by Zak Wear, RG member
Resource Generation’s 2015 Making Money Make Change conference brought me back to my home state of Maryland. I was excited to take the week to see my people, rake mom and dad’s leaves, eat, and … Continue reading »
Hi, my name is Mahi.
I am part of the host-committee for MMMC 2015.
I will tell you about my involvement with RG and MMMC 2014 last year.
When I moved to Colorado, it was because of money.
I couldn’t find a job as an engineer in Minneapolis, Minnesota and didn’t have an income.
So, I married a white, heterosexual, cis-gendered man and left.
My parents have wealth.
I stand to inherit wealth, and don’t have direct access to wealth.
(I learned to say these lines confidently after attending MMMC 2014.)
So, when I moved to Colorado, I was lonely.
I learned about RG through a South Asian listserv, and I joined.
I developed an RG crush on our chapter leader Mac Liman.
Our relationship was activist polite.
Then suddenly she began calling. A lot.
I am a new member of Resource Generation, and a constituent: a young person with wealth. I got involved in conference calls for “RG supports black led organizing” in response to feelings of isolation and powerlessness, and a strong desire to support the resistance to anti-black racism and police violence in cities like Ferguson. Leaders at RG – specifically two current and former board members, working-class black women, Nakisha Lewis and Monica Simpson – pushed our organization to action, guiding us to become accountable specifically as young people with wealth. I joined in at the second call, and from there ideas (and my involvement) snowballed.
In order for RG to become sustainable funders and supporters to the movement of black resistance to state violence and to center all black lives, member-leadership was called on to move this developing initiative forward into the upcoming annual RG retreat, Making Money Make Change. At the retreat, staff constructed a wall, where volunteers posted their personal commitment to #BlackLivesMatter (as a hashtag, movement and rallying cry) and ending the Racial Wealth Gap, which, for me and I think many others, was a challenging process of getting over fears of “not knowing the right thing to say,” but eventually realizing that all of this was bigger than our own egos – and together – the statements presented a fuller picture of why black lives matter to us. There was also a laptop open to the Color of Change petition throughout the retreat; and many elected to take photographs with their statements.
When I first heard about Resource Generation, I had two reactions.
The first was skeptical. I don’t know about this…social justice organizing by young people with wealth?
The second was grateful. Holy crap — I have been looking for this for YEARS.
That’s because I am a young person with wealth1. In my early twenties, I inherited a trust fund and stock portfolio, mostly in Exxon-Mobil and Chevron stocks, from my dad’s side of the family. As I was steadily politicized during and after college, I struggled for years over what this inherited wealth meant for me, as well as more generally over what my place could be in movements for social justice.
Slowly but surely, I learned: as a man, I could recognize my male privilege and reach out toward other men to challenge sexism; as a white person, I could recognize my white privilege and reach out toward other white people to challenge racism. But there was a problem: I didn’t want to reach out toward wealthy people. I hated wealthy people! I hated the preppy culture I grew up in; the global system of financial exploitation that was the root cause of so much suffering and violence; the bubbles of wealth, privilege, and ignorance that perpetuated this vast inequity and injustice.
I hated myself. That was a powerful feeling.
I attended my first Resource Generation retreat, Making Money Make Change, in the Fall of 2010 at a retreat center nestled in the redwoods outside of San Jose, California. I spent those four days immersed in the stories of … Continue reading »
Last week, I had the pleasure of spending two days on Bainbridge Island at the beautiful IslandWood retreat center with Resource Generation (RG), a social sector organization that organizes young people with wealth to leverage resources and privilege for social … Continue reading »
Last year was my first time attending RG’s annual retreat, Making Money Make Change. I went into the conference feeling both nervous and excited and ultimately did not know what to expect. Upon arriving though, I felt my entire … Continue reading »
Hey there fellow MMMCers!
I am real excited to reach out to ya’ll as the new Retreat Director for Making Money Make Change 2011!
Last year marked the first time that MMMC was fully lead by Resource Generation, cementing it as the signature gathering for RG’s national programming. This year as the Retreat Director, I am committed to continuing the tradition of a dynamic, thought-provoking, revelatory retreat for young people with wealth who believe in social change. I would love for you to join me in making it happen!
We are exited to invite you to apply for the Making Money Make Change 2011 Organizing Team! Step up and join me, RG’s Jessie Spector, and other outstanding members of the RG community in making MMMC 2011 spectacular.
Please, take a moment to remember your experience at MMMC… a connection that you made with another participant or presenter, a flash of insight when a piece of your money puzzle fit into place, a skill that you learned and have carried with you, a contradiction that you recognized as part of your story. Remind yourself of what you felt in your heart, in your head, in your stomach. What are the things that you most loved, and what are the things that you would change? Join us on the team that will be making MMMC an even more powerful event in 2011!
The Organizing Team is open to all previous MMMC participants who are young people with wealth. We are looking for people who have or would like to learn a variety of skills including outreach, communications, fundraising, retreat program planning, facilitation, young donor organizing, and inclusivity working with diverse groups. Please consider applying! Details are below. (more…)
