We move capital by moving people

What's in this week's newsletter

🔗 What I am Rooting Into: The power of capital lies in the power of people

🎙️ Coming Up in the Commons: Anti-Networking Networking Club Virtual Meetup July 17th

🤝🏾 Network Connections: 10% LIFT Economy Next Economy MBA Registration; Omni Commons Event Space in Oakland; Pollinator Coop

The power of capital lies in the power of people

I have been thinking a lot lately about what it actually takes to move resources in order for us to collectively thrive. That includes financial capital, connections, time, knowledge, and aid. Every once in a while LinkedIn delivers something of interest and this piece Amara's Law and the Long Game of Impact Investing by David Lynn, Co-founder and CEO of Mission Driven Finance did just that.

The Cliffs Notes version of Amara's Law — named for futurist and scientist Roy Amara — is this: we often overestimate the impact of a technology (or system) in the short run and underestimate its impact in the long run.

Lynn applies this to impact investing. Specifically the promise and the reality of what it looks like to move financial capital in ways that "redirect trillions toward communities that had been shut out of the financial system for generations." After stating the obvious that this promise has not been delivered at scale, Lynn goes on to provide a glimpse into the long game of what is actually happening and the underestimated long-term potential it brings:

First, the demand side is shifting in a way that's structural, not cyclical. The wealth transfer from baby boomers to Gen Z and millennials is only beginning, with an estimated $84+ trillion moving over the next two decades. And that was before AI and crypto created a new generation of younger wealth holders ahead of schedule. That generation didn't learn finance from a two-bucket model: portfolio here, philanthropy there, never the twain shall meet. They grew up with values-aligned everything, across their purchases, their employers, their platforms. When they become the principals setting investment mandates, the committees will look different. The compliance culture will look different.

We already see it in the early anecdotes. I just heard from a wealth advisor whose clients with under $100k in net worth are asking how to align their investments with their values. That's not the $50M allocator we need to move the needle at scale, but it's the same values-driven mandate, earlier in the wealth curve. The pipeline is being built from both ends. In 20 years, it will be visible in the data.

We move capital by moving people. Not just people with outsized financial capital and institutional power. We all must move in alignment, albeit in different ways.

We transform systems when we move the gatekeepers. Gatekeepers are the lynchpins in business-as-usual systems. They keep extractive systems running because they convince themselves and us that it is all inevitable and we can't move differently. Gatekeepers move when they can no longer financially and psychologically afford to protect extractive systems and institutional power.

The gatekeepers haven't disappeared. But the strategies that have survived long enough to reach scale are starting to get on the platforms. That's the slope of enlightenment. Not a revolution, but a ramp.

That is the long game Root Commons is playing. We illuminate the embodied ways people are and are not (yet) moving resources — capital, connections, time, knowledge — and take the steps toward creating infrastructures that remove barriers and liberate resources so they flow where they are needed.

That is where we start. The steps are small. They are local and interpersonal.

We root so we can grow.

📢 Register for Anti Networking Networking Club Virtual Meetup July 17th 10-11:30am PDT

The Anti Networking Networking Club Virtual Meetup is a small, facilitated gathering for social impact leaders, entrepreneurs, and practitioners seeking more direct and interpersonal networking spaces designed to build connections that can accelerate and transform our work.

How our gathering is structured:

When you arrive: Add your name, role, and what you're looking for to a shared connection board you can access during and after the call.

On the call: Each person gets structured time to speak freely about what they are navigating in their work/job search/new business, what they need, connections that would help move their work forward. Everyone in the room responds with specific contacts, ideas, and connections.

The goal is simple: We share precisely what we need, we generously share connections and ideas, everyone leaves with something actionable and networked connections to build from.

🌱 Book a 30-min 1:1 Networking Strategy Call with me

All paid (standard or solidarity rate) Anti Networking Networking Club members can book a free 30-minute 1:1 Networking Strategy call with me to help identify networking connections; strategize around a new business idea; or get support for your job-seeking and client development needs.

Join the Anti Networking Networking Club and grab time with me!

10% off LIFT Economy Next Economy MBA Registration

LIFT Economy's Next Economy MBA is registering for their next Fall Cohort starting in September!

This is an incredible program for anyone wanting to ground their work in the social impact space with a vibrant alumni network representing organizations including the Black Farmer Fund, the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative, the Center for Economic Democracy, the UC Center for Climate Justice, and many more. Check out their Q&A sessions or reach out directly to me for a chat.

Early bird registration ends 8/3. As an alumni of the program I get to offer you an additional 10% off registration using the code MBAMESH10. Make sure to entire my name upon checking out!

Omni Commons event space in Oakland

Looking for a spot in Oakland to have a gathering, workshop, and/or cooperative work space with a deep history as a radical community organizing space? Check out Omni Commons. Recently saved from closure after being acquired by Collective Action and Land Liberation Institute and stewarded by East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative Omni Commons is available for event rentals and longer term organizational tenancy.

Pollinator Coop

Root Commons member and collaborative partner RuDee Sade recently completed Pollinator Coop's virtual residency and was deeply moved by the program's intentional network-building platform designed to align entrepreneurs, creatives, non-profit leaders, changemakers, academics, and curators in a deeper network practice of mutual support. Check out their platform and reach out directly if this resonates with your work!