Are you a woman who wants to align your investments with your values? Do you want to learn more about impact investing and take action? Do you enjoy spending time with like-minded peers? If so, join us in an investing learning group for women who want to align their investments with their values, deepen their understanding of impact investing, and have fun with other smart and curious women just like you.

Women’s leadership drives commerce, politics, activism, and culture. But when it comes to our finances—taking full ownership of our investment choices, bringing our values to the fore of financial decision-making—we still have a way to go. Men continue to make the majority of household investment decisions, and although women are largely interested in impact investing, only a small percentage are actually doing it. But here’s the good news: impact investing is fast becoming a mainstream investment strategy, and women control increasing amounts of wealth. I believe that these two forces have the power to change capital markets for the better, but that can only happen if we all take action—if we harness our investable assets in service of a better world. If you like how this sounds, read on!

For some time now I have been following a national movement called Invest for Better. Given this particular moment in society, it seems like the right time to become more intentional about how we’re using (or not) our investments as another driver of social change. I decided to partner with Janell Johnson, another philanthropy professional, to convene an Invest for Better Circle for women who have investable assets and are ready to activate them for social/environmental change.

Clients and others have consistently been asking me about how they can align and invest ALL of their assets around their values—not just funds earmarked for philanthropy. While I am not an investment person by any means (and this group will not do any investing or give financial advice), I am a convener and I know how to bring the right folks together to create an enriching learning environment. I’m hoping this one would hit the right spot at the right time for many.

The aim is to learn from experts and peers about what it means to effectively integrate our portfolio with our personal goals and societal needs. This all came about because both Janell and I are curious about how to coordinate investments with our philanthropy and philosophy. And we realize we aren’t the only ones.

Here is how we envision the group will work. Janell will be the group leader, and with the support of Invest for Better, there will be a structured curriculum, story-telling and information sharing about finances and investing. The meetings will be virtual, and we will also have an online space for us to share resources, ideas, and experiences. Experts in the impact world will be invited as guest presenters, but there will be no commercial pitches or investment advice.

Our group of no more than 10 women will meet monthly either from September-March, or October-April, depending on availability. Each month will feature a presentation by an expert in the field related to the topic of the month and a group discussion. Here’s a preliminary calendar for the curriculum:

September Topic: What exactly is impact investing? Discussion: clarifying your goals and values.

October Topic: Investing in public markets (ESG and shareholder activism). Discussion: understanding and assessing your current holdings.

November Topic: Community development institutions and cash. Discussion: identifying obstacles to action.

January Topic: Private equity and angel investing. Discussion: understanding your appetite for risk.

February Topic: Real assets. Discussion: determining how can you measure impact.

March Topic: Developing an investment philosophy or Investment Policy Statement. Discussion: defining your additional planning needs.

Membership is by invitation only. The price will be $300-$500 for all 6 sessions to cover facilitation and speaker fees (exact amount will be determined based on number of participants). Once again, there will be no group investing of funds or investment advice given other than general information about the field. These sessions are solely for women to learn, connect, and become more financially empowered in a supportive environment—TOGETHER.

The goal is to make it easier for you to get started on your impact investing journey. What good can your dollars do while still providing the security you need? What concrete steps can you take to overcome gender barriers around money and truly control your finances? How can you align your investments and your values in service of a better world? Let’s find out the answers to these questions and more this fall! Please contact Janell if you would like to join, invite others, or have further questions. I hope you’ll join us!

A few weeks ago my friend Laura Midgley and I went to Houston for the Community Investment Network (CIN) conference, which celebrated its 15th anniversary by reflecting on its legacy of building up communities through investing their time, talent, treasure, and testimony (using our collective voice for change). CIN is national network of giving circles impacting communities of color. It connects and strengthens African-Americans and other donors of color by leveraging their collective resources to create the change THEY wish to see. The majority of their members are African-American from the Southeast.

While I had some familiarity with giving circles in general, I was new to this organization and was introduced to it by Laura, who has been a leader in the collective giving movement in her roles as a long-time trustee of the Washington Women’s Foundation and as a board member and co-founder of Catalist, another national network of collective giving organizations.

Laura went to Houston with the specific mission to further Catalist's relationship with CIN. Five networks in collective giving— The Latino Community Foundation, Amplifier (giving circles based on Jewish values), the Asian Women’s Giving Circle, Catalist, and CIN—have collaborated on a co-design project aimed at accelerating the size and impact of the giving circle sector on community transformation. (Read about the co-design work funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.) The missions of these five networks of collective giving groups are closely aligned, so rather than compete, they collaborate. We all use conferences to inspire affiliates to dig deeper into this work and to prepare the leaders to go home to their communities feeling elevated. Sometimes this work can be wonky but we came home from Houston reminded it must always be joyful.

I went to Houston strictly to listen, learn, and observe. Though I am a member of the Washington Women’s Foundation, I don’t have much first-hand experience with giving circles, but have always been impressed with their personal engagement in their communities and the members’ commitment to learning and each other. My work as a philanthropic advisor has been limited to high-net-worth individuals and families who are looking to become more strategic and dedicated in their charitable giving. Working with family groups is in some ways similar to a giving circle, but there is something uniquely special about a group of unrelated people voluntarily pooling their money to make investments in their local community.

We anticipated meeting new colleagues and reconnecting with fellow philanthropists who give through collective giving grantmaking, pooling funds for community impact. But a genuinely worthwhile conference should do more than provide a few new tools and a pile of business cards. Our goals for traveling to Houston varied, but we both were delighted that our trip to Houston yielded an unexpected joyfulness that rejuvenated us.

What struck us the most was the level of joy and camaraderie we observed, not just within each giving circle, but among them as well. Participants gathered to share stories and best practices and to learn. Their dedication to the work and communing with a cohort of like-minded people produced a powerful aura of goodwill that was hard to ignore.

I know for Laura, the joy came from stepping back from the work and taking stock of why and how we show up for the communities to which we belong and care about in the first place. In the opening session, Linetta Gilbert, formerly of the Ford Foundation and a founding visionary of CIN, spoke meaningfully about how to blend institutional philanthropy with individual philanthropy. And of course, this is exactly what collective giving groups do – inform the individual through group experience and then elevate the impact through collective giving. Ms. Gilbert spoke about the value of a listening tour and the power of starting any foray into philanthropy by asking “Who is absent?” How can we as philanthropists elevate community by seeking out the voices of those left out of the traditional philanthropic power dynamic?

Ms. Gilbert and her co-presenter Darryll Lester, CIN’s founder, said of the partnership between funders and grantees: "Spend time with each other to get to know one another before doing business". Too often institutions begin the relationship with a transaction – the grant or the donation. Starting that way sets the tone for it to become forever framed and dominated by that transaction. At The Ford Foundation and now in her recent work, Ms. Gilbert invests in relationships first. Doing so allows us to understand the landscape behind the issue and to better allocate our resources and energy. It became clear to us that it is only from this level of engagement that we can begin to envision how all American communities can grow and thrive equitably.

As for me, I found a deep sense of joy simply from the conference’s theme: “We are Philanthropists”. It was empowering for me to be among African-Americans who proudly claim the mantle. While many debate whether the sector is hopelessly corrupt and ineffective, CIN’s giving circles harness all that is right with philanthropy and brings it into the Black community on their own terms. Circles represented at the conference gave to individuals (from Black men and boys mentorship groups to struggling entrepreneurs or artists) and to traditional organizations. They also came to learn about innovative programs going on nationally that they could bring back to their circles to learn from or adapt for their own community.

The learning components tapped neatly into the spirit of the conference: community-based and Black-centered. Speakers who brought their expertise to CIN included land trust advocates from the South speaking about building land sovereignty for displaced black and indigenous people, representatives from Black community foundations talking about how and where to invest a circle’s funds, and community-owned grocery store investors on how to eliminate food deserts. I left inspired not just by the work, but by the communion of the network.

CIN’s giving circles, especially those in CIN, embody the best tenets of philanthropy. People pooling resources, sharing knowledge, and offering a hand up to those who need it brings out the best in all of us. I wish this blog could share the warmth of the hugs we received or the sounds of laughter we heard during those two days. Such a jolt of energy renewed my spirit and my commitment to helping people find joy in their giving through deep engagement and understanding.

I hope this blog piqued your curiosity about giving circles. Feel free to contact me to learn how you can join an established circle or start one of your own. And check out Catalist’s conference PowerUP! The Spark That Ignites Change, which will be held in Seattle February 23-25, 2020. Laura Midgley is the co-chair of this conference and I will be presenting on women of color philanthropists.