Janelle Orsi

Janelle Orsi is the Executive Director of the Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC), which facilitates the growth of more sustainable and localized economies through education, research, and advocacy to support practices such as barter, sharing, cooperatives, urban agriculture, shared housing, local currencies, community-supported enterprises, and local investing. Janelle is also a "sharing economy lawyer" in private practice, specializing in helping communities share housing and cars, form cooperatives, launch urban farming initiatives, and form social enterprises.  Janelle earned her J.D. from the UC Berkeley School of Law.

Janelle is the author of Practicing Law in the Sharing Economy: Helping People Build Cooperatives, Social Enterprise, and Local Sustainable Economies (ABA Books 2012), and co-author of The Sharing Solution: How to Save Money, Simplify Your Life & Build Community (Nolo Press 2009), a practical and legal guide to cooperating and sharing resources of all kinds.
 
In 2010, Janelle was profiled by the American Bar Association as a Legal Rebel, an attorney who is “remaking the legal profession through the power of innovation.” In 2012, Janelle was one of 100 people listed on The (En)Rich List, which names individuals "whose contributions enrich paths to sustainable futures." In 2014 Janelle was elected as an Ashoka Fellow.

Can We Harness Americans’ Retirement Savings to Create Local Sustainable Economies?

What would it take for you to pull your retirement savings out of Wall Street and invest it in things that enrich your local community? Could you invest your IRA or 401(k) in, say, a local farm, solar cooperative, worker cooperative, or housing cooperative?

August 25, 2017

What’s the Role of the Legal System in Creating an Equitable Economy?

In this episode of Next Economy Now, Erin Axelrod, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Janelle Orsi, founder of The Sustainable Economies Law Center.

February 15, 2017

Homeownership is Dead! Long Live the Permanent Real Estate Cooperative!

Imagine that a group of people works hard to fill their neighborhood with urban farms, bike lanes, parks, murals, community services, and education programs. Next, imagine that those same people are forced to move away. Ouch, that bites.

August 19, 2016

Society

Just How “Legal” Are Seed Libraries?

After the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture cracked down on a community seed library, hundreds of seed libraries in the U.S. are suddenly wondering if they are breaking the law.

August 12, 2014

The Sharing Economy Just Got Real

The legal problems of the sharing economy just got real.

September 16, 2013

Cooperation law for a sharing economy

What do you call a lawyer who helps people share, cooperate, barter, foster local economies, and build sustainable communities?

September 24, 2010

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