Esteban Kelly

Esteban Kelly is the lead organizer for the New Economy Coalition. He has been an important leader and creative force in food justice and co-op movements, where he has served on many boards including the Democracy at Work Institute, the US Solidarity Economy Network, and Mariposa Food Co-op where he also worked for over eight years on the co-management team. From 2009-2011, Mr. Kelly was the Vice President of the U.S. Federation of Worker Co-ops and is a previous Board President of NASCO (the North American Students of Cooperation) where he worked as the Director of Education from 2003–2005, and was a board member from 2005–2013. In recognition of “outstanding leadership,” Esteban was inducted into the NASCO Cooperative Hall of Fame in 2011, and was recently appointed to the boards of the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) and the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA). Due to his impassioned advocacy for food justice, Mr. Kelly was appointed to the Food Policy Advisory Council in the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. Esteban is also a dynamic educator and movement facilitator. He is a founder and core trainer with AORTA (the Anti-Oppression Resource & Training Alliance), a worker co-op whose consulting supports organizations fighting for social justice and a solidarity economy. As an active community organizer in West Philadelphia, Esteban has volunteered since 2004 with the Philly Stands Up Collective to advance transformative justice through dedicated work in sexual assault situations. Esteban lives in the LCA community land trust, with his partner, and their very young daughter. Esteban earned a Masters degree in Anthropology from the City University of New York, and received a B.S. from UC Berkeley. Mr.Kelly has taught Anthropology at Hunter College, and is a doctoral candidate in Cultural Anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center.