AUGUST NEWSLETTER | Measuring data in berries & trips to SF Pride
Hi friends,
We’re still buzzing from all the love we received for our 10th birthday last month! Thanks for the encouraging words (and gifts!); you energize us for the autumnal work ahead…for our clients and in community.
Wondering how we ensure we’re staying accountable to our values and impact goals? We complete the rigorous triennial B Corp certification. We track the data. For transparency we then report it all to you in our annual impact reports. The 2024 edition is out now, including Modernist data analogies (oysters, berries, gay Pride) and action items for you, too. Join us in this work!
September is just around the corner, we hope you’re making time to soak up these sweet summer days, too.
Waving from the farmers market,
Team Modernist
INVESTING INSIGHTS
In our latest Market Commentary we have a reminder of Q2 market performance and the implications for investors.
After an exciting spring, we’re focused on the lessons we can take away from recent volatility. As we regularly remind: volatility is part of investing, and patience and diversification are your BFFs.
from the team:
We’re deep in tax planning with clients, so we turned a critical eye on the long-term social and tax impacts of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” aka The Big Brutal Tax Bill.
(That’s our rebrand of the OBBBA due to its regressive redistribution of wealth to high-earners.)
In a new series on our blog, we share the bill’s tax planning impact and its social devastation plus with ways to counteract the harm.
Many thanks to Josh, our Director of Biz Ops, for compiling the data.
⚡️ A Tax Planning Action ⚡️
Ask your CPA to run your 2024 return with the 2025 changes. You’ll likely save a bit of money. Use that cash to fund what they cut: a library, a food bank, an arts & culture org, public media, a local community center.
🐝💬🎟️
Save the date: our own Alejandra is at BLD NW on September 10th at 10am on The Power in Your Pocket: Aligning Your Money with Your Values panel (how appropriate!) with mission-aligned folks in wealth management and insurance. It’s a gathering of PNW B Corps, but is open to all, so grab your ticket for a day of values-centric business inspo!
Structure Your Wealth Around Your Values
Our 2024 Impact Report is here! We use B Corp benchmarking to make sure we walk our talk. And as always, we invite you to join us in change-making! Each section has a suggested action item for you, too.
Modernist Takes It Outside
ICYMI: Georgia was recently in the New York Times in a follow-up to a 2020 article about millennials providing financial support for aging parents. She discussed the necessity of systemic solutions like Medicaid and how proposed cuts will impact folks’ plans and their elders. Read an excerpt on our blog (paywall-free!) or the full article here.
When Georgia joined Farnoosh for an episode of So Money, they continued the NYT convo, touching on how to care for our elders as our social safety nets are gutted.
“What’s inspiring to me about the stories in this article (is the implicit) unwinding of the toxic parts of the American Dream. There’s something interesting calling us back to intentional interconnectedness in our resources.”
⚡️ A takeaway: having these planning conversations with your family is critical! ⚡️
They also chatted about how to take action post-2025 “Great Inequality Tax Bill” changes.
Fund Your Heroes
Portland-based 1803 Fund is leading the way nationally with their restorative justice investments, countering the urban renewal, eminent domain, and industrial rezoning that devastated the nation in the 1950s.
“We think capital should serve the people. So, our Fund is “seed” money, planted in our community for generations to come.”
In addition to ongoing investments in Black culture and placemaking, 1803 recently announced a $75M 10-year investment in legacy organizations uplifting Black education. We are deeply inspired (and informed) by their trust-based legacy giving! Let their approach inform your actions, too.
a song That’s Really About the american dream
Janelle Monáe’s “Americans” was written in 2018 and still resonates today. As we navigate the news cycle, we look to artists like Monáe who craft rallying cries to keep our activism motivated, inspired, and stylish.
Until women can get equal pay for equal work / This is not my America
Until same gender loving people can be who they are / This is not my America
Until black people can come home / From a police stop without being shot in the head
This is not my America
Until poor whites can get a shot at being successful / This is not my America…
Don't try to take my country, I will defend my land
I'm not crazy, baby, naw / I'm American (love me, baby)
Until Latinos and Latinas don't have to run from walls / This is not my America
But I tell you today that the devil is a liar / Because it's gon' be my America before it's all over