Yana Ludwig

Yana served on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Intentional Community for over a decade. She has lived in community for 25 years, and all of her work is grounded in deep community experience. Her writing includes Together Resilient: Building Community in the Age of Climate Disruption (published under the name Maikwe Ludwig) which looks at the role of community, cooperation and social justice in addressing and surviving climate disruption, and was awarded the Communal Studies Association 2017 Book of the Year Award; The Cooperative Culture Handbook (co-authored with Karen Gimnig) focuses on articulating a vision and practical pathway for intentional culture building; and many articles in Communities magazine. Her new book, Building Belonging: Your Guide to Starting a Residential Intentional Community, was released in May 2023.

Yana is the former Executive Director of the Center for Sustainable and Cooperative Culture at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, Commonomics USA (an economic justice organization), and Leadership Eastside (which offers courses in adaptive leadership and racial equity). She is a dynamic, compassionate and thoughtful speaker and teacher, committed to creating a world that supports the well-being and vibrancy of all beings. Her 2013 TEDx kicked off a new era for her as public speaker and advocate for communities, and she spent 6 months on the road in 2015 in a national speaking tour.
Yana has been an eco-socialist activist for many years. She co-founded the Solidarity Collective, a socialist-anarchist commune in Laramie, WY, and worked for 2 years as a host on the community’s podcast, Solidarity House, which explores cooperative culture, policy and law. She was also a candidate for US Senate in 2020, ultimately placing 2nd in a crowded Democratic primary field. Yana currently serves as the Executive Director of North Coast Food Web in Astoria, OR.

Learn more about Yana here.