Join us on Zoom the 1st Friday of every month!
From 12–1 PM ET on the first Friday of every month we gather over Zoom to learn, take action, and build community. This community forum series engages experts from the Impact Collective community to share wisdom and spark conversation about topics related to closing the racial wealth gap. Upcoming topics include direct giving, investing to close the racial wealth gap, Boston’s Black business ecosystem, and more!
If you are interested in being a guest speaker in one of our future Collective Conversations, please reach out to Julia at julia@impactcollect.org.
If you are interested in being a guest speaker in one of our future Collective Conversations, please reach out to Julia at julia@impactcollect.org.
Logistics
Friday, Dec 6, 12 – 1 PM ET
Via Zoom
Via Zoom
About the Event
Join us for an insightful Collective Conversation "From Isolation to Interdependence" featuring Shannon Cofrin Gaggero, Donor Organizer with Solidaire, as she shares her personal journey of moving away from the secrecy and isolation that often accompanies wealth, towards building cross-class, cross-race relationships and interdependence. Shannon will discuss how this shift has been crucial in her development as an owning class donor, and how embracing transparency and community has transformed her approach to philanthropy and social justice work.
Guest Speaker
Shannon Cofrin Gaggero is a Donor Organizer with Solidaire after being an active member of the network since 2017. She is also a trustee at the Homestead Foundation, a small, family foundation based in Atlanta, Georgia. Shannon is passionate about resourcing Southern, social and racial justice movements led by impacted communities and holds an endless belief in the power of grassroots organizing. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was born and raised, with her family.
Logistics
Friday, Jan 10, 12 – 1 PM ET
Via Zoom
Via Zoom
About the Event
Join us for an insightful Collective Conversation with Betty Francisco, CEO of the Boston Impact Initiative (BII). Under Betty's leadership, BII has been at the forefront of closing the racial wealth divide by investing in entrepreneurs of color and community-controlled real estate. In 2022, BII launched its second integrated capital fund, a $20 million initiative aimed at supporting enterprises owned by entrepreneurs of color and preventing displacement through community-owned real estate investments.
Betty will share insights from her extensive experience in impact investing and community leadership, discussing how BII's innovative approach blends financial, social, and political capital to foster economic and racial justice. This conversation will delve into examples from BII's portfolio that exemplify the transformative power of integrated capital and explore actionable strategies for impact investors to work alongside organizations that are building a sustainable, inclusive, and equitable economy.
Don't miss this opportunity to learn from a leader dedicated to creating systemic change and empowering communities of color.
Guest Speaker
Betty Francisco joined as CEO of Boston Impact Initiative in 2021. She is a business executive, impact investor and community leader with more than 24 years of experience. She is known as a powerful convener and changemaker. In 2022, Boston Magazine named Betty as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Boston and the Boston Business Journal named her as a 2020 Power 50 – Extraordinary Year Extraordinary People honoree.
She is the co-founder of Amplify Latinx, a social venture that’s building Latino economic and political power in Massachusetts. Before joining BII, Betty was the General Counsel at Compass Working Capital where she oversaw its legal affairs, compliance, and risk management. She serves on the Boards of Directors of The Boston Foundation, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Beth Israel Lahey Health, and Roxbury Community College. Betty obtained her JD and MBA from Northeastern University, and BA in History from Bard College.
Archive
Curious about an event you missed?
Watch recordings of past Collective Conversations in our archives.
A Conversation with Garrett Neiman
11/01/2024
11/01/2024
About the Event
Join us for an insightful Collective Conversation featuring Garrett Neiman, author of "Rich White Men" and Co-Founder of the Perennial Sunflower Project, as he shares his transformative journey toward understanding the systemic issues of racial wealth disparity. Garrett will discuss the insights from his book and explore how his experiences have driven him to take action within the ecosystem of white individuals dedicated to closing the racial wealth gap. His talk will highlight the importance of organizing not just white men, but all white people, to foster collective responsibility and effect meaningful change in our communities. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage in a critical conversation about race, privilege, and the power of solidarity in building a more equitable future.
Guest Speaker
Garrett Neiman is a nonprofit entrepreneur, donor organizer, and activist. Previously, he was the founding CEO of CollegeSpring (college access) and a co-creator of Liberation Ventures (power building toward reparations). In 2023, Hachette published Garrett's debut book, Rich White Men, which NPR Books praised for its direct yet compassionate take on how elites can share power and why that benefits all of us. Currently, Garrett is a co-creator of the Perennial Sunflower Project, a field catalyst that is building infrastructure to strengthen the emerging movement of white men who are partnering across differences for equity and justice.
Closing The Racial Wealth Gap Through Direct Cash Giving
10/04/2024
10/04/2024
About the Event
Join us for a virtual workshop to explore the transformative potential of direct cash giving as a tool to address the persistent racial wealth gap in Boston. Elsa Gomes will lead a moderated discussion with Marina Seevak and Julia Mejia, who have firsthand experience working on direct cash giving initiatives. Learn about the benefits, challenges, and best practices of this approach. This workshop is an introduction to the concept of direct cash giving and aims to spark conversations about how we can collectively work towards a more equitable future.
Guest Speakers
Marina Seevak is the Founding Executive Director of The Beautiful Stuff Project, an art center whose mission is to increase access to play and the arts through reuse. Marina is also an adjunct faculty in Early Childhood Education at Lesley University and Bunker Hill Community College. Previously, Marina was a public school classroom teacher, reading specialist, and curriculum developer for the Cambridge Massachusetts Public School System.
Julia Mejia is Councilor of the City of Boston is currently the Chair of the Committee on Education, the Chair of the Committee on Government Accountability, Transparency, and Accessibility as well as the Chair of the Committee on Labor, Workforce, and Economic Development. Driven by a lifelong pursuit of justice and equity, Councilor Mejia has created countless opportunities for others to step into their power and advocate for positive change as a community organizer. Following the 2019 election AND a historic two-month recount, Julia won her seat by a single vote and is now the first Afro-Latina to sit on the Boston City Council.
Elsa Gomes Bondlow is the Founder & Principal of Ripple Acts whose mission is to unveil, utilize, and channel resources for the community effectively, by amplifying unheard voices, channels resources and promote giving in strategic and equitable ways through partnerships, networking, training and consultations. She is also CEO & Co-Founder of Social Equity Access Fund and Vice President of Growth and Partnership Development for Building Impacts. She is passionate about the potential of philanthropy to work at the world's challenges through an equitable lens, and to empower the unheard voices in our society.
BECMA's Sustainability Hub & Community Investments
09/06/2024
09/06/2024
About the Event
Join Nicole Obi, President and CEO at the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA), and Kofi Callender, Managing Director of BECMA Community Investments, for an informative and inspiring conversation focused on their visionary BECMA Community Investments initiative. Nicole and Kofi will discuss how this program is a critical part of BECMA’s work to foster economic empowerment in Black communities and inclusive growth in the Massachusetts economy. The conversation will also include a progress update on the BECMA Sustainability Hub property acquisition in Roxbury, which is poised to have a transformative impact for Black-led businesses in the area and broader impact in building Black wealth across the Commonwealth.
Guest Speakers
Nicole Obi is the President & CEO of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA)whose mission is to drive economic equity and prosperity for Massachusetts to achieve inclusive growth through advocacy, programming, and strategic partnerships that enable Black-owned businesses and Black communities to thrive.
Kofi Callender is the Managing Director of BECMA Community Investments. He began his career in consulting, where he honed his skills in strategic planning and business development. Kofi earned his MBA from Babson College, further solidifying his expertise in entrepreneurship and finance. He previously served as the Executive Director of Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll), a Massachusetts-based business accelerator program, and as the Director at Smarter in the City, where he deployed catalytic capital to startup founders from underrepresented communities.
Bringing White Men Into The Work
06/07/2024
06/07/2024
About the Event
In order to close the racial wealth gap and create a new economy, we need those with the most power and resources to engage: white men. White men must work intentionally and effectively as partners in multiracial and gender-diverse coalitions. As a result of our culture and societal systems, white men are often the individuals who explore racism and sexism the least - and those who continue to hold disproportionate positions of power compared to those with different racial and gender identities. As a result, those leading the work for racial and economic justice, especially women, have been calling on white men to ‘go get your people' - and White Men for Racial Justice does just that.
Join a powerful conversation with members of the White Men for Racial Justice community to learn what they are doing to answer the call, take action, and become committed partners in the fight for racial justice. We look forward to sharing a robust conversation exploring the challenges and opportunities facing White men seeking to participate in building solidarity for racial justice.
Guest Speakers
Jay Coen Gilbert is Executive Chair of Imperative 21, with a mission to build a narrative power for a just economy. Strategic partners including: B Lab, The B Team, CECP, Common Future, The GIIN, JUST Capital, and Participant. He is also part of WMRJ, an anti-racist pro-justice community of practice rooted in personal transformation, relationships of mutual accountability, and taking action in our spheres of influence.
Kevin Eppler, MTS, is an educator, curriculum designer, facilitator, and equity consultant. He is co-founder and steward of WMRJ, an anti-racist pro-justice community of practice founded in 2020. Kevin is also a certified Program Leader with the Groundwater Institute and is a Learning Partner at The Opt-In. He also designs and leads transformative immersive experiences rooted in equity and justice. Prior to his work with WMRJ, Groundwater, and The Opt-In, Kevin spent 20 years in education, as a classroom teacher, dean, department chair, and coach. He has designed courses that examine race, gender, justice, social business, social movements, and religion in both university and secondary school settings.
Applying a Racial Equity Lens Across Asset Classes
05/03/2024
05/03/2024
About the Event
During this session, the Re-Envision team will describe how they incorporate a racial equity lens across asset classes in client portfolios. They will discuss how desired impact, available data, and success metrics vary by asset class and also present empirical research demonstrating how diverse teams and investment managers outperform their peers.
Guest Speakers
Anna N’Jie-Konte, MBA, CFP® is the President and Director of Financial Planning for Re-Envision Wealth. As President, Anna manages the firm's financial planning, advisory, and operations strategies. She is a proud Puerto Rican, Gambian-American who is committed to building a firm where access to excellent, values-aligned financial advice is the norm, not the exception. Having spent her childhood watching the strong women around her live lives dictated by their bank balances, she’s on a mission to rewrite the money stories of women of color.
She is a 3x winner of Investopedia's “Top 100 Influential Financial Advisors” and has been named "10 Young Advisors to Watch” by Financial Advisor Magazine. She serves as a CFP Board Brand Ambassador; an advisory board member to Wealth.com; and a board member of the FInserv Foundation.
Keith Beverly, CFA®, CFP® is the Chief Investment Officer for Re-Envision Wealth. With over 20 years of investment management and financial planning experience, Keith’s responsibilities range from building customized investment portfolios for private clients to transitioning institutional clients to 100% mission alignment. Under his direction, the firm has developed an expertise in identifying private market investments that deliver attractive financial returns while achieving positive social impact.
Keith graduated from Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business with University and College Honors and obtained his M.B.A. from UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, where he was a Dean’s Fellow. He sits on the board of North Carolina A&T’s Department of Family and Consumer Services, one of four CFP® Board-registered programs at a historically black college. He is also one of few African American advisors in the United States who holds both the Chartered Financial Analyst®(CFA®) and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) designations, two of the most respected credentials for investment management and financial planning, respectively.
Diversify Your Investment Teams to Boost Performance and Impact
04/05/2024
04/05/2024
About the Event
The Diverse Investing Collective, a project of the Tara Health Foundation, wants to change the face of finance. And women with wealth can play a powerful role in bringing more women and people of color to financial decision-making tables. Who controls capital matters. From which companies get loans to which innovations get financed, the investment industry shapes every aspect of our lives. For too long, the people designing and driving our financial system have looked the same. Only 14% of fund managers are women, and that number hasn't changed in 20 years! People of color are also severely underrepresented in asset management, including those who are Black and Hispanic/Latinx.
The Diverse Investing Collective has a bold goal to put more assets in the hands of women and people of color. They want 33% of assets under management to be managed by gender and racially diverse investment teams by 2033. 33 by 33! But they can only achieve this goal if investors - like you - start asking: Who is managing my money? How can the firms holding my assets do more to bring diverse voices to the table? The best part: not only is diversifying your fund management teams the right thing to do, but the evidence demonstrates that diverse investment teams can outperform. A study by Vanguard found gender-diverse investment teams outperform the benchmark by 47 basis points per year. And Harvard Business Review found that if Venture Capital teams had the same ethnicities, their success rates were lower by 26% to 32%.
This interactive conversation will review the evidence of outperformance by diverse teams, and give attendees concreate action steps they can take to diversify the teams managing their assets. Who controls capital matters. It's time to change the face of finance. But we can only do this together.
Guest Speakers
Robyn Russell is the Senior Director of the Diverse Investing Collective at the Tara Health Foundation, which aims to increase the portion of assets managed by gender-diverse and racially-diverse fund management teams to 33% by 2033. Robyn began her career on Capitol Hill working for a Congress member on the Appropriations Committee. She also worked at the United Nations Foundation, where she advocated for international women's health and rights by helping lead a multi-million-dollar pooled fund and stood up a private sector initiative for global corporations to pledge measurable commitments to the health and well-being of their women workers.
Ivy Jack is an advisor and thought leader in the world of socially responsible investing and business, with a career spanning from Morgan Stanley to the Harvard Business School Association of Boston. Currently, she is the Senior Advisor to the Diverse Investing Collective, working alongside Senior Director Robyn Russell in the shared goal to increase assets managed by gender-diverse and racially-diverse teams to 33 percent by 2033. She also sits on the finance committee for YW Boston, a local organization that takes the lead on issues at the intersection of race and gender. Formerly, Ivy was the Co-CIO for NorthStar Asset Management, Inc., as well as the vice president of the equity research department at Barclays Capital, where she led her team to achieve a top ranking in research coverage from the Institutional Investor Survey.
Celebrating Progress and Charting Our Course
03/01/2024
03/01/2024
About the Event
What has the Impact Collective achieved and where are we headed next? Join the Impact Collective's state of the movement conversation, "Celebrating Progress and Charting the Course for Impact Collective." As we reflect on our journey together thus far, we're thrilled to share our accomplishments and learnings since launching. We’re equally excited about the future of the Impact Collective and to share our new offerings and more!
This interactive conversation will be an opportunity to share your thoughts on what you’d like to see the Impact Collective provide and to reflect on how the needs of our community have shifted and changed over time. We look forward to hearing your voice as a fundamental piece of the Impact Collective’s planning as we grow.
Guest Speaker
Julia Johannsen is a bold changemaker who works to leverage her privilege in the service of racial and economic justice. She is the founder of The Impact Collective, which works to educate women about the racial wealth gap. Julia partnered with a small team of experts to create the Impact Collective Intensive Workshop to help women with capital utilize their resources for a better future.
Our mission is to close the racial wealth gap by organizing, educating, and activating people with wealth to leverage their influence and affluence within a diverse and connected community.
A grassroots non-profit organization located on stolen Massachusett, Pawtucket, and Wampanoag land, now known as Boston, Massachusetts.
info@impactcollect.org | Copyright © 2024
info@impactcollect.org | Copyright © 2024