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 like minded and interested in social change is hard to find anywhere in the world; I felt as though I had finally found my haven of people.
All the wonderful things I learned made up the core of the experience: applying new skills to my family philanthropy such as involving the community, mission related investing, communication skills, formulating a goal and taking small steps to achieve it.
My family and I are applying this knowledge to our foundation by exploring mission related investing.
However it was the things that RG did not teach me which I walked away most grateful for; the long, intimate and thrilling conversations between the participants that you cannot find elsewhere. Being surrounded by so many other young professionals so involved in the philanthropic sector, either professionally or privately who are so driven to create social change was a really moving experience. I liked being able to bounce ideas off of others and process new ideas with other participants, and help the seeds of change grow for them. Resource Generation created the space for a wonderful community of people to come together and be a vessel for change, and I was so grateful to be a part of that.
Most of all the retreat inspired me. To continue to be a part of the space that I was in at the conference, I will be starting up a Resource Generation chapter in Toronto hopefully this summer.