Long before the COVID-induced quarantine began, Confluence decided to entitle our 2021 Gathering “Embrace and Inspire.” At the time, it seemed like a prescient idea that was about scaling the values-aligned investing industry. We had no idea that it would become about our physical reality, as over the next year and a half our community would tilt into virtual isolation and sometimes feelings of frustration, uncertainty, and perhaps even hopelessness about the prevailing health and political crises, at a time when we could not physically embrace each other.
Although we were unable to provide a big public in-person Annual Gathering this year, we were pleased to see so many of you join us in the virtual realm for deep and inspiring discussion. Many of us have already met or have plans to meet in person for the “embrace” in a series of eight bioregional gatherings taking place in conjunction with the event. We thank those members who are helping to bring us together in small, safe groups around the U.S. and in the U.K. this summer.
Day One: Values-Aligned Investing
While the world reeled from the effects of the global pandemic this year, the crisis shined a spotlight on societal inequities as vulnerable populations were hit the hardest. Values-aligned investors used capital and grants to support opportunities that catalyze and fund critical response efforts across the U.S. and around the world. Many investors entered into values-aligned investing for the first time as they discovered ways to put their capital to work: to enable positive change in society with regard to racial injustice; to reflect on each of their unique leadership contributions; and to uplift strategies to challenge and reform our economic system.
The Practitioners Gathering launched with deep-dive discussions about our shared leadership experiences as we re-navigated organizations committed to social change and climate solutions in the midst of the greatest crisis of our lifetimes. Day one grounded personal and institutional challenge in practical discussions about the tools that we use to reorient private dollars while shaping capital markets with ESG strategies – and influence. The theme of “Embrace and Inspire” resonated throughout the day in commentary about how, in order to scale values-aligned investing, we must serve as inspiring role models, ready to embrace unexpected change as opportunity while welcoming others to learn alongside us and to act.
The virtual stage was set by provocative discussions led by Judy Belk, President of The California Wellness Foundation; Janeen Comenote, Executive Director of the National Urban Indian Family Coalition, and Trustee of the Marguerite Casey Foundation; and a Keynote from Denise Hearn, Co-Author of The Myth of Capitalism: Monopolies and the Death of Competition. This was followed by a spirited plenary discussion asking the question, “Are We Politicizing ESG?” moderated by Katherine Kroll, Senior Sustainable Investing Specialist at Brown Advisory, and with panelists Ricardo Bayon, Partner and Member of the Board of Directors at Encourage Capital; Stephanie Cohn Rupp, CEO of Veris Wealth Partners; and Gretchen Postula, Head of Investor Relations at North Sky Capital.
Later in the day, a call to 100% mission alignment was grounded by Confluence pioneers Rini Banerjee, President of the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation; Catherine Burnett, Chief Impact Officer at the Phillips Foundation; Ramón Cruz, President of the Sierra Club and Board Member of the Sierra Club Foundation; and Anders Kristoffersen, Head of Impact Investments, The Velux Foundation, and Member of Investment Committee, V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation.
We thank all of our impressive speakers from Day One, especially for your passion and vision for the work we do together.
Day Two: Investing for Social Equity
What would our world look like if we were to truly transform the way we relate to capital, to our land and water, and to one another? This question underpinned Day Two of the Annual Practitioners Gathering, which focused on the theme of “Investing for Social Equity.”
Sessions explored how we can work together to shift our economy towards greater social equity by uplifting the leadership of women and people of color, by deploying capital strategically, by using stock ownership to influence corporate practices, and by inspiring the investment industry to embrace a future that enables true belonging, equity, and justice. Topics included: what liberation and healing from collective trauma could mean for social equity and investing, how to rebalance capital towards women and people of color, ways to embed institutional practices that promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), how families with wealth can advance racial equity by working inter-generationally, and much more.
We were honored to be joined by luminaries john a. powell, Director, Othering and Belonging Institute, and Professor of Law, African American, and Ethnic Studies, University of California at Berkeley; and leading mindfulness teacher, Thomas Hübl, Founder of the Academy of Inner Science, and Founder, The Pocket Project; and Kosha Anja Joubert, CEO of The Pocket Project; as well as impact investors Tabreez Verjee, Co-Founder and Partner at Uprising; Bahiyah Yasmeen Robinson, Founder & CEO of VC Include; and Don Shaffer, Co-Founder of Jubilee.
Confluence members Raul Pomares, Founder and Managing Director of Sonen Capital; Natalia Arango Vélez, Executive Director of Fondo Acción; and Katie Naeve, Director of Impact and Partnerships at Root Capital, concluded the day with an inspiring vision for investing in Latin America.
We are so appreciative for the courage, care, and thoughtfulness of all our Day Two discussants, and I know that many of us are still contemplating the messages from the day.
Day Three: Our Climate Moment is Now
We are in a unique window of opportunity with the Biden-Harris administration firmly grounded in the challenges of climate change, providing progressive leadership in the White House, and having centered action on climate throughout virtually all the federal agencies. For the first time in US history we have a multifaceted approach to the biggest challenge of our time. To widen this window, the Climate Solutions Collaborative (C2C) will align with, support, and help create the environment for the new Biden-Harris administration to succeed in their climate and justice aspirations, and to reach even further. We need everyone to step up as climate investors and to deploy capital strategically. The Confluence community is well positioned to play an important role in demonstrating U.S. leadership by investing significantly in climate solutions.
During Day Three of the Gathering, we worked together to optimize this moment of opportunity and to express aspiration and strategy to limit emissions to no more than 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Now is the time. We framed the day with a “From Policy to Practice” plenary with Kathleen Welch, Principal at Corridor Partners, in discussion with United States Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM). Together, they outlined legislation moving through Congress in alignment with the government’s calls for clean energy and infrastructure, and discussed how the private sector is key for driving success.
Keynotes then followed from Global leaders Karen Skelton, Senior Advisor from the Office of the Secretary of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy; and Dr. David Schimel, Board Chair, Entelligent; Senior Research Scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Co-Recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.
The afternoon wrapped up with remarks from Ellen Dorsey, Executive Director, Wallace Global Fund, followed by a virtual Riverside Chat about “Providing Energy Access to All by Investing in Women” with Heather Grady, Vice President and Practice Lead on Environment, Rights and Global Development at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors; Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO of Sustainable Energy for All and Special Representative, UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All; and Mary Robinson, Chair of the Elders, and former President of Ireland and UN Commissioner for Human Rights.
We are grateful for the inspiring leadership of the global changemakers who joined us for the day and we plan to do all that we can to inspire others to embrace their powerful visions.
Highlights From Day Three:
We thank everyone that attended the Gathering and we look forward to seeing many of you in person in the months ahead and in March 2022 for our next Practitioners Gathering in Southern California!
