SOCAP19 Daily Takeaways – Speaker Quotes

SOCAP October 29, 2019

Food systems actually bring a very diverse set of people together. In this polarizing society, this provides an opportunity.The problem doesn’t come from a crisis of productivity, it’s a crisis of democracy
We are the voters, that’s our power. We need to take ownership of our daily choices to improve our food systemAs an entrepreneur, raising impact funds. There are two lessons: 1. It’s important to be flexible in deal structure to not miss investment opportunities, and 2. It’s important to focus on corporate impact investing education to know what you’re investing in.Participatory investment models allow communities to steward the capital that they have been responsible for generating in the first place.Too often brands look at their purpose as a passive noun. It needs to be an active verb, it needs to be the slingshot for a movement that will rally the world so that everyone is building your business with you.The impact industry has grown significantly and it has become very professionalized. As a result, we have been afraid to name the root cause that has been driving what we all started out to address which is poverty.Art and culture is really central to addressing community needsStorytelling is the most powerful tool we have to advance any social movement.
Stories give us insight into how we can live up to our fullest potential as human beings, & they are necessary until the mission is accomplished.How far upstream are we willing to go?… Most of our roads lead back to Wall Street, to primacy, to profits over people.We really need to understand that artists are early stage investors in our communities.As someone who grew up in a poor neighborhood, don’t look at poor neighborhoods like an opportunity. Don’t look at poor neighborhoods and think ‘poor people need this’ or try to translate what poor people want.Creating more black millionaires is not going to change an economic system that is fundamentally structured to keep some people out. We have to change the system overall so that everyone has enough to live a dignified life.
For every dollar that you are investing in impact… you should invest one dollar in an organization that is working to change the rules.To solve the racial wealth gap: “We need people power and narrative change…mobilizing everyday people to force systems to change.I’m sure the energy you have put in to this event has multiplied by the thousands because of the connections that have been made this week.Our intentional mantra is moments to movements, thoughts to actions.

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