About Us

The Council for a New Economy (CNE) is an international and independent think tank bringing together great minds and innovative ideas to move beyond the language and politics of division to discover new ways to care for our planet and our human needs.

Our Mission

Our mission is to unify people using language and ideas to inspire and empower humanity to live life more abundantly by maximizing the value and the lifecycles of our resources for generations to come.
CNE is a forum/platform dedicated to engaging, informing and providing insights on economic, social and policy solutions to help political, business, and intellectual leaders to set the course for a balanced future for our planet.

Our Principles

Inspire Value Creators

Inspiring individuals and organizations to create products and services designed for their lasting value rather than for one-time use, and highlighting those already leading the way.

Empower Goodwill

Tapping into the natural goodwill that individuals, families and organizations have toward their environment, their community, and their own resources for the well-being for all.

Promote Healthy Interdependence

Showcasing economic relationships built upon a balanced and fair exchange of value rather than on unfair and unhealthy dependence and control.”

Build toward a Sustainable Economy

Recapturing the classic virtue of creating more value out of existing resources in order to have a meaningful and positive impact on our economy with the goal of a healthier and safer world.

Unify through language, dialogue and compelling narratives

We want to move hearts and minds to act in new ways by breaking down the walls between ideologies, professions and culture using language and narratives that tap into the inherent goodwill humans hold for their planet.

Board of Advisors

David Meerman Scott

David Meerman Scott is a marketing strategist, bestselling author of eight books including three international bestsellers, and a professional speaker on topics including marketing, leadership, and social media.

Benjamin Von Wong

Benjamin Von Wong’s work lies at the intersection of fantasy and photography and combines everyday objects with shocking statistics.

Scott Martin

Scott Martin is founder of Groundswell Origins and the host of the Groundswell Marketing Podcast. He has been working over 25 years in marketing / advertising with a focused expertise in Sustainable Growth Marketing and authoring a book Called Groundswell in the Summer 2021

Torund Bryhn

Co-Founder

Torund Bryhn has 20 years of experience of helping brands realize, recuperate or expand brand profile and reputation within energy, climate solutions (Circular Economy and Carbon, Capture and Storage), foreign affairs, public policy, government and non-governmental sectors. She knows the power of thought leadership and has successfully harnessed that power.

Paula Gould

Paula Gould is Founder at Float and gather ehf., a go-to-market and growth strategy consultancy, focused on helping brilliant B2B and B2C companies from North America and Europe scale and reach new markets. Her roster of clients includes technologies and services intent on increasing sustainability and waste reduction in their industry verticals, such as cloud, supply chain and home building. Paula is also co-founder of Women Tech Iceland, which amplifies the innovations and contributions of women from within the Icelandic Tech ecosystem to the global tech community.

Fred Gertsen

Fred H.M. Gertsen has been a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in The Netherlands for almost 25 years. He is a chairman of the board at Assurant, one of the larger Dutch pension funds, and has a number of supervisory board positions. He is Principal Investigator on Project MindPrint at the Stevanovich Institute on the Formation of Knowledge at The University of Chicago; he has also cooperated with The Chicago School of Professional Psychology on various ‘Study Abroad’ Programs. Currently his main academic and research interests focus on the behaviors and psychology of executives and the origins of why gatekeepers fail.

Our Core Team & Scholars

Our Scholars are explorers of the future. They find pathways to the Repurpose Economy, guided by a mindset of reuse, recycle, repurpose.

Dennis Larsen

Co-Founder & Director

Dennis Larsen has advised leading organizations worldwide on sustainability and issues management strategy.
He is on the board of the European Association of Communication Directors, Practice Fellow at the Nordic Alliance for Communication & Management and visiting scholar at BI Norwegian School of Management and Rotterdam School of Management.

Loveleen Riehel Brenna

Loveleen Riehel Brenna is the founder and CEO of SEEMA AS, a world leading consultancy on diversity management. Loveleen Rihel Brenna has cutting-edge expertise in diversity management. For several decades, she has given lectures on training in cultural intelligence and diversity competence, as well as leadership and organizational development.

Torund Bryhn

Co-Founder

Torund Bryhn has 20 years of experience of helping brands realize, recuperate or expand brand profile and reputation within energy, climate solutions (Circular Economy and Carbon, Capture and Storage), foreign affairs, public policy, government and non-governmental sectors. She knows the power of thought leadership and has successfully harnessed that power.

Our Inception

Our founders recognized that COVID-19 was a time of change. Inspired by what we’ve seen in the great reset, we came together to move way from a Consumer Economy to a Repurpose Economy. We’re a group of idealists from different political backgrounds — conservative to liberal — who want to unify people across the globe using language and ideas that inspire and empower humanity. We empower our community to live life more abundantly by maximizing the value and the lifecycles of our resources for generations to come.