Women Investing for Change: Feminist-ing Finance for People and Planet

Financiers and investors have traditionally been male and remain so when guarding the assets of the largest global investors on Wall Street. If you or your state or your company are growing pensions, it’s likely you’re investing in global fossil fuels and the military industrial complex without knowing it.

A growing number of women are learning how to actively invest their values. In our last Zoom of Our Own conversation in 2023, we learned how they’re growing the livelihoods of local communities, women and BIPOC entrepreneurs, and companies that care about the environment, fair and inclusive governance, and sustainability.

Keep scrolling to tune in and learn more!

WATCH THE REPLAY

MEET THE SPEAKERS

Janine Firpo is the author of Activate Your Money: Invest to Grow Your Wealth and Build a Better World and co-founder of the educational nonprofit, Invest for Better; Women Lead the Way;

Vanessa Lowe is an economic development professional who has a passion for equipping low-and moderate-income people with the tools to manage their money and build their wealth. host of Vanessa’s Money Hour on G-Town Radio in Philadelphia.

Gwen Pokalo Hart is an entrepreneur with New England’s Center for Women and Enterprise and on the board of Vermont Community Loan Fund.

Rickey Gard Diamond — author of Screwnomics: How Our Economy Works Against Women and Real Ways to Make Lasting Change and founder of AEOO — facilitated the conversation.

RESOURCES FOR FURTHER LEARNING

DEFINITIONS

Investment: An asset or item purchased with capital (money) for generating future income through “appreciation,” or increased value over time, called a “return on investment, or ROI.

Risk: Only the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) ensures savings or Certificates of Deposit up to $250,000. It’s possible for any asset, even savings, to lose value over time. Some assets are riskier than others, often promising a higher ROI to tempt investors. Riskiest types include cryptocurrency, derivatives, and collectibles. Diversify investments for overall stability.

Real Estate: Purchasing property or land traditionally has been America’s most common investment, including a single unit home, an apartment or commercial building, or land to be developed or used for farming.

Bonds: State, local cities, and the federal government and companies issue bonds, essentially loaning them money; some are tax exempt. Purchase a bond and over time, you’ll receive scheduled “coupon payments.” When the bond “matures,” you get your invested capital back.

Stocks: Stock is sold in shares of ownership of a public or private company. Ideally the investor receives a portion of the enterprise’s net profit, called a “dividend.” “Preferred stock” is first in line to claim dividends before “common stock.”

Mutual and Index Funds are ways to invest without researching and selecting each type. Mutual funds are actively managed by professional firms.

Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Over 1300 mission-driven capital providers link investors and disinvested communities with more affordable credit and capital for local entrepreneurs and community renewal. CDFI investments get matched with federal funds and can be found in all 50 states, plus Washington DC, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

SBICs. The Small Business Administration licenses 303 Small Business Investment Companies that increase safer local investments and access to capital for growth-stage businesses.

Books, Videos and Websites for Inspiration and Guidance!

Activate Your Money: Invest to Grow Your Wealth and Build a Better World by Janine Firpo, Wiley Publishing, 2021.

ESG Investing looks at companies’ Environment, Social and Governance (adherence to law and human rights) as part of their investing strategy. Learn more about Janine Firpo’s leadership and ESG investing at Ms. Magazine’s article by Rickey Gard Diamond, Why Barbie, Greta [Gerwig] and You Should Invest in a Better World.

Janine Firpo and Ellen Remmer have co-founded an educational nonprofit, Invest for Better: Women Lead the Way. Their Learning Circles, groups of 8 to 20 women, meet monthly for six months to learn and build confidence for values-aligned investing. Their website’s monthly events and videos with women financial leaders also inspire!

Wallet Activism: How to Use Every Dollar You Spend, Earn, and Save As a Force for Change by Tanja Hester; BenBella Books, Inc., 2021. Tanja Hester’s Wallet Activism has won many awards and is featured here on C-Span’s Book Series.

Financial Feminist: Overcome the Patriarchy’s Bulls*it to Master Your Money and Build the Life You Love, by Tori Dunlap ; Victori Media, 2022. Tori Dunlap’s webpage is Her First $100K, and offers a 6-step quiz for a free personalized plan over time, a podcast series, and services. Tori is connected to So-Fi and a subscription to Stock Market School.

Your Money or Your Life: Nine Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez, updated version 2018, Penguin Books. This is a classic that asks do you most want stuff, or more time for living?

Fearless Fund invests in women of color led businesses seeking pre-seed, seed level or series A financing. Their mission is to bridge the gap in venture capital funding for women of color founders building scalable, growth aggressive companies. Fearless Fund is built by women of color for women of color.

Breaking Money Silence: How to Shatter Money Taboos, Talk More Openly about Finances, and Live a Richer Life. Wealth coach and counselor author Kathleen Burns Kingsbury also has a podcast series and a one-hour video on YouTube here.

Talking Dollars and Making Sense: A Wealth Building Guide for African Americans, by Brooke Stephens; McGraw-Hill, 1996. You can still find this book at used book sites and it comes recommended by AEOO’s Katonya Hart.

Get Good with Money: Ten Simple Steps to Becoming Financially Whole, by Tiffany Aliche; Rodale Books, 2021. Tiffany Aliche also has The Budgetnista website which offers a free financial tookit, a blog, and an audio book.

Athena Valentine Lent’s website Money Smart Latina; Where Latinas and Money Meet features her book, Budgeting for Dummies, (Wily & Sons, 2023) as well as her blog and services.

The Queer Money Podcast website offers a free Queer Money Kickstarter: A 9-step Guide to Kickstart Your Journey to Financial Independence; A 7-Step Credit Card Debt Slasher book; a blog, a podcast and services.

Tune into Vanessa’s Money Hour at G-town Radio at 92.9 FM in Philadelphia every Saturday and Thursday at 1:00 pm EST. Vanessa Lowe has taught personal finance for more than 20 years and has been a leader in Philadelphia’s community development and empowerment.

Innovate Capital Growth Fund in Philadelphia is a good example of an SBIC investment fund. Their website shares their investment criteria and industries they support.

Vermont Community Loan Fund is a good example of a CDFI. Gwen Pokalo, policy director of the Center for Women & Enterprise also serves as President on this CDFI board. It enables tax-free donations to affordable loan funds for Food, Farms, and Forests and The Next Generation.

Making the case for women-owned banks. Anna Hrushka, senior reporter at BankingDive, reports three women-owned banks have emerged in the past several years with the shared goal of increasing access to capital for female entrepreneurs.

Why Banking for the Public Good Is No Pipe Dream. Rickey Gard Diamond writes at Ms. Magazine about the way Wall Street goes by rules different from those applied to you and me. Public Banking like the 100-year-old Bank of North Dakota and new California Public Banks invest locally, sparking a national movement. Learn more at Public Banking Institute and at the Women, Money and Democracy website at WILPF-US.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Our Zoom of Own Series brings women (and men!) together to construct a fuller knowledge and set of values now omitted from the mainstream “free market.” Together, we’re flipping the script on a racist, sexist economy. Our economics is lived in real complex communities. Our goal is to model how women can talk together and learn together about traditionally male territory still new to most women.

Check out our other Zooms of Our Own on different topics at An Economy of Our Own. They’re freely available so everyone can learn and build confidence about economic systems that affect all of us.

And, if you’re able, do join our Giving Circle to support continued work for a flourishing future! Your gift invests in our transforming an economy waged as war into one that more wisely values essential care for people and our planet.