Building a better world starts with transforming the way we use money
A new video and website show how to take the first steps into socially responsible and impact investing
So often, we’re told that the highest and best use of our money is for it to make more money. That our accounts and investments should always be growing, and that we should leave the details of how it grows to advisors. Do you ever wonder what it’s doing? Who it’s helping? Who it’s harming? And how it can be used differently?
As interest rises in socially responsible and impact investing, more and more people are asking those questions. Finding answers, though, can feel like diving into the deep end of a pool without knowing how to swim. In exploring these questions with the RSF community over the years, we’ve found that interrogating and challenging lifelong beliefs about money is a journey for most people — and few know how to get started.
We’re hoping to solve that problem with the Money Transforms website, which RSF Social Finance created in collaboration with fellows in the RSF Integrated Capital Institute, Do Good Better, and Ruben DeLuna Creative. A short video on the site provides an easy entry point for anyone to activate more money — through investing, banking, giving, and spending — in ways that align with their values. A carefully curated list of articles guides people through the next steps: actions to take and ideas to engage with.
One of our contributors beautifully expresses the change in perspective we’re hoping to inspire: “Wealth and power are meant to be shared for our collective good,” writes Nwamaka Agbo. “So much of the way we’ve structured ourselves as a society has been centered on this misconception that our money is the thing that will keep us safe. Actually, it’s our deep relationships and communities that will keep us safe.”
The events of 2020 have shown us that we need to transform our systems at their roots. Everyone can be a part of that transformation. All it takes is a commitment to start.
