Disrupting the Private Wealth Industry with Stephanie Brobbey of Good ancestor Movement
In this episode of “It’s Not Your Money: Real Talk About Achieving Racial Equity in Philanthropy,” Stephanie Brobbey from Good Ancestor Movement and Camelback Ventures’ Funder In Residence Jessamyn Shams-Lau dive deep into Stephanie's experience disrupting the private wealth industry through a reparative approach and explore strategies for moving wealthy folks towards racial justice learning and wealth redistribution where the needs of society, community, and the planet are at the center.
Read the full transcript here and check out some key takeaways below:
Acknowledging the Belly of the Beast
The traditional way of thinking about philanthropy reinforces the concentration of power by wealthy individuals and foundations. True philanthropy should be about shifting power and acknowledging the underlying dynamics at play.
"My experience has been to make explicit the things that are implicit across our verbal language, our body language, describe what's happening in plain English, and talk about the power dynamics quite explicitly, instead of glossing over things quite briefly.... A lot of us in the philanthropic sector want to approach it as a tick box exercise, culturally speaking. Of course, that's not our aim. That's not what we really want to do. But that ends up being it. Are we shifting power? Let's do these 10 things to indicate that we're shifting power. Well, actually, it has to be an embodied response and an embodied practice. And it's not a one-time thing. I don't think there are any silver bullets. I think it's about being very intentional in the way that we acknowledge verbally and somatically where the power dynamics lie in the context of philanthropic practice." - Stephanie Brobbey
Redefining Wealth Stewardship
The Good Ancestor Movement challenges the status quo of the private wealth industry, which prioritizes wealth accumulation and tax minimization for the wealthy, often at the expense of society. They advocate for a model of wealth stewardship that centers redistribution and social good.
“The mental model within the private wealth industry really functions on two main assumptions. The first is that everyone wants to, and should, accumulate as much wealth as possible. There's almost no conception of excessive or “extreme wealth,” which is a term that we're collectively really trying to socialize, to really name it for what it is. But there's not really a concept within the industry itself. So that's the first main assumption.
The second assumption is that everybody wants to minimize as much tax as possible. There's a large proportion of the industry that is dedicated really to minimizing the tax bills, tax contributions of some of the wealthiest people in the world that's often coded in optimizing or being efficient or mitigating. But it's really an advisory system that is deliberately depriving governments around the world of their ability to raise the correct amount of revenue." - Stephanie Brobbey
Healing the Soul and the Spirit through Cross-Class Organizing
The process of dismantling harmful systems and redistributing wealth requires collective care and healing. This involves acknowledging the trauma caused by economic inequality and working together to build trust and right relationships.
“All of us have been traumatized by racism and white supremacy. And wealth inequality and having wealth, particularly when it's inherited, I think, and having social justice values can be really traumatic. And there's trauma on both sides of whether you have wealth or you haven't had wealth. And I think there's a lot of work that needs to be done around cross-class organizing, which is effectively what we're trying to do. One of the foundational pieces of work we need to do is to recognize that inequality and extreme wealth have traumatized all of us. And so from that starting point, recognizing that there's a lot of care needed in how we approach this.” - Stephanie Brobbey
Importance of Personal Transformation
The work of creating a more just and equitable economy requires personal transformation. We need to be willing to examine our own biases and assumptions about wealth and power, and commit to ongoing learning and growth.
“One of the biggest learnings for me over the past 12 months has been recognizing that this isn't just about the work of bringing about a regenerative economy in practical terms. It's really about a new way of being in the world and a commitment. It demands a commitment to personal transformation. That is so hard. It's so hard to meet yourself in this work every day. I think that's what a lot of people aren't actually prepared to do. And I get that because it's really, really tough. But being able to do it with just an amazing crowd of witnesses who are also in the work and really committed to being in the work together and seeing each other thrive and seeing each other's healing, it's just so special.” - Stephanie Brobbey
Reparations Beyond Financial Compensation
Reparations are often misunderstood and reduced to mere financial compensation, but they encompass much more. True reparations involve deep learning about colonial legacies, the histories of African and Indigenous Peoples, and the importance of self-repair and self-determination. Understanding reparations requires moving beyond intellectual discussions to address the trauma in our bodies, as emphasized by practitioners like Resma Menechem.
“There's so much we don't know about reparations. There's so much that's misunderstood about what reparations actually are. I think, again, with people wanting to tick boxes and say, ‘Oh, we've considered reparations and a reparative approach,...’ actually, the learning that needs to be done isn't undertaken. And so really taking time to read about reparations, about colonial legacies, and to understand what has happened to peoples of the African continent, the African diaspora, the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island.
I did a learning cohort with Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples, who are based in California, and just learning about Indigenous struggle and the genocide of the Indigenous Peoples and the resistance, and what they are calling for now. And similarly with reparations for African Peoples, One of the big learning points for me was learning about the need for self-repair and self-determination, and that reparations are beyond just financial compensation.” - Stephanie Brobbey
The Capital Collaborative by Camelback Ventures works with white funders and social impact investors who want to deepen their individual and organizational commitment to racial and gender equity in philanthropy — but may not know how. In Fall 2024, Capital Collaborative will launch a two-year cohort designed explicitly for board members, trustees, and wealth-holders who want to discover ways to cede their power and create space for new forms of governance to flourish. You can learn more about how to get involved by submitting an interest form or signing up for the newsletter.