February 9, 2022 I have to admit, figuring out what to write about for this month’s newsletter has been a struggle. First of all, this is the first newsletter for us this year and y’all haven’t really gotten to know me yet. But more importantly, there is so much I could share about. Like, my…
Our Fall Redistribution Pledge and Membership Drive begins this week and I’m asking you to commit to three things: Less than 2 months ago in mid-September, I became the Executive Director of Resource Generation, having been a member and on staff for over six years. It’s an exciting time to be moving into this role…
A note from RG’s board co-chairs: We are writing to inform you that, following an exceptional tenure, Iimay Ho will be leaving the role of Executive Director of Resource Generation in summer of 2021. We are grateful for Iimay’s thoughtfulness in giving the organization plenty of time to plan and implement the hiring process for…
Last month, we received a call to action from four Black-led southern organizations that have anchored powerful freedom work for decades: The Highlander Center, Southerners on New Ground, Project South, and Alternate Roots. They asked foundations, donor networks, and funders across the country to move $10 million to a new Southern Power Fund by August…
As people with class privilege, who were born into, adopted into, hired into, or partnered into class privilege, we are in the uncomfortable position of knowing that our access to wealth is part of what this racist, police violence is trying to protect. Resource Generation condemns the anti-Black violence embedded throughout police forces and white supremacy…
I’ve been making a series of exhausting decisions that I’m calling the “corona calculus.” Can I go get groceries if it means being less than 6 ft away from the cashier? Can I support my friend who is physically healthy but struggling with depression by seeing them in person but does that mean I can’t…
As the first young person of color with wealth to become ED of RG, Iimay will be sharing reflections on living at the intersection of a strange Venn diagram and fighting racism and classism in the Trump era
It’s a time of transition here at Resource Generation. Sarah Abbott, Director of Resource Mobilization, is leaving after eight years on staff. Sarah leaves a powerful legacy at RG having been the first for so much of our work — our first full-time chapter organizer, first staff support person for college organizing, first Chapter Organizing…
At Resource Generation, we are saddened and enraged at the escalating attacks on reproductive rights and the policing of our bodies that the most recent wave of anti-abortion bans represents. We know that pre-Roe v. Wade people with wealth who needed a safe abortion were often able to pay top dollar to receive services here…
What’s the role of wealthy-ish and affluent folks in climate justice and the environmental movement?
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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