MAY NEWSLETTER | We’re Reimagining What’s Possible
Hi friends,
Late-to-arrive-Spring has finally arrived in Portland! We’re loving the warmer days and the return of team trips to the downtown farmer’s market (tell Sid we sent you for his delish pastries).
The newly budding plants have us reimagining what’s possible too, and celebrating wins like the recent launch of the 1803 Fund by Modernist hero Rukaiyah Adams. We love seeing radical, innovative generosity from our local heroes!
Here’s to Spring growth,
Georgia + Team Modernist
investment insights
Our Investment Committee’s review of Q1 is in! We saw upward trends across all asset classes in the first months of 2023, despite some volatility around the collapse of SVB.
While there’s a lot of negative chatter about how the market fared in 2022, we like to add historical context to keep the bigger cycles in mind.
Check out the eggplant color of the S&P 500 in this chart...2019, 2020, and 2021 showed massive returns; a little market digestion in 2022 seemed natural to us!
Check out the last 20 years of asset class returns in our most recent Skittles chart!
Structure Your Wealth Around Your Values
Generosity in the news! We’re beyond thrilled to hear the announcement of a $400M donation from Phil & Penny Knight for the 1803 Fund, founded by friend of the firm Rukaiyah Adams.
A “private equity fund for the people” that uses both traditional philanthropy and investing, the fund is focused on Black Portlanders’ access to education, place, culture, and belonging. Transformational change is possible; we're excited to see innovative investing in action in our hometown.
Bernard and Josh from our team are taking Reframing Racism in July.
This class from the Center for Equity and Inclusion is required training at Modernist; we believe understanding how race operates in our culture is critical in our ongoing work to be an actively anti-racist company.
This class is full, but check out fellow B Corps Construct The Present and Bookshop’s Anti-Racist Reading List for resources to learn more about race in America.
Modernist takes it outside
Want to learn more about Georgia’s journey to founding Modernist? Are you curious about Money Stories? Curious about reparations and financial planning?
We made a handy playlist of all the podcast episodes she’s opined on, discussing a range of topics with some fabulous hosts.
FUND YOUR HEROES
OCF is celebrating 50 years of Oregonians helping Oregonians!
We’re inspired by their focus on generosity that spans the entire state, not just urban Portland. Since their founding in 1973, over 10,000 donors have funded $2.2 billion in grants and $144 million in scholarships.
Imagine the transformational power of all that generosity!
Read some of the stories of OCF's impact.
good news
Portland-raised NFL players Ndamukong Suh and Brennan Scarlett recognized the need for earlier access to financial literacy, especially within communities of color: “this can be a tough conversation to have, so I want to bring some light to it.”
Suh founded a program that provides personal finance workshops to public school students in Portland, Dallas, Los Angeles and Oakland. Read the full story.
Wanna support these fab efforts? Consider making a donation to Brennan’s org: The Big Yard.
A Song That is Really About optimism
We’re basking in the sunshine and turning up the tunes! May this be a reminder to take a mid-day walk around the block to soak up some Vitamin D! ☀️😎
Just bees and things and flowers
My life, my life, my life, my life in the sunshine
Sunshine, everybody loves the sunshine
Sunshine, folks get down in the sunshine