“Cathedral thinking” is the kind of vision that takes generations to realize. I first heard the term in 2008 in a speech by Jim Rogers, then CEO of Duke Energy. He described how medieval cathedrals were built across centuries — and how that kind of multi-generational commitment was needed to transform our electricity grid. I […]
Few moments have made me pause like reading Wendell Berry’s latest essay… Wendell’s latest essay just came out in Christian Century: https://www.christiancentury.org/features/against-killing-children One of his lines got me thinking: war is the business of business He awakens us to the reality that 60,000 nuclear bombs have been built. A huge percentage of each tax dollar […]
In our Livable Future Investing workshops, we like to start with a question that gets people talking about the heartbreak. We feel it’s important to connect with this grief, pain, as a way of opening up our empathy muscle to begin to strengthen the bonds of community and kind of culture we’re trying to create. […]
One of the highlights of 2023 for me was spending time and getting to know the Catholic Impact Investing Collaborative (CIIC). CIIC has a beautiful story in John and Jake coming to know each other and building a relationship and inviting others “on fire” with impact investing to join together. I loved learning the stories […]
So much to chew on with the release of Francis’ new exhortation: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20231004-laudate-deum.html To start with I’m offering this quick video reflection after my first read because I want to make a public commitment to you. There are no lasting changes without cultural changes. There are no cultural changes without personal changes. I love how […]
Being a person of faith and investing has been largely reduced to screening out bad things in your portfolio (ie producers of weapons, assault rifles, and others). Some of the more creative and thoughtful faith-based investors have pushed for more positive screening. I’m two years into learning the landscape and I’m struck by how few […]
I am very excited about the opportunity to present “Inversion en Futuros Vivibles” to the Mexican Institute for Catholic Social Teaching alongside a number of other cosponsor organizations: Citizen action against Poverty Union of Christian business leaders COPARMEX The Jesuit University in Mexico City‘s, Center for research on the social and Solidarity economy. CO_ capital […]
Investing with a consciousness of what your money is doing pushes us to ask a few questions. Where does money most commonly get invested? What is the structure of the relationship between invested money and other things I care about? If I don’t like the conventional investing options, what are my alternatives? If I believe […]
I learned a new word last week from Luke: pleonexia. So I thought I would share the discussion that ensued. In philanthropy and investing, I often hear family/board members carry the weight of: I need to invest our assets so the mission (grant-making) can continue into perpetuity Too often, what’s crouching right alongside that desire […]
Three topics have been swirling for me recently. First, I do not feel like I’m doing enough anti-oppression work. But some philanthropists in the Northwest are giving me hope. They have started rolling up their sleeves and published a great report about their investment committees and racial equity work they are doing. Their report is […]