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…
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…
This last May 4th-6th, we hosted and coordinated our 6th Creating Change Through Family Philanthropy Retreat (CCTFP). It is specifically for young(ish) people, 18-40, who are involved, or want to be involved, in their families’ philanthropy and care about justice and equity. Some participants attend because they participate in generations old family foundations, some attend because they earned…
After some necessary prodding from the delightfully persistent Mike G, I am finally posting some reactions I had to Creating Change through Family Philanthropy. This is partly me calling myself out — one step towards being accountable to myself and others. But I digress. That’s not the place to start… Creating Change through Family Philanthropy…
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…
In the days following RG’s creating change through family philanthropy retreat last month, I took some time to reflect and record my thoughts. here is a taste!– Jessie Spector, RG Staff and MemberFrom my blog http://www.everydaycontradictions.blogspot.com/ family philanthropy retreat: some reflections recently resource generation hosted the 4th Creating Change Through Family Philanthropy retreat, a 40…
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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