I discovered RG three years ago after a frantic online search for information following a frustrating phone call with my mother. During the call, I was informed that, upon turning 21, I would be named as a trustee of a private family foundation. Without going into too much detail, the thought of engaging with four…
What is social change philanthropy? What do these broad and ambiguous words really mean? I was once under the assumption that “social change” excluded environmental or economic change. I saw the intrinsic connections, but because I’d grown accustomed to how philanthropy tends to cubbyhole and compartmentalize issues, I assumed that this was also the case….
After spending some time at the CCTFP conference, I was blown away by the young people I met. I got to know many participants and RG staff and was so impressed by their energy and commitment to social justice. I thought to myself: this is a serious group with a real commitment to gaining skills and getting involved in…
Reposted from the Vassar Alumni Newsletter When Zoe Lloyd Foxley graduated from Vassar in 2001, she set out on a course of service to community, first as an elementary school teacher, and then, after earning a Masters from the University of Southern California’s School of Social Work, as a worker at a community mental health…
One of the great blessings of being a part of humanity is the diversity we encounter every day. We can to meet and interact with so many different types of people with so many interests, that we get to learn, experience and grow constantly. Most of the time, this makes us better human beings. There…
Hello RG community! There is less than ONE WEEK left to register for RG’s 2011 Creating Change Through Family Philanthropy retreat! Let us tell you why… Jessie and Nicole love CCTFP!See you there!
Reflections from Lillian Birchall, RG Member Attending the Creating Change Through Family Philanthropy Retreat changed my life. I was nervous before attending the retreat, but from the moment I walked in, I felt as though I could finally share a secret that I had been hiding for many years. Being around other young people who are…
We hold the liberation of Black and Indigenous people as central to the liberation of all people. We know that attempted genocide and chattel slavery created the initial foundation for massive wealth disparity in the U.S. and that the continued exploitation and criminalization of those communities upholds the racial wealth divide. We believe that well-resourced Black and Native Left organizing is a critical part of how we all get more free.
We believe social justice movements need to be led by communities most directly impacted by injustice. As young people with access to wealth, we choose to undermine the pattern of funders dictating the work and instead choose to follow the leadership of transformative social justice movements and communities, led by people who are: poor, working-class, Black, Indigenous, of color, women, disabled, queer and trans.
We work towards eradicating classism and towards wholeness. We believe that all classes and communities are interconnected and interdependent and that classism has been used to wedge and divide us. We know that much is lost communally in the name of wealth accumulation and that people with wealth have a lot to gain from returning wealth to the collective and transforming our economy. We know that the current economic system is untenable, and we work to build a solidarity economy.
We believe that people ages 18–35, with wealth and class privilege, are at a pivotal stage in life to make a lifelong commitment to social movements. Youth movements and organizing are, and have been bold and visionary. We are building on the legacy of those who came before us, and we are working for a better world for those who will come after. Young people with access to wealth and class privilege need to be organized as protagonists—actively engaging in and seeking out ways that leverage and redistribute our access to power and resources within our control, and redirect resources and power within the networks and institutions we are connected to. We are committed to resisting ageist norms of people acquiring power and holding on to it and constantly doing leadership development to bring about new leadership.
We believe personal and structural change are deeply connected, and every person has the ability to heal and grow. We are committed to working towards transforming ourselves, our organizations, our communities, and society as a whole through our work. We bring our full selves, our experiences, our stake, and our strategic thinking to build cross-class relationships in working for a just and livable world.
We believe in collective and individual growth, groundedness and interdependence. We know that tensions will arise, and we will approach these with curiosity on behalf of our personal and collective wants. We will work to see tensions as generative rather than destructive and finite. We welcome principled disagreement and will strive to keep conflict generative in service of our broader goals and mission.
We believe in the power of collaboration across class, race, and movements. We know that our vision depends on our relationships with communities, organizations and people across our movement ecosystem, with whom we share similarities and differences. Through our organizing work we also seek ways to invite our families, communities, and other people with access to wealth to this work.
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