Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN) is a left-of-center environmental and economic policy advocacy organization. LiKEN is a self-described “link-tank” that works to connect communities and local-level organizations with non-profit groups and government agencies to influence public policy. ¹ The organization is most involved on economic and environmental issues, but also does work on social, cultural, and political issues. ² It focuses on communities in Central Kentucky, Central Appalachia, and certain Native American populations. ³

LiKEN was involved in the crafting of and supports the Green New Deal, a U.S. House of Representatives resolution comprised of various radical environmentalist legislative proposals. ⁴ The organization is also a member of the U.S. Climate Action Network, an environmentalist advocacy organization that uses tactics such as protests, policy advocacy, and smear campaigns to support environmentalist causes. ⁵ LiKEN has hailed the Black Lives Matter movement as an “extraordinary gift…to our country.” ⁶

Beyond nonprofit work, LiKEN rents out part of its office space as a bed and breakfast on AirBNB. In addition to three guest bedrooms, the organization rents out community event and business meeting spaces. ⁷

Founding

The Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network, originally entitled the Kentucky Environmental Foundation, was incorporated in 1990 by a number of Madison County, Kentucky residents to support the safe disposal of chemical weapons at the Blue Grass Army Depot located in Richmond, Kentucky. ⁸ While the organization rebranded to LiKEN in 2018, the Kentucky Environmental Foundation is maintained as a project of LiKEN, but retains a website and non-profit status. ⁹

Leadership

Betsy Taylor is the executive director of LiKEN. Taylor is also a founding director of LiKEN. Taylor was previously the co-director of environmental studies and research director at the Appalachian Center. Taylor served on the steering committee of the U.S. Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative from 2013-2017. ¹⁰

In 2017, Taylor coauthored a report calling for and outlining a “Green New Deal” for Appalachia. ¹¹

Julie Maldonado is the associate director of LiKEN. Maldonado has consulted for the United Nations and World Bank on climate change. Maldonado has also worked for the U.S. Global Change Research Program and is an author on the 3^rd and 4^th U.S. National Climate Assessments. ¹²

Maldonado is also a lecturer in University of California-Santa Barbara’s Environmental Studies Program. All of the interns at LiKEN are students at University of California-Santa Barbara. ¹³

In 2020, Maldonado signed an open letter and call to action urging Congress to pass an environmentalist-friendly stimulus package. ¹⁴

Craig Williams is a program director at LiKEN and the Kentucky Environmental Foundation. Williams was previously a founding member of the Kentucky Environmental Foundation and served as its director until 2008. Williams is a charter member of the Kentucky Governor’s Chemical Material Demilitarization Citizen’s Advisory Commission and serves as co-chair of the Kentucky Chemical Destruction Advisory Board. ¹⁵

Danielle Brian is a board member of LiKEN. Brian is the executive director of the Project On Government Oversight, an investigative nonprofit in Washington, D.C. that is a vocal critic of the U.S. military and partially funded by left-wing foundations and donors. Brian is also a member of the board of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington, DC based advocacy group that receives financial support from major left-of-center foundations. Brian previously served on the U.S. Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Federal Advisory Committee. ¹⁶

Projects

LiKEN is heavily involved in the Appalachian Land Study, a community and scholarly collaboration to provide accurate data on land ownership, mineral rights, and public revenues in Central Appalachia. ¹⁷ Other organizations involved in the project include the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, a left-wing economic development association and advocacy group, and Clean Water Expected in East Tennessee, an left-wing environmentalist and community development organization. ¹⁸

LiKEN supports the Central Appalachian Folk and Traditional Arts Program Survey, a project of the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation to study and promote the traditional art practices of Appalachian communities in Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. ¹⁹

LiKEN works on the Appalachian Mother Forest project which seeks to study the biodiversity, climate resilience, and spiritual values provided by the Appalachian forest region. ²⁰

LiKEN is a fiscal sponsor to the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition and Lexington Community Markets, two environmental justice organizations based in Kentucky. ²¹

Federal Funding

In 2019, LiKEN was granted money by the Environmental Protection Agency to address environmental issues in Martin County, Kentucky. ²²

In 2018, LiKEN, in partnership with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, received nearly $450,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to fund climate change research and Native American advocacy. ²³

Other research projects to which LiKEN has contributed have been funded by the Department of Agriculture²⁴ and Federal Emergency Management Agency. ²⁵

1. “Our History.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://likenknowledge.org/about/ourhistory/
2. “What We Do.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://likenknowledge.org/what-we-do/#vision_mission
3. Our History.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://likenknowledge.org/about/ourhistory/
4. “Legislation to Address the Urgent Threat of Climate Change.” January 10, 2019. Center for Biological Diversity. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/legislating_for_a_new_climate/pdfs/Letter-to-Congress-%20Legislation-to-Address-the-Urgent-Threat-of-Climate-Change.pdf
5. “Member Organizations.” US Climate Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://www.usclimatenetwork.org/member-organizations
6. “Homepage.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://likenknowledge.org/
7. “LiKEN House. Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://likenknowledge.org/liken-house/
8. “2019 Annual Report.” Kentucky Environmental Foundation. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://www.kyenvironmentalfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/KEF-Annual-Report-2019Dec-8-2019.pdf
9. “Projects.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://likenknowledge.org/projects/
10. “Program Staff.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. http://likenknowledge.org/about/program-staff/
11. Betsy Taylor, Mary Hufford and Kendall Bilbrey. “A Green New Deal for Appalachia: Economic Transition, Coal Reclamation Costs, Bottom-Up Policymaking.” Journal of Appalachian Studies. Spring 2017. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://likenknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2017_Taylor-et-al_JAS.pdf
12. “Program Staff.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. http://likenknowledge.org/about/program-staff/
13. “Research Assistants.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://likenknowledge.org/about/research-assistants/
14. “An Open Letter and Call to Action to Members of Congress.” Green Stimulus Proposal. March 22, 2020. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://medium.com/@green_stimulus_now/a-green-stimulus-to-rebuild-our-economy-1e7030a1d9ee
15. “Program Staff.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. http://likenknowledge.org/about/program-staff/
16. “Board of Directors.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://likenknowledge.org/about/board-of-directors/
17. “Appalachian Land Study” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://likenknowledge.org/projects/appalachian-land-study/
18. “Planning and Actions: The Appalachian Land Study 2016.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. http://likenknowledge.org/2016/11/29/planning-and-action-the-appalachian-land-study-2016/
19. “CAFTA.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://likenknowledge.org/cafta/
20. “Appalachian Mother Forest Collaboratory.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://likenknowledge.org/projects/appalachian-mother-forest-collaboratory/
21. “2019 Newsletter.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://likenknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Newsletter-2019.pdf
22. “EPA Selects 2019 Environmental Justice Small Grants Recipients.” Environmental Protection Agency. November 5, 2019. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-selects-2019-environmental-justice-small-grants-recipients
23. “2018 Newsletter.” Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://likenknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2018-Newsletter.pdf
24. Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples: A Synthesis of Current Impacts and Experiences.” Department of Agriculture. October 2016. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr944.pdf
25. “Building Cultures of Preparedness.” Federal Emergency Management Agency. January 2019. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://training.fema.gov/hiedu/docs/latest/2019_cultures_of_preparedness_report_10.22.18%20final.pdf