn page.

“Participants reflected on intergenerational solidarity, the wisdom of ancestors, and the responsibility we hold to future generations. There was also a shared recognition that a heart-centered approach to leadership and planning is not soft, it is necessary,” she continued.

“In moments dominated by dystopian narratives, long-range thinking requires emotional resilience, collective imagination, and the courage to envision futures beyond fear.”

Fortunately for our Gathering audience, the pair brought this same workshop to Philadelphia, where it noticeably changed the dynamic in the room. The workshop helped Gathering attendees step away from their traditional approaches to work and thought, leading to new levels of creativity free from fear or doubt.

Learn more about Love & Order here.

Mechanism Joins Anti-Displacement Workshop in Los Angeles

Mechanism was thrilled to become part of the Small Business Anti-Displacement Network (SBAN) earlier this year. At the end of April, Laura Masulis, our Senior Program Manager, joined other network members in Los Angeles for a site visit hosted by Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE) focused on the displacement impacts of climate change.

Here’s what Laura had to say about what she learned:

“Displacement of businesses happens at all three phases of ‘climate gentrification’:

• The natural disaster itself displaces businesses, often located in higher risk zones. These small businesses are less likely to be able to afford to rebuild.
• During the reconstruction phase, new buildings often have more stringent codes and rarely include affordable space for local businesses. Often the units are also built much larger than a small business could afford.
• Climate prevention efforts, including investment in green infrastructure, often unintentionally lead to displacement as private landlords see opportunity for higher rents.

The big takeaway is the importance of pairing climate resilient investments with strong anti-displacement and legal protections for small businesses. The site visit highlighted the need to invest in community outreach and organizing efforts even if dollars are allocated to small businesses, because such businesses are often unaware of the opportunities.”

Thanks so much to SBAN and SAJE for hosting Laura!

New Thought Leadership from Mechanism Board Members

Two of Mechanism’s board members – Sulin Carling, principal at HR&A Advisors, and Stacey Weismiller, President & CEO at American Manufacturing Futures Institute – recently published op-eds on the need for bold strategies around housing, industrial jobs, and a shifting workforce landscape in NYC.

Carling and HR&A Partner Kate Wittels wrote in Crain’s New York Business about the ways AI could shape housing demand in New York.

If AI eliminates the need for entry-level employees – a population that has influenced the city’s boom in small housing units – then New York will need to “grapple with how to absorb a housing stock heavily weighted toward small units, how to adapt existing buildings, and how to ensure that new development reflects a broader range of household types,” they write.

Weismiller and Miquela Craytor, Founder & Principal at Craytor Strategies, wrote in an opinion piece at the American Manufacturing Futures Institute’s LinkedIn page about the lack of an industrial strategy under Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration, despite the industrial sector’s ability to help realize many of the administration’s aspirations around affordability.

“Industrial policy doesn’t have to mean corporate favors or tax breaks. Done poorly, it can become exactly that,” they write. “But done well, it is how cities build the durable capacity to house and feed people, move goods, electrify buildings, repair infrastructure, weather shocks, and create lasting careers.”

Read Carling’s op-ed here, and Weismiller’s op-ed here.

Listen To The Mechanism Podcast Season 3: Worker Voice

If you haven’t listened to it yet, all six episodes of The Mechanism Podcast’s third season, Worker Voice, are available for free wherever you get your podcasts.

Building on season one’s exploration of people-centered domestic manufacturing ecosystems, this season takes an in-depth look at power, agency, and dignity inside flexible product fabrication—from apparel and automotive interiors to medical supplies and beyond.

It includes interviews with workers and the visionary leaders bringing a new perspective to textile and other soft goods manufacturing.

Listen to the latest podcast season here.