The Hazel Henderson Legacy Series Proposal
A Founding Investment in the Future of Support for a Green Economy
Hazel Henderson Center
10 Carrera Street, St. Augustine, FL 32084
Overview
The Hazel Henderson Legacy Series surfaces the revolutionary thinking of a woman who saw through the mythology of the market decades ahead of her time. Henderson's writings on complex systems and ecological economics read like dispatches from the timeline we're now entering. Her work was like a love letter from the future, one that now demands we reread it, and respond. Our aim is to turn up the volume on the voice of a prophet who may have arrived too early to be properly heard. This series doesn't aim to memorialize Henderson so much as mobilize her living legacy.
Henderson was both a visionary and approachable economist and futurist. Her prescient work transcends siloes and disciplines. It challenges "business as usual" practices crumbling before our eyes and offers creative, timeless common sense solutions. She saw the wisdom of ideas like ethical markets and systems thinking a generation before these concepts entered the mainstream discourse. In the words of Fritjof Capra, her work shaped thinking about "economics, ecology, feminism and systems thinking" and illuminated the interconnection of these fields.
In her personal life, Henderson lived these values and built a vibrant web of friends and collaborators who developed their ideas as an expression of collective and cosmic consciousness. Her network embodied what musician Brian Eno terms "scenius" — the communal genius of talented people coming together. Henderson is a bright, central star in an exquisite constellation of visionaries who contributed positive ideas for the future between the atomic age and the digital revolution.
This multi-year initiative includes five interconnected components that breathe new life into Hazel's body of work during a time when her wisdom, joy and perspective is urgently needed.
The series includes:
A definitive biography exploring Henderson's remarkable life and intellectual contributions
An edited volume of contemporary essays from thought leaders and changemakers influenced by her work
Annotated and updated reissues of Henderson's seminal books with new introductions
A volume of Hazel's collected poetry which beautifully distills and reframes a lifetime of ideas
Volumes that emerge from collaborative gatherings held at her home now transformed into The Hazel Henderson Center inspired by the Power of Yin book, an embodied experience of collective sensemaking in real time.
About the Hazel Henderson Center
The Hazel Henderson Center carries forward the legacy of Hazel Henderson (1933–2022) — ecological economist, futurist, syndicated columnist, author, and a founding voice of the global sustainability movement. For more than five decades, Henderson challenged conventional economic thinking and championed renewable energy, socially responsible investing, ethical markets, corporate accountability, and quality-of-life indicators that move beyond Gross Domestic Product.
The Center operates from Henderson's former home in St. Augustine — a property that served for four decades as a gathering place for scholars, entrepreneurs, investors, educators, journalists, and systems thinkers exploring new approaches to economics, sustainability, governance, and social innovation. Following Henderson's passing, trustees, advisors, collaborators, and community partners established the Center as a nonprofit institution committed to preserving and activating her intellectual legacy. Through leadership residencies, educational programming, research initiatives, strategic convenings, and community partnerships, the Center cultivates the ideas, relationships, and practical tools needed to address the defining challenges of this century.
The Center's key assets include:
A living library of more than 5,600 books and 1,000+ journal issues
Archives preserved through academic partnerships, including the University of Missouri
Residency accommodations, a research library, collaborative gathering spaces, a workshop room, kitchen, outdoor areas, a pool, and parking
An experienced leadership team and Strategic Foresight Advisory Committee with deep expertise in sustainability, ethical finance, education, and community development
Close relationships with Ethical Markets Media and its globally recognized Research Advisory Board, connecting the Center to a broad international network of practitioners, investors, academics, and public-sector leaders
The Hazel Henderson Center is a Florida not-for-profit corporation and a 501(c)(3)tax-exempt organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. EIN: 41-2894661.
The Place
St. Augustine is the oldest continuously inhabited European-founded city in the United States, and the Center sits inside that living history. Its historic district is compact and fully walkable — cobblestone streets, Spanish colonial architecture, Flagler College's gilded halls, and the Castillo de San Marcos, standing guard over the bay since 1672. Within a short walk of the Center: waterfront seafood restaurants, neighborhood wine bars, art galleries, and dining that draws on four hundred and fifty years of layered culinary history. The Atlantic beaches are fifteen minutes away.
This isn't incidental to the work — it's central to it. Hazel chose this home deliberately, and everyone who takes part in this work experiences a version of what she built her life's work around: a place where big thinking and genuine hospitality coexist.
Series Components
Biography
This biography will trace Henderson's journey from British immigrant to global thought leader. The narrative will explore her evolution from financial journalist to self-taught economist and futurist, exploring questions such as:
How did Hazel's early experiences as a child living through the war, her family dynamic, the dissolution of her first marriage and her daughter's exposure to pollution influence her ideas and perspective?
What influenced her worldview and frameworks without the hindrances of and access to formal academic credentials?
How did she influence policy, markets, governments, organizations (e.g. Calvert's Social Impact), and public discourse?
How did she develop and refine her concepts of "ethical markets" and the "love economy" alongside other thinkers and practitioners of the time (e.g. Riane Eisler, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Jean Houston)?
What role did her relationship with legendary thinker, technologist and MIT alumnus Alan Kay play in her work? How did this partnership inform her ideas, and how did their home function as an intellectual magnet and hub?
What obstacles and resistance did she face as a woman challenging orthodoxy in male-dominated fields? How did she navigate this dynamic?
How did her daily life and personal practices embody the world she wished to see and touch international audiences, specifically Japan?
What specific predictions and warnings proved most prescient? What spiritual and ethical practices supported her in developing these insights ahead of most observers?
What are ways that her journey may inform and inspire future leaders as we imagine alternative, autodidactical and collective educational models in the future?
How might her perspective on the real wealth of nations (people and earth) inform and influence the next economy?
This definitive biography will draw on extensive archival research, interviews with colleagues, previously unpublished confidential materials, her heavily annotated library of over 4,500 volumes, the Ethical Markets Media video archive, as well as Henderson's archive housed at the State Historical Society of Missouri's National Women in Media Center
Edited Volume
This collection will feature original essays from leaders across fields whose work builds upon Henderson's legacy. Contributors will revisit Henderson's most prescient ideas and explore how we might adapt her proposed solutions to today's most pressing challenges. Contributors could include, Vicki Robin, Ravi Chaudhry, Dr. Mariana Bozesan, Jean Houston, Fritjof Capra, Joan Anderson, John Elkington, Ralph Nader, Anneloes Smitsman, Rinaldo Brutoco, Frank Bracho, Claudine Schneider, Wayne Silby, Amory Lovins, Terry Moliner, Stuart Valentine, Fran Koster, Carol Spalding, Stephanie Mills, Zhouying Jin, Gregory Wendt, Kate Raworth, Lawrence Ford, Jean Gaddy Wilson, Karinna Karsten, Tommy Maletta, Peter Maties, Kim Polman, Nomi Prins, Robert Rubenstein, Paul Ellis, Mitchel Rabin, Ed Mayo, Mathew McGarvey, Gil Friend, Roberto Savio, Ed Saltzburg, Maria Christina de Carvalho Pinto.
Annotated Reissues
The series will include reissues of Henderson's most influential works, each featuring:
New introductions placing the work in historical and contemporary context
Supplementary annotations highlighting prescient insights
Updated bibliographies and resource guides
Original forewords from notable figures Titles under consideration to reissue include:
Politics of the Solar Age: Alternatives to Economics (1981)
Paradigms in Progress (1991, 1995)
Creating Alternative Futures: The End of Economics (1996)
Building a Win-Win World (1996)
Beyond Globalization: Shaping a Sustainable Global Economy (1999)
Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy (2006)
Mapping the Global Transition to the Solar Age (2014)
Green Transition Scoreboard: Science-Based Investing (2019), with Hazel's unpublished new introduction
Collected Poetry
A volume of Hazel's collected poetry which beautifully distills and reframes a lifetime of ideas. https://hazelhenderson.com/category/poems/. We are particularly moved by her poem "Pecos River Meditation". We do have a video of Hazel reading these poems.
Publications From Gatherings
The Power of Yin offers a unique, interactive and improvisational format to replicate and reimagine for a series. Henderson, along with her friends and fellow visionaries Barbara Marx Hubbard, Jean Houston and Barbara Delaney, recorded themselves in conversation over a few weekend gatherings. The conversations were transcribed and published. The Yin series will host interdisciplinary, immersive gatherings at Hazel's home and library in St. Augustine, Florida (and other locations) organized around different themes and thinkers, conversing at ease in graceful and hospitable settings. A volume will result from each gathering that offers a co-authored "real time" conversation capturing the vitality, emergence and organic nature of dialogue and collaborative sensemaking.
Audience
Audience The Hazel Henderson Legacy Series will appeal to multiple overlapping audiences:
Academic readers in economics, ecology, sustainability studies, political science, and feminist studies
Policy professionals working in sustainable development, ethical finance, and social innovation
Business leaders and entrepreneurs interested in ethical markets and ESG frameworks
Social entrepreneurs and cooperative ventures seeking partnership models and conflict resolution frameworks
Social activists and change-makers seeking alternative economic models
Conflict resolution practitioners and peacekeeping organizations
Students and educators across disciplines looking for frameworks to address complex global challenges
Professional development seekers interested in certification programs based on Henderson's frameworks
Series Editors
Many have offered to be interviewed and serve on an editorial advisory council. A complete list will be provided upon request. The series will be overseen by:
Mara Zepeda (Lead Author & Co-Manager) is a journalist and social entrepreneur. Mara was the Founding Managing Director of Zebras Unite, an international movement creating businesses that are better for the world. The Zebra model was recently adopted by Japan as part of their national economic policy. Mara has co-founded a dozen social enterprises, including a venture-backed software company and progressive chamber of commerce. She was an award-winning economic reporter for NPR, Marketplace Planet Money and The Boston Globe and an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of South Carolina's Darla Moore School of Business.
Beth A. Binns (Contributor & Co-Manager) is Co-Director of Ethical Markets Media and Co-Trustee of the Hazel Henderson Trust. Her extensive background includes strategic planning in the green economy, building climate change programs as Vice President at ICF International, and serving as Program Director of the International Academy of Environment in Geneva. Binns has been instrumental in developing environmental initiatives including the White House Education for Sustainability program and was founding director of the Social Venture Network.
Timeline And Development Plan
Year 1:
Launch biography research and writing
Establish editorial board for essay collection
Hold first collaborative Power of Yin gathering
Begin work on first reissue with new introduction
Year 2:
Complete and publish biography
Finalize edited essay collection
Publish first reissue
Publish first gathering volume
Years 3-5:
Publish remaining reissues (1-2 per year)
Conduct additional Yin gatherings
Publish resulting collaborative works
About Hazel Henderson
See a video profile of Hazel by Nathalie Beekman, artistic director at Pavlov e-Lab, The Netherlands at Ethical Markets TV. (Currently site under development)
Hazel Henderson D.Sc.Hon., FRSA, is the founder of Ethical Markets Media LLC and the creator and co-executive Producer of its TV series. She is a world renowned futurist, evolutionary economist, a worldwide syndicated columnist, consultant on sustainable development, and author of The Axiom and Nautilus award-winning book Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy (2006) and eight other books. She co-edited, with Harlan Cleveland and Inge Kaul, The UN: Policy and Financing Alternatives, Elsevier Scientific, UK 1995 (US edition, 1996), and co-authored with Japanese Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda, Planetary Citizenship (2004).
Her editorials appear in 27 languages and in 200 newspapers syndicated by InterPress Service, Rome, New York, and Washington DC, and her book reviews appear on SeekingAlpha, a London-based market e-letter. Her articles have appeared in over 250 journals, including (in USA) Harvard Business Review, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor; and Challenge, Mainichi (Japan), El Diario (Venezuela), World Economic Herald (China), LeMonde Diplomatique (France) and Australian Financial Review. Her books are translated into German, Spanish, Japanese, Dutch, Swedish, Korean, Portuguese and Chinese. She sits on several editorial boards, including The State of the Future Report, and E/The Environmental Magazine (USA), Resurgence and Foresight and Futures (UK).
Since becoming a full-time media executive in 2004, Hazel has stepped down from her many board memberships, including Worldwatch Institute (1975-2001), Calvert Social Investment Fund (1982-2005), and other associations, including the Social Investment Forum and the Social Venture Network. She remains on the International Council of the Instituto Ethos de Empresas e Responsabilidade Social, Sao Paulo, Brasil; formerly on the International Advisory Council of Forum 2000, she serves on the Program Council of FORUM 2000, Prague, Czechoslovakia, founded by their late President Vaclav Havel; and she is a Fellow of the World Business Academy.
She leads the Transforming Finance initiative, created the Green Transition Scoreboard®, co-developed with Calvert the GDP alternative now renamed the Ethical Markets Quality of Life Indicators and co-organized the Beyond GDP conference for the European Commission. In preparation and subsequent to the EC conference, she has funded three Beyond GDP surveys, finding strong support worldwide for ESG metrics in national accounting.
In addition, she has been Regent's Lecturer at the University of California-Santa Barbara, held the Horace Albright Chair in Conservation at the University of California-Berkeley, and advised the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Science Foundation from 1974 to 1980. She holds Honorary Doctor of Science degrees from the University of San Francisco; Soka University (Tokyo); Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts (USA); and Wilson College, Pennsylvania (USA). She is an active member of the National Press Club (Washington DC), the World Future Society (USA), a Fellow of the World Futures Studies Federation and a member of the Association for Evolutionary Economics. She serves as an Honorary Judge of the Youth Citizen Entrepreneur award and the KATERVA Global Awards for Sustainability.
Henderson has many awards and is listed in Who's Who USA, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in Business and Finance and Who's Who in Science and Technology. She is an Honorary Member of the Club of Rome. She shared the 1996 Global Citizen Award with Nobelist A. Perez Esquivel of Argentina. In 2007, she was elected a Fellow to Britain's Royal Society of Arts, founded in 1754.
In 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014, she has been honored as one of the "Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior" by Trust Across America. In 2012, she was named to the Post Growth Institute (En)Rich List as a top 100 luminary inspiring global prosperity beyond economic wealth; and, honored for her lifetime achievement with the Award for Natural Law and Order from the Maharishi University School of Management and with the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Development of ESG & Investing at TBLI Europe. In 2013, she was inducted into the International Society of Sustainability Professionals Hall of Fame.
Her 2014 monograph, Mapping the Global Transition to the Solar Age, published by ICAEW and Tomorrow's Company, UK, is available for free download from Ethical Markets, forthcoming as an expanded book from Cosimo Publishing.
Conclusion
The Hazel Henderson Center is guided by an experienced leadership team with expertise in sustainability, education, nonprofit management, ethical finance, and community development:
Dr. Carol Spalding, Co-Trustee
Beth Binns, Managing Director and Co-Trustee
Dr. Paula Seymour, Director of Innovative Studies Programs
Mara Zepeda, Director of HH Legacy Initiatives
Jan McAlpine, Director of Development
Tommy Maletta, Editor, Ethical Markets
The Center also benefits from the guidance of its Strategic Foresight Advisory Committee, whose members include Leslie Danziger, Elsie Maio, Vicki Robin, former U.S. Representative Claudine Schneider, and Jean Gaddy Wilson. A broader network of advisors and collaborators contributes expertise across environmental stewardship, architecture, education, finance, governance, entrepreneurship, and systems change.
The Center's close relationship with Ethical Markets Media and its internationally recognized Research Advisory Board provides a global network of practitioners, investors, academics, and public-sector leaders — significantly extending the reach and collaborative opportunities available beyond what any single institution can offer
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