Beyond Left and Right: Building a New Economy in Uncertain Times
Imagine a world where everyone has access to the basic necessities of life (food, clothing, housing, healthcare and education), where we all have an enjoyable job with a living wage, and where the economy is based on cooperation instead of competition.
Join us in a day of discussion, collaborative workshops and expert-led panels. Together we will learn practical steps and strategies that local governments, businesses, community organizations, and individuals are each using to transform our economy–an economy of the people, by the people, for the people.
WHERE
University of North Carolina Charlotte
Dubois Center
320 E 9th St, Charlotte, NC 28202
Saturday, January 17, 2026
8:00 am to 3:30 pm
$25 Students; $50 non-students
for financial scholarships message
Content
Universal Healthcare for All
Higher Education for All
Housing for All
Rational Distribution of Wealth
Maximum Utilization of all Resources
Cooperatives (Community Wealth Building)
End Poverty (Jobs for All)
Living Wage (Purchasing Power)
Reduced working hours for Self Care
Moral Leadership and Soul
Earth’s minerals are shared wealth
Public and Cooperative Banking
Speakers
Sohail Inayatullah, Ph.D.
Professor Sohail Inayatullah, a political scientist, is the UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies at the Sejahtera Centre for Sustainability and Humanity, IIUM, Malaysia. He is also a Professor at Tamkang University, Taipei (Graduate Institute of Futures Studies) and an Associate, Melbourne Business School, The University of Melbourne. From 2016 – 2020 he was the UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies at USIM, Malaysia. From 2001-2020, he was an Adjunct Professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia. From 2011-2014, he was Adjunct Professor at the Centre for policing, counterterrorism and intelligence, Macquarie University, Sydney. In 1999, he was the UNESCO Chair in European Studies at the University of Trier, Germany. He is listed in the top two percent of the world’s scientists as measured by the highest impact of citations.
Gregory Allen McPherson, DM
Dr. Gregory Allen McPherson is a recent Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and 2025 recipient of the Quincy Jones Global Leadership & Humanitarian Award presented at the US National Cathedral in Washington, DC. He has distinguished himself as a major figure in entertainment, being one of the most sought-after composers, arrangers, performers, conductors & producers involved in modern music.
Ame T. Johnson
Ame T. Johnson is the Founder, Director and CEO of Sadvipra Internationale. She has been a spiritual advisor for the last 46 years. She speaks 5 languages and worked extensively in different countries of Asia, South America and the Caribbean. She was born and raised in Maharlika (Philippines) till the age of 24 before traveling abroad. She started and administered 5 preschools and a Children’s home and travelled extensively to remote towns and cities and witnessed abject poverty of different communities. An undeterred advocate of the social and spiritual works of P.R.Sarkar, she embraces the ideals of Neohumanism and Universal Fraternity. To her, what matters most is the peace and spiritual happiness of all beings without regard to nation, language.and culture.
Steven Landau, MD
Steven Landau is President of Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team USA, and Instructor of Yoga & Intuitional Sciences at Neohumanist College of Asheville. Steven Landau is a Senior Acarya (One who teaches by his conduct) in the Ananda Marga system, and has published his own research showing how yoga practice and education reduces re-incarceration rate in prisoners with felony records. He plays 10 musical instruments and speaks 5 languages. He is a semi-retired Board-Certified Family Practitioner and is currently doing disability physicals for Veterans and Social Security applicants.
Ravi Batra, Ph.D.
Ravi Batra is an Indian-American economist, author, and professor at Southern Methodist University. Batra is the author of six bestselling books, two of which appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list, with one (The Great Depression of 1990) reaching No. 1 in late 1987. His books center on his idea that financial capitalism breeds excessive inequality and political corruption, which inevitably succumbs to financial crisis and economic depression. In his works, Batra proposes an equitable distribution system known as Progressive Utilization Theory (Prout) as a means to not only ensure material welfare but also to secure the ability of all to develop a full personality.
Japa Buckner
I am a retired Waldorf Educator. I am currently a Board Member and Trustee Emeritus of the Waldorf School of Louisville, for which I was a founding teacher over 30 years ago. I have also been a member of anti-violence, peace-building coalitions in Louisville. I am a former President of the Interfaith Paths to Peace Coalition.
I’ve been a member of various Social Activist organizations in my adult life. I am currently the Prout Alliance Steering Committee Secretary. An essential part of my social activism is spiritual practice. After completing military service in the United States Navy, I embraced meditation and supportive practices to heal and serve the well-being of all.
Howard Nemon, Ph.D.
Howard is the Co-Founder and Director of the Prama Institute & Wellness Center, a holistic conference and retreat center located in Marshall, NC (USA). Howard received his PhD in Social Welfare from the University of Pennsylvania and has taught community practice and international sustainable development at George Mason University and Warren Wilson College. From 2012 to 2020, he was the Director of the Center for Local Economies, a community-based research and advocacy organization that developed new economic solutions. He is an active member of the Prout Alliance, a US-based collaborative which promotes Prout policies and activism.
Organizers
Tabling Organizations
About Us (Prout Research Institute Asheville)
We are a collective of activists, educators, and cooperative developers promoting solutions for economic systems change. We host educational trainings and seminars around the Progressive Utilization Theory (Prout), and develop research and practical policies for new economies that help everyone thrive.
Presentation & Workshop Proposals
We are soliciting presentations for plenary and workshop sessions on the following:
• Universal healthcare and education
• Cooperative development and cooperatives
• Jobs, Living Wage, and Purchasing Power
• Community Wealth Building
• Social, economic, and climate justice advocacy
• Model projects
• New and alternative economy activism and advocacy
• Food Sovereignty
• Time Banking and LETS (Local Exchange Trading Systems)
Tel. 336-567-6912