Ben Ledewitz leads service innovation for Fourth River Workers Guild, a worker owned cooperative in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Trained in industrial design, Ben’s use of democratic process, design and ecology brings refreshing solutions to complex problems related to home services, business operations and community fitness. He was a founding member of Fourth River in 2013 and as a worker-owner Ben oversees company finance, strategic planning, project management and project design.
Ben has been volunteering for nine years in his east end neighborhood of Pittsburgh where he helps people imagine what places could be if neighbors worked together then supports those collective visions as they become reality. This has led to re-assignment of land ownership to residents, a grassroots resident council, new approaches to land care, community gardens, new public bus routes and the establishment of a community land trust to preserve affordable rental housing in his neighborhood. Through this work he has refined tools for structured discourse that strengthen democratic power in our rapidly changing urban context.
He still finds his way back to the mountains to lead rafting trips and paddle with friends in the creeks of West Virginia. Ben has a BA in Industrial Design from Carnegie Mellon University.