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Home > Faculty and Staff > M-Z > Eric Utne
Eric Utne
 Position: Senior Fellow
Organization: Utne Institute, Earth Corps for Global Service
Office Address
4259 Linden Hills Blvd
Minneapolis, MN 55410
Home Address
4259 Linden Hills Blvd
Minneapolis, MN 55410
Office Phone: 612-922-2211
Home Phone: 612-922-2211
Mobile Phone: 612-325-3697
Email Address: ericutne@aol.com
Educational Background
BA, Environmental Design, UMN, 1972; coursework toward MA in Architecture, UMN
Brief Biography
Brief Bio: Eric Utne is a publisher, educator, and social entrepreneur. He was founding publisher and editor of the New Age Journal, now owned by Martha Stewart/Omnimedia. In 1984, he founded Utne Reader, of which he was chair for 15 years. In June 2006 the magazine was sold to Ogden Communications, publisher of Mother Earth News, Natural Home, and ten other special interest publications. Eric is the father of four Waldorf-educated sons and was integrally involved in the founding, growth, and development of City of Lakes Waldorf School and Watershed High School. He was the 7th & 8th grade class teacher at CLWS from 2000-2002. He has a B.E.D. (Environmental Design) from the University of Minnesota. He is the President of the Board of Trustees of Sunbridge College, a Masters Degree-granting Waldorf teacher-training college, based in Spring Valley, New York. In November 2006 he was elected to the Executive Committee of the Nobel Peace Prize Forum.
Teaching Areas
• Magazine and Book Publishing
• Waldorf Education
• Social Entrepreneurship
Research Interests
-Finding one's "calling"
-Waldorf Education
-Social Entrepreneurship
-Whole Systems Healing
Selected Publications
Magazines (published & edited)
New Age Journal, 1974-1978
Utne Reader: The best of the alternative press, 1984-2000.
Books (published & edited)
Utne Chutney: Best Cartoons. 1989
Y2K Citizen Action Guide, 1999
Salons: The Joy of Conversation, 2001
Visionaries: People & Ideas to Change Your Life, 2001
Cosmo Doogood’s Urban Almanac: Celebrating Nature & Her Rhythms in the City, 2005 and 2006.
Articles (authored)
"Tina’s New Yorker," Columbia Journalism Review, March 1993
"Practice what You Teach," Utne Reader, September, 2000
"Two Years in the Trenches," Renewal Magazine, 2004?
"Global Crises Need Global Response," UR, March, 2007
"The New Elders," interview, Utne Reader, Sept. 2007
Professional & Volunteer Activities
• Member, Nobel Peace Prize Forum, Executive Committee, 2006-present
• President, Sunbridge College, Board of Trustees, 2003-present
• Member, Board of Advisors, World Future Council, 2006-present
• Member, City of Lakes Waldorf School, Board of Directors, 2002-2005
• Co-Founder, Social Venture Network, 1987?
Speeches (recent)
• "Following Ben Franklin’s Exampleż," The SF Commonwealth Club, Jan. 11, 2006
• "A Peace Corps for the Whole Earth," UMN Retirees’ Assn., Jan.23, 2007
• "Leading with the Heart," keynote address, St. Thomas University’s Leadership PhD program, 20th anniversary dinner, Feb. 16, 2007
• "The Heart of Environmental Education," Environmental Educators’ Leadership Summit, April 26, 2007
• "Entrepreneurship & Social Responsibility," Gustavus Adolphus College, 11/13/07
Interviews (selected)
• "Eric Utne’s Urban Almanac," NPR, 11/28/04, w/ Margot Adler
• "The New Elders," UtneCast web blog, September, 2007
Work History and Accomplishments
• In 1984, Utne founded Utne Reader, the 225,000 paid circulation "field guide to the emerging culture."
• In 1991 the magazine formed the Neighborhood Salon Association to "revive the endangered art of conversation and start a revolution in people’s living rooms." Over 17,000 people joined as dues-paying members, comprising nearly 500 salons across North America. Marriages, businesses, schools, co-housing projects, and the Blue Man Group started in Utne Salons.
• Utne left the magazine in 1999. In June 2006 the magazine was sold to Ogden Communications, publisher of Mother Earth News, Natural Home, and ten other special interest publications.
• Utne was the 7th & 8th grade class teacher at City of Lakes Waldorf School in Minneapolis from 2000-2002.
• From 2005-2006 he published Cosmo Doogood’s Urban Almanac: Celebrating Nature & Her Rhythms in the City, which he describes as a "21st century version of Poor Richard’s Almanac."
• He is the President of the Board of Trustees of Sunbridge College, a Masters Degree-granting Waldorf teacher-training college, based in Spring Valley, New York.
• Prior to starting Utne Reader Eric was director of new ventures for Wilson Learning Corporation and a literary agent and small business consultant.
• He frequently addresses business, community and broadcast audiences on a variety of issues, including, "Entrepreneurship and Social Responsibility," "Intuitive Leadership," "Business Ethics and the Environment," and "Keeping the Heart in Business," and "Finding Your Service Calling."
• He is a cofounder of the Headwaters Fund and the Social Venture Network. In November 2006 he was elected to the Executive Committee of the Nobel Peace Prize Forum.
Current Projects:
Utne is in the midst of launching two new initiatives (from the Executive summary of the Earth Corps for Global Service business plan):
The purpose of ECGS is to build the field of social entrepreneurship by dramatically increasing the number of people working for social and environmental service organizations worldwide, and to deepen the quality of their service. By establishing programs to help high school and college students, people in mid-life, and Baby Boomers find their service callings, and connecting them with organizations that need what they have to offer, we intend to double the number of people working in these service organizations by 2012, and to quadruple the number by 2015. As an educational think tank and social enterprise incubator, ECGS is partnering with several other organizations to create a number of synergistic initiatives:
1. The Earth Corps for Global Service (ECGS), a kind of "Peace Corps for the whole Earth," offering accredited undergraduate and graduate courses and one-day workshops for the general public. These offerings are designed to help people find their service callings, prepare them for effective service, and connect them with service organizations worldwide. Currently being developed with the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality and Healing (CSH) and Goddard College’s Health Arts and Sciences: Bridging Nature, Culture, and Healing (HAS) program, ECGS courses and seminars will be offered in 2008 and eventually on college campuses worldwide.
2. Earth Councils will bring together young people (16-28) and elders (50+) to create local community-building initiatives that address social and environmental issues. Sponsored by high schools, colleges, businesses, civic and fraternal associations, faith communities, and other organizations, Earth Council programs foster the arts of mentoring, group facilitation, and social entrepreneurship. Building on Utne Reader’s Neighborhood Salon movement, and modeled after the American Leadership Forum, Earth Councils enable people 50 and older to become true elders, while engaging the next generation in service projects that help them develop their gifts and find their place in the community.
3. ECGS is in discussions to partner with Paul Hawken’s WiserEarth.org to develop online tools to help people connect with optimal service opportunities. WiserList would be a sort of Angie’s List of service organizations, providing ratings and reviews of more than 100,000 social and environmental service organizations, generated by individuals who know the organizations through their own paid or volunteer work experience. WiserMatch will enable individuals seeking service opportunities to enter their own search parameters and access a list of service organizations that best fit their gifts, experiences, and aspirations. Together, these web-based functions offer a dynamic and effective way for people to find and contribute to a highly compatible service organization.
ECGS’s Board of Advisors includes authors Paul Hawken and Frances Moore Lappe, polar explorer Will Steger, and Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the Peace Corps (’93-’95) and UNICEF (’95-’05).
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