I am RG
Stories from RG members
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Brooke Jordan – (Cricket Island Foundation, Global Greengrants Fund)
I first found out about Resource Generation through my sister who had been involved in several RG projects for a number of years. The first RG experience I had was a MMMC retreat that I attended five years ago in Northern California. What I find valuable about RG’s work is that it provides a space for people to talk about the challenges of having resources, as well as an opportunity to explore ways to advocate for more economic equality in the world. Having financial resources can sometimes feel isolating and lonely and so the peer-to-peer support is what also keeps me involved.
I have felt more empowered and supported as a next generation member on my family’s foundation because of my involvement with RG. I have also felt less fear and more motivation to increase my financial giving each year. RG has also inspired me to get involved with various philanthropic circles that are seeking to change the way philanthropy has historically been perceived and carried out. My involvement with RG has also helped change my perception of what it actually means to have resources. I used to think that having resources meant a bank account number, however over the years have come to realize that having resources also means, (among many) the resources that come with living in a supportive and loving community, cultural resources that are past down from generation to generation as well as having inner resources to confront life’s challenges.
I have also learned through my experiences at RG as well as being on the board of my family’s foundation, working with non-profits and living in and traveling in parts of Africa, South America and India that real change comes from the ground level when local people feel empowered, supported and are the major stake-holders of that change. What I have witnessed in people who have experienced incredible injustice is a deep drive and will to do anything to fight that injustice because many times it is about immediate life or death for them.
The friendships and connections I have made both in the RG community and around the world, have transformed my financial giving from what was once a desire to control an outcome to now about trusting the natural change that can happen when everyone involved in that change is respected and valued for the voice they bring to the decision making table.
-- Brooke
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Farhad – (Chorus Foundation)
Resource Generation first came to my attention a couple of years ago when my cousin sent me a link to the Making Money Make Change website. I'd been telling her about what I'd been doing with the Chorus Foundation, she inquired if I'd heard of RG, and things just sort of blew up from there. Now that I'm a part of the RG community, I'm consistently amazed with how often it plugs into other aspects of my life. Sometimes it feels like RG is everywhere -- and I mean that in the least creepy, most loving way possible.
At first blush, I think that the thing I value most about RG is how it connects me with other wealthy young people who are deeply involved in philanthropy. I came to philanthropy as a way of responding to my own inherited financial privilege, and I really appreciate being able to share thoughts, experiences, and best practices with others who came to it in similar ways. That being said, though, RG has also grown to be a circle of dear friends who I can approach for relationship advice, subject to my thoughts on how my pants should fit, etc.
Being a part of RG has inspired me to push myself to the next level in a variety of ways, including -- but not limited to -- playing an active organizing role on the planning committee of this year's Creating Change Through Family Philanthropy retreat, becoming a more public voice in my field through both writing and public speaking, and just generally helping me come into my own as both a philanthropist and an activist. I think this process might have started at last year's CCTFP when I got worked up enough to stand up in front of a room full of people and make some bold claims about mission related investing. Once you start doing stuff like that in a community like RG, you just know that people are going to help you make it happen.
-- Farhad
