Della is a Renegade Economist and the Host and Producer of the Upstream Podcast, a podcast that challenges mainstream economic thinking through documentaries and conversations. She is interested in questioning and challenging mainstream economic ideology and contributing to systems change for a more equitable, sustainable and enlivened world.
Della supports individuals working to better align their values with their work as a Right Livelihood Coach, helps transition businesses and organisations as a Post-Capitalist Consultant, and teaches and facilitates retreats and workshops on the work that reconnects, systems change, and post-capitalist economics.
Della is also the Course Development Manager of Fritjof Capra’s Capra Course on the Systems View of Life, a founding member of the California Doughnut Economics Coalition, and a Senior Lecturer of Renegade Economics and Regenerative Livelihoods at the California Institute of Integral Studies, Santa Cruz Permaculture, Vital Cycles Permaculture, and Gaia Education.
After graduating from university, Della worked in the fields of sexual violence prevention and intervention, higher education, and international development. Concerned about widening inequality in the San Francisco Bay Area and aware of more equal and solidaristic economies from her travels and studies, she set off on a livelihood path to try to understand economic challenges at their root causes and identify their systemic solutions. Read her article ‘Cultivating Right Livelihood’ published by Kosmos Journal in 2019.
Della holds an MA in Economics for Transition with Distinction from Schumacher College, a BA in International Relations and Sociology with highest honors from the University of California, Davis, a graduate certificate in Authentic Leadership from Naropa University, and has completed Joanna Macy’s ‘Work that Reconnects’ Intensive Program. You can learn more about Della and her work at https://www.dellazduncan.com.
What gives me hope? Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote: ‘The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.’ This concept reminds me that no matter how often I witness or experience the human capacity for harm and violence, I know that we also have the capacity for kindness and altruism. This understanding helps me view instances of violence and harm as opportunities to invite people instead into moments of reconciliation, kindness and love.Della Duncan