NOTE FROM IIMAY HO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF RG

I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m into the British royal family. It’s one of the things about me that is least aligned with my politics – to be clear, I am not okay with hereditary monarchy or the British Empire. But through The Crown I became fascinated with the family dynamics of multiple generations navigating rigid class hierarchy, gender, and vast amounts of inherited power and wealth. The show is a fun form of “research” and studying the .01%. 

That’s why I’ve been following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s “stepping back” from the royal family with interest. I had watched their royal wedding and been rooting for Meghan as a Black woman of color navigating the racism, sexism, and classism of the Windsors, the monarchy, and British media. I’m glad she and Harry are setting boundaries and practicing self-determination, and I may soon join in with the people who use “Meghan Markle” as a verb, as in “Meghan Markle, a verb, past tense – Meghan Markled: to value yourself and your mental health enough to up and leave a room/ situation/ environment in which your authentic self is not welcomed or wanted.”

Although there are no royals (that I know of) in Resource Generation’s network, this situation also brought up interesting parallels with our work organizing young people who are upper and owning class: 

1. Organizing our families: Although Harry and Meghan say that they want a “progressive new role within this institution”, there has been some commentary that Harry and Meghan could have had more impact in modernizing the monarchy if they stayed. Although the institution of monarchy is not the same as inherited family wealth, I know that RG members also struggle with a similar “insider/outsider” tension. I hear questions like: Will I have more of an impact if I’m actively a part of my family’s foundation? How do I change our grantmaking without it feeling like a personal attack on my family’s values? Can I influence my family’s giving more if I make some personal compromises to stay in closer relationship? Many of our members have decided to move back to their hometowns and family of origin to take on family organizing.  

Read the rest of Iimay's blog post, "You can check out, but can you really leave? On #Megxit"

***As the first young person of color with wealth to become ED of RG, she will be sharing reflections on living at the intersection of a strange Venn diagram and fighting racism and classism in the Trump era

 TRANSFORMING PHILANTHROPY

OVER HALF-WAY FULL - ARE YOU REGISTERED YET?

Transforming Philanthropy is an intimate retreat is geared toward young people (18-35 year olds) who are roughly in the top 1% of the U.S. economy. 

There are less than 20 spots remaining for this conference which happens only every other year. Register now to ensure your spot.

There is so much at stake politically and ecologically in 2020. Join us at Transforming Philanthropy as we ask, “what is this political moment asking of young donors?”

Come prepared to transform philanthropy and transform yourself:

• We’ll learn from social justice funds, progressive financial advisors, and experienced organizers about their vision for a fully-funded liberatory future.
• We’ll explore questions around best donor practices, transferring decision making power and balancing urgent funding needs with long term giving.
• This intimate conference happens every other year and will include workshops on social change investing, electoral funding strategies, exploring collective giving, building power across class and more.
• The conference is a combination of experiential learning and storytelling.

Register now for Transforming Philanthropy to save your spot. 

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Want more from Transforming Philanthropy? 

Register for Family Philanthropy Praxis for follow-up, accountability, and community after the Transforming Philanthropy conference ends. 

Family Philanthropy Praxis is designed for executive directors, board members, and RG members who have decision making power within their family philanthropy. (Attendance at Transforming Philanthropy is mandatory to participation in this praxis group). 

Apply to RG's Family Philanthropy praxis by February 24th 2020. 

Participants will receive support, training, and political education related to the fundamental duties of an executive director or decision maker in a foundation, with a particular focus on applying social justice values to all levels of running a foundation. This includes and is not limited to: grant-making, mission-related investing, navigating family dynamics, and setting values and vision for your foundation.

Program Details: March - September 2020 with monthly 2-hour meetings via Zoom and coaching and homework between sessions. The opening session for the praxis group is RG’s conference, Transforming Philanthropy. 

CHAPTER UPDATES

RG L.A.

On January 11, we held a New Member Welcome and All Member Social. We introduced folks to principles of social justice philanthropy, shared money stories, and brainstormed goals for 2020. A number of attendees were from other RG chapters, and for others it was their first RG event. It was great to connect them all!

RG Atlanta 

RG Atlanta is kicking off 2020 with a 3 part workshop series on class feels, budgeting, and planning for the future, each with an orientation towards giving/redistribution. We’re excited to be deepening our work with local partner orgs and networking with other burgeoning chapters across the country! And we’re trying to grow! Got some friends in the A? Send them our way!!

We ended the year in warmth, vulnerability and solidarity. At our annual end-of-year check writing party, 20 of us came out to share notes and click “donate” together to the tune of $323,983. And through our efforts to sign members onto RG’s giving pledge, BARG pledged to redistribute over $7 million toward social movements this year!

We organized each other to play support roles for Moms 4 Housing, the courageous mothers who occupied a vacant home in Oakland and have had inspiring success. We also worked with our campaign partner MUA on the crucial tax justice initiative, Schools and Communities First. We had over 20 BARG members participate in signature gathering and  collected over 450 signatures towards getting this proposition on the CA ballot.

(Pictured above: BARG members included Dan Sakaguchi (left) and Eli Conley (right) gathering signatures for Schools and Communities First)

RG Portland

Supported by our amazing staff organizer, Katie Wang!, Portland hosted a leadership retreat to craft a new chapter structure and set goals for the year! 

Those goals, excitingly, are:
1. Building a multi-racial base
2. Getting organized through building infrastructure (processes, resources)
3. Contributing time and resources to organizations (and issues/candidates) we care about 

While the goals are high-level, we also set up a chapter structure that allows semi-autonomous work groups ("pods") to figure out how to move each piece forward. We also reflected on the fact that our chapter moved at least $98,000 last year, about half of which was in response to direct asks through the listserve or as part of our fundraising campaign for SJF!

(From RG Portland: This photo shows 7 people gathered around a whiteboard in a living room, including Katie Wang and 6 members of the the Portland chapter!)

RG Vermont

RG Vermont had it's annual leadership retreat January 5th! We are psyched to welcome 2 new leaders, Wren Lansky and Liana Moskowitz, to our team, and vision big for the next year.  We savored our last retreat with the fearless leadership and support of beloved national organizer Adam Roberts!  We managed to convince him to meet outside.... psssaaaaaah!  We are also in the midst of our 2019/2020 praxis cycle, and enjoying the new energy and participation this year. 

(From RG Vermont: Planning for the year at RG VT's annual leadership retreat with Lane, Brita, Eliza, Adam, and Wren.)

RG has 16 chapters and college hubs across the U.S.
Learn more and get involved here.

 

RG 20TH ANNIVERSARY BASH IN OAKLAND!!!

On Jan 18, about 100 RG members, alumni, supporters, board, and staff gathered at the Humanist Hall in Oakland to celebrate RG's 20th Anniversary! This was RG's first 20th anniversary alumni and constituent celebration but reconnecting events will be hosted by additional chapters soon. Thank you so much for all of the Bay Area RG (BARG) leaders who hosted and organized this event!

This was an amazing celebration of our history and current work. Leaders shared about BARG's current organizing, how to get involved, and made a fundraising pitch for their local campaign partner, MUA (Mujeres Unidas y Activas). We exceeded our goal of raising $6,000 to match the cost of hosting the party and raised $10,000 to support MUA. There were check-in tables for introverts, a photo booth, and of course it's not a RG party without a dance party! The Bay Area is one of our anchor chapters and we're so glad we had the opportunity to celebrate all kinds of leaders who have maintained our momentum across these two tumultuous decades, including those who have stepped up to support the explosion of new members in the last few years. 

UPCOMING RG WEBINARS

Part 2 of "Calling Home" webinar series on Thurs. Feb. 5th 

This webinar, led by RG's Land Reparations sub group is part two of our winter series around home, land ownership, and class privilege. 

This call will focus on supporting RG members who are either thinking about, or might have already started a process around returning or rematriating land back to Black and/or indigenous communities or individuals. 

While this call will be focused explicitly around land reparations, people who do not have land assets or access to land in their families will be able to support, learn, and think about how other assets such as real estate can be converted into capital to fund land reparations work. There will be a few case study presentations from RG members already undertaking varying levels in a family land rematriation processes as well as break out groups to workshop ideas from participants on the call. We will share tips and resources for continuing this process beyond this February 5th call.

Register here.

FROM PARTNERS AND BEYOND!

Grassroots International Launching Donor Activist Group in Solidarity with Palestine

From GI: From the moment Grassroots International opened its doors, it has stood alongside Palestinians as they resist Israeli settler colonialism and lead their resistance with steadfastness. As an organization based in the United States, a country supporting the Israeli occupation by funneling $3 billion annually in military aid and criminalizing BDS support, we have a responsibility to show up strongly for Palestine. We believe that our grantmaking and advocacy support is strengthened when our local community is learning and taking action for Palestine.

This year, Grassroots International will launch a donor engagement group in solidarity with Palestinian movements. Click the link for more information.

The donor engagement group will be a cross-class, multiracial group with a social justice framework. Participants can expect political education discussions, starting with colonialism, zionism, and capitalism, analyzing how the Palestinian struggle connects with other struggles, and what’s philanthropy’s role in all of it. Everyone will be expected to fundraise using a grassroots fundraising and community building framework. 

To launch off the group, participants will join us for a 3-day retreat on March 27-29th, 2020 at the Walker Center in Auburndale, MA along with five monthly virtual meetings to have deep and interactive discussions.

If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Kathy Asuncion [email protected] or call 617-690-4168
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Join Right to the City for an online study group discussing the essay "The Critical Role of Renters in Growing And Leading Working Class Struggle in the Next Period" Thurs, February 20, from 10-11am PT / 1-2pm ET. More info and registration link here.

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Hawai’i People’s Fund sends their gratitude and greetings

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Resource Generation expresses its support for and solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en People, including the Unist’ot’en Camp and the Gidimt’en Checkpoint, who are mobilizing against the unauthorized Coastal Gaslink (CGL) Pipeline project. 

We unconditionally support the recent eviction of CGL employees from Wet’suwet’en territory—over which the Wet’suwet’en alone have the sovereign ability to govern—as issued by the Hereditary Chiefs of all five clans of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, who have not consented to the CGL project. We also condemn the violent, militarized invasion of Wet’suwet’en lands by the RCMP, and find recent revelations that the RCMP was ready to murder Wet’suwet’en land defenders truly abhorrent. Our complete solidarity statement is available here. 

Check out unistoten.camp/supportertoolkit2020/ for updated calls to action!

Learn more about RG membership here!