In true Jes Kelley fashion, she came, collaborated, transformed, and quietly walked into the sunset after leading RG’s amazing political education and transformative conference for SEVEN FRICKIN years! We, the staff, got to give an awkward heartfelt “see you laters” at our first full in-person retreat in March, but since she officially transitioned in May, we had to send her one last newsletter appreciation for the record. 

For folks who got to work with Jes during their conference experience, you’ve probably been party to her sharp educator brain, dry humor, and ability to keep us on time and on task. For others who have worked with her on the slower, interpersonal side of redistribution work, you hopefully got to experience her creativity and agility along the way. From her support of the land reparations & rematriation crew to her gentle and firm resource mobilization accountability and building tools to honor nuance along the way. 

Since we will likely ask this at a future RG trivia sesh, here are some rad facts about our former Program Director Jes:

• She created the class privilege patterns that were also later adapted by Iris Brilliant 
• She has had such a deep impact on many of the life-changing policies that our organization has internally. Can we name them all? No, because there are just so many.  
• If you’ve been on our website, you’ve read her words on so many pages. Again, can’t list them all because even if she didn’t write every page, she had a hand in the content or editing of every single one of the pages. 
• She was a prolific and gorgeous writer and you can read some of her stuff on our blog! 
  
  • From Beginning to End: Resisting Capitalism
  • Mass Awakening v.s. Mass Shooting, a Call to White Men
  • Giving Big is Trusting Big — Supporting Sex Workers Now and Always
    On Abolishing Inheritance and the Untapped Potential of Poor People
  • Unquantifiable Data
  • No Guarantees
• She is an uncertified facilitator of dance marshall exercises
• She’s been deeply organized since a very, very young age. In a time when most folks were reading dystopian YA novels, she was planning for the demise of empires (fun fact: her first-ever email address back in the early aughts was about empires crumbling). See? Badass is too small of a word for Jes Kelley. 
• Her name is listed as the 56th synonym for North Carolina
• She also has a strong aversion to people celebrating her, so this is probably the most uncomfortable email she’ll ever read! 

There’s so much more to say, but Jes would definitely tell us to wrap it up, so we shall. The only thing left to say is thank you, Jes Kelley.  RG and the universe are forever changed for the better because of you.  -  CB & JH  on behalf of the RG staff team! 

RG Ohio had a beautiful in-person get-together on May 29th to workshop money stories and discuss our priorities as a chapter for the coming months. A lovely new member Carley joined us from Columbus, and our beloved departing member Andrew got a chance to visit Lake Erie before moving away. Most importantly, we finally remembered to take a picture together!

The Portland Chapter is emerging from a multi-season hibernation! There is a growing group of organizers leading skill-shares, cross-pollinating with other chapters, and ready to harness the energy that's been awakening and bubbling in Portland. Join us for a backyard hangout on Friday, July 14th to celebrate this re-emergence! We'll have honest conversations with other young people with wealth and class privilege, play lawn games, learn about on-ramps to involvement in the chapter, and eat tasty snacks.

RGLA had a generative in-person community gathering/organizer training with activist and organizer Chanelle Gallant. We ate delicious tacos, wore a collection of hats (literally), dreamed of future directions, and meditated on the differences between organizing and mobilizing.

We’ve continued our work with the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy—over the past year members of RGLA have been involved in removing literally 30 tons of debris and hoard left on the property when the land was rematriated.

We have signed on as community sponsors for LA Co-op Lab’s upcoming Solidarity Economy House Party. We’re excited to attend with an RGLA contingent and learn about alternatives to extractive capitalism and how to grow L.A.'s cooperative ecosystem!

RG's member-led Fund Abortion Now! Team is still looking for new members who have experience in or want to learn research/design skills. Check out this testimonial from a campaign member on what their experience in FAN has been like:

"Being a part of the Fund Abortion Now! campaign has been a highlight of my organizing in the past year! I've been able to contribute existing skills and learn new ones as well. Being a part of the Fundraising sub-group led to me learning important fundraising skills that I was then able to leverage for my local chapter to raise over $10,000 for a rapid response mutual aid ask. It's been so energizing to be a part of such a knowledgeable and dedicated campaign team."

Please reach out to [email protected] if you're interested in joining the team!

An important development of a solid multicultural, multiracial political analysis and organization is to move our strategies and tactics beyond the false borders of the United States of America. The Internationalism Summer School is an opportunity for a multiracial, cross-class space at Resource Generation to explore the connections of local and national struggle with international solidarity.  Class struggle is deeply tied to the global economy and it is crucial for people with wealth, social class mobility, land, and power, to investigate these connections. In this program, we will collaborate with frontline organizations, foundations, and funders to expand our understanding and position towards redistribution and solidarity work that is more deeply connected to the international struggle against global capitalism. 

This will be a highly interactive and participatory series. We ask that you commit to attending all sessions.  If you are not able to attend all sessions please let us know which sessions you plan to attend.

This program is for EVERYONE, not just members with access to wealth! This program is designed for a multiracial, cross class participation. 

WHO: RG members who have been through MMMC or Praxis 

Calling ALL RG Leaders (or people curious about leadership)— Over the course of this weekend, we’ll explore campaigns to win structural wealth redistribution and narrow the focus of RG’s new National Campaign. Participants will learn organizing skills, chapters will share projects they’ve been hard at work on, and We invite current RG Members (at-large or chapter members) who are interested in issue-based grassroots campaigns and ready to grow their leadership in cross-class movement building. We ask that at least 2 members from the same chapter attend together. This summit will be most useful to members who have attended MMMC and/or completed Praxis. Masks in indoor spaces and a PCR test prior to arrival will be required.  

We’ve been invited by the Center for Popular Democracy, one of our National Campaign Partners, to sponsor their national convening– The People’s Convention, and to attend as part of an RG Delegation. CPD is doing the slow, decades-long work of building political power and the infrastructure to support it amongst a base of millions of working class people and people of color. Long term support for this sort of movement building is critical and often overlooked, and CPD is facing a 700k gap to fund this Convention– but moving ahead because they know the people need to gather to strategize and build, with faith that funders will come through. As long term campaign partners, we are working hard to fill that gap. 

I’m asking today if you’ll:  

1. Sponsor of the People’s Convention at a level that is meaningful to you
2. Join us in Philly as part of the RG Delegation July 20-22 and see for yourself the power of this movement ecosystem. 

Please reply to me ([email protected]) if you’re ready to sponsor and/or have questions about the delegation.

We encourage you to consider joining RG as a dues paying member, and if you would like to get involved in your local chapter, please fill out this intake form!

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