For many of us with class privilege, no privilege looms larger than that of being born into our particular families.

However thoughtful and strategic we might be with our own giving and investing practices, our impact on the world — and a future where wealth, land, and power are equitably shared — would be much greater if our families were invited to join us in the work of social change.

In this webinar originally recorded on Tuesday, October 9th 8-9:30pm ET/5-6:30pm PT, Marissa Finn, Michael Schmale, Sam Merkt, Farhad Ebrahimi, and Evan Weir shared their experiences, strategies, successes, and lessons learned on organizing family.

Whether you’ve never given much thought to convening family before or have already weathered the process, this will be a great opportunity to learn, share, and connect with peers organizing their families for social change.

This webinar isn’t meant to answer every question you might have about organizing a family meeting and we won’t pretend to have a step-by-step formula. The truth is every family is different. The best process and strategy for organizing a family meeting is different in every case — you are the expert on your own family. What we can do, however, is share experience and inspiration as Resource Generation members who have talked with our family about our wealth and the broader work of social justice philanthropy.

Speakers

Marissa Finn (she/her/hers) has been involved with RG, completing her first Praxis group this spring. She has come a long way in understanding class privilege in the past few years, but she has a long way to go and is excited to continue growing and learning from RG. Marissa teaches food education — including gardening, cooking, nutrition, and food justice — at an elementary and middle school in East Harlem.

Michael Schmale (he/him/his) is a Resource Generation member and chapter leader and coordinator for the RG NYC chapter. He has been working with his family over the past several years to increase and be more thoughtful about their giving.

Sam Merkt (she/her/hers) is the director of Isonoma Foundation, founded a little over a year ago by her family. She is a fiber artist, reproductive justice advocate, and an after-school teacher for high school youth.

Farhad Ebrahimi (he/him/his) is the Founder and Chair of the Chorus Foundation which works for a just transition to a regenerative economy in the United States. The Chorus Foundation supports communities on the frontlines of the old, extractive economy to build new bases of political, economic, and cultural power for systemic change. He is an alumni member of RG.

Evan Weir (he/him/his) is an Analyst in Merrill Lynch’s private wealth division, where he is one of the leading experts on impact investing.  Evan’s team, Crockett, McBride & Associates (CM&A), operates as a multiple-family office—helping steward the wealth and legacy of a select group of high and ultra-high net wealth families across the U.S. With his expertise in impact investing, Evan works closely with the 28 family foundations maintained by CM&A clients. He is most proud of the millions of dollars he has helped these families give to philanthropic causes.