APRIL NEWSLETTER | How Could We Invest in a 1000 Year Future?
Hi friends,
We love the idea of investing in the “1000 year future”, a concept from local investing legend Rukaiyah Adams, Chief Investment Officer at Meyer Memorial Trust.
What does that look like for you? With April being Earth Month, we’re exploring potential action items, like reading up on ESG investing, considering a shift to solar power, and taking a more thoughtful approach to consumerism.
Every day is Earth Day,
Georgia + Team Modernist
investment insights
Our Investment Committee’s quarterly report and video are ready! Shifting global news led to increased volatility reversing the trend from 2021's all-time highs.
Curious about ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Investing? We’re launching a new series on the blog to help folks understand sustainable investing.
In the first post, Larry Swedroe (a member of Modernist’s Investment Committee!) provides a deeper understanding of the tradeoffs.
⚡️ACTION ITEMS⚡️ FOR StructurING Your Wealth Around Your Values
Client Experience Associate and Solar Advocate Alejandra Gonzales
When it comes to values + $$$, Modernist loves to move from beliefs to concrete action.
(Re)considering your energy use? Thinking about how we talk about taxes while dreaming of more equitable communities? Well, we have some resources ready for you:
⚡️ Want to shift to solar? We shared reasons to consider solar for what is often folks’ largest asset: your home! We’re all for democratizing energy in the grid and reducing dependence on coal and natural gas. Shoutout to our awesome Client Experience Associate Alejandra Gonzales for creating this resource!
⚡️ This Vox article on consumer expectations and entitlement has us asking: How could we cultivate ethical financial decisions in our community and culture?
⚡️ We’re all about changing the narrative on taxes: from individual burden to collective benefit. It came up a lot with our new Portland Universal Pre-K tax. Local activist Mark Holloway digs into the grassroots organizing that drove the measure, and why this tax is critical for equitable access for all kids’ opportunity.
modernist takes it outside
We were thrilled that Oregon Business asked to chat with Georgia for a recent article on our passion for the place we call home: downtown Portland.
She reiterated a commitment to keeping Modernist HQ downtown, and reframing the conversation around the protests in 2020: “They were the messy work of social change. People came out for 100 days to say that killing an unarmed Black man is not okay.”
FUND YOUR HEROES
From our 2022 Modernist Calendar: A mural by Open Eye Art in collaboration with Color Outside The Lines, located at SW 4th & Alder here in Portland. Swing by Barista when you’re in the neighborhood!
Frustrated by the challenges we’re facing together? Continuing to tell a hopeless or negative story only compounds the frustration. Instead, we're consciously reminding ourselves to be part of the change we want to see in the world.
⚡️ Consider giving your time to community efforts like this homelessness project at Business for a Better Portland.
⚡️ Support democracy: Get out the vote with Next Up.
⚡️ Donate your money to the many, many fab orgs working to create positive change in the city.
⚡️ Portland-area friends, please consider joining BBPDX’s action-oriented initiative The Supportive Housing Challenge. As they put it: “It’s going to take all of us working together to address a homelessness crisis that is 50 years in the making.”
Clean air is a racial justice issue. In Portland (and much of the rest of the country), diesel air pollution is 20x higher in primarily BIPOC neighborhoods than white neighborhoods. It’s also an underfunded issue, receiving less than 1% of philanthropic giving.
This Earth Month, we’re highlighting the work of Neighbors for Clean Air, an org working to ensure that every community has clean and healthy air to breathe.
ART BREAK: guarding the art
For a new show called Guarding The Art, the Baltimore Museum of Art handed the curatorial reins over to the folks who spend the most time with the art: the security guards.
We love this democratization of curation and lifting up of frontline workers. Thanks to Client Experience Associate Bernard Tan for finding this!
A Song That is REALLY About resilience
Ukranian refugees and Lithuanians join together in song
In this moving video, Ukrainian refugees gather and sing with Lithuanians.
We appreciate Director of Client Experience Katia Alisa Brahy sharing this, and for her work compiling this list of UN-approved orgs to donate to.
Feeling overwhelmed by the war in Ukraine? Take action with your dollars by making a donation.