Dear Clients and Community Members,
Almost three weeks ago, the horrific murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police made the reality of America’s racism undeniable. For hundreds of years, from slavery’s abolition through the Civil Rights movement, to Black Lives Matter, Black people have suffered under and spearheaded the resistance against white supremacy. This movement calls everyone to unite in solidarity against racism, white supremacy, and police brutality. We must confront the unjust advantages of white privilege, examine the role of police in enforcing this system of injustice, and recognize our, Centered Wealth’s, complicity and responsibility in this system. The world has changed in 2020. We cannot go back.
Black Lives Matter
. We want to state unequivocally: white supremacy must end.
This system is pervasive and malicious. It has a choke hold on our world, our people, our environment, our resources, and our future.
At Centered Wealth, we renew our commitment to a just, sustainable, and equitable world.
We have long recognized that because of our access to financial institutions, money, and power, we are uniquely placed within this system to advocate for and enact change. Because of climate change’s proven disproportionate impact on marginalized populations, our primary framework for change has been an environmental one. However, visions of sustainability clearly must also include a deeper push for social justice. Our long-standing commitments to sustainability and re-imagining the role of money do not permit us an exception from looking at where we have fallen short and where we can commit to doing better.
At Centered Wealth, we are committed to socially responsible, sustainable, and impact investing. These are some of our ongoing practices in this pursuit:
- Investing in funds managed and/or owned by People of Color
- Divesting from fossil fuels and carbon emitters
- Divesting from weapons and private prisons
- Investing in Community Development funds advancing racial and social equity
- Using investments as a leverage point for beneficial change inside of corporations, such as equitable hiring practices and diverse board representation
- Investing in renewable energy and sustainable agriculture
- Helping our clients plan, not just for their own future, but the future they want to participate in co-creating with their investment & philanthropic funds
And here are the actions we see that we can take to deepen our own impact:
- Investing in BlPOC-owned (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) enterprises and directing investment dollars to communities of color
- Bringing People of Color into our practice and supporting diversity in the broad field of financial services
- Pushing the agenda of addressing racial disparities to all environmental and financial activism endeavors
- Advancing financial literacy in communities that are denied this education
- Looking for ways to bring People of Color into conversations, meetings, conferences, and other networks we have access to and which hold institutional power
Like so many others, we are investing the time right now to gain new tools for dismantling white supremacy, building Black wealth and combating institutional racism. We are committed to developing greater awareness around the ways privilege manifests for us and animates the financial markets. And we are committed to continue to stretch ourselves into realizing true equality and liberation.
We welcome a discussion about what is motivating you in this galvanizing moment. As your advisors, we support you in bringing your money into greater alignment with your deepest values. In whatever way you're called to this movement, because of the complexity of these systems, everyone is impacted differently and we all have a role to play. As members of the Centered Wealth community, we collectively can have an ongoing influence over corporate behavior, political accountability, and the role of the financial industry itself in ending this centuries-old legacy of injustice.
We are grateful for the trust you place in our services and the opportunity to enact our collective visions of justice.
