Thanks to Veris Wealth Partners for allowing us to cross-post this article from their site.by Lori Choi, Partner & Wealth Manager at Veris WealthI recently had the pleasure of attending the Transforming Family Philanthropy Retreat with an inspiring group of young people, all seeking to align their family giving and investing with social justice values. Organized by Resource…
by Monica [Editor’s note: Register today for the 2016 Transforming Family Philanthropy Retreat: March 31 -April 3rd in Chester, CT.]I joined Resource Generation in 2015, the year I became more involved with my family’s foundation. I have to admit, I joined halfheartedly because it seemed like the responsible thing to do. As my family’s foundation…
by Zak Wear, RG member Resource Generation’s 2015 Making Money Make Change conference brought me back to my home state of Maryland. I was excited to take the week to see my people, rake mom and dad’s leaves, eat, and get to know the people of RG. Everyone has great ideas and wise words to…
By Katherine Wolf and Lena Solow On May 9, North Star Fund convened over 500 New Yorkers at the Let Us Breathe Forum to discuss anti-Black racism and discrimination, support the development of Black leadership, and to brainstorm ideas for sustaining the movement for Black liberation that was ignited after the death of Michael Brown…
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…
I am a new member of Resource Generation, and a constituent: a young person with wealth. I got involved in conference calls for “RG supports black led organizing” in response to feelings of isolation and powerlessness, and a strong desire to support the resistance to anti-black racism and police violence in cities like Ferguson. Leaders at…
When I first heard about Resource Generation, I had two reactions. The first was skeptical. I don’t know about this…social justice organizing by young people with wealth? The second was grateful. Holy crap — I have been looking for this for YEARS. That’s because I am a young person with wealth1. In my early twenties,…
I attended my first Resource Generation retreat, Making Money Make Change, in the Fall of 2010 at a retreat center nestled in the redwoods outside of San Jose, California. I spent those four days immersed in the stories of young people with wealth taking bold action, learning about powerful organizing across the U.S., getting to tell…
These are the reflections of Ruth Sawyer, RG Seattle Chapter Leader after attending RG’s first ever Transformative Leadership Institute (TLI) for member leaders in July 2013.One of the most persistent questions I’ve gotten when I try to explain RG’s work in Seattle is “cool, but what do you guys do?” Yes, we have groups that get…
Last week, I had the pleasure of spending two days on Bainbridge Island at the beautiful IslandWood retreat center with Resource Generation (RG), a social sector organization that organizes young people with wealth to leverage resources and privilege for social change. I am so grateful to RG’s National Organizer, Nitika Raj, for her invitation not only to this year’s…
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.
Click here to continue to RG Action or click close to return to resourcegeneration.org