It was a warm autumn morning in 2018 when I attended my first Quaker meeting in Philadelphia, Pa. This was only a month after starting my career as a financial planner and investment manager. Looking back over the years since then, I’m grateful that as my discomfort with status quo economics grew, I had my Friends community to talk it over with. I think that much of my professional discomfort came from my new outlook, informed by what I was learning about the Quaker testimonies and the connections I saw between social justice and spirituality.
During my time at a traditional investment firm, I slowly grew aware of how neoliberal capitalism lumps everything that is not directly linked to profits, raw materials, labor, or capital into a catch-all bucket called “externalities.” In practice, it means that many of the negative costs of doing business—such as those that harm the environment and create social unrest through increased wealth inequality—are not factored into capitalist decision making.
But there are movements that challenge this thinking by instead measuring success based on a triple bottom line of profit, people, and planet. Fair Trade Certification and B Corps are two examples. This approach is often called relational finance; it asks us to consider the full impact of our financial decisions, prioritizing trust, mutual growth, and human connections over purely transactional economics. A major benefit is that individuals can reclaim their power as consumers and providers of labor and capital.
As consumers, we can buy local and fair trade products. As labor, we can lobby our employers to pursue the standards required to gain B Corp status. As capital providers, we can align our investments with our values by screening out harmful industries such as fossil fuels, private prisons, and weapons. Quakers Today cohost Peterson Toscano and I will talk more about these choices in an upcoming episode when we cover reparative economics.
In the May episode on relational finance, we walk through different aspects of reclaiming our power in finance and shine a light on so-called externalities. Finance isn’t just for the experts: it includes all of us and we can’t do it alone. As Nathan Kleban from Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR) points out in the episode, “Individual accumulation will not save you.” In his work at RSWR, Nathan asks an important question: “How do we reorient ourselves towards community and towards relationships that we can nurture each other outside of this very extractive economy?”
Also in the episode, Traci Hjelt Sullivan, executive director of RSWR, explains how the organization has moved away from paternalistic “aid” to a model where local women’s groups in Kenya, India, and Sierra Leone are the experts in their own communities and accountable to one another, rather than to Western donors. “We are power sharing with our country coordinators much more dramatically to actually make changes because they recommended it,” Traci says. “We have a very clear philosophy and methodology. . . . We have a spiritual commitment to that that comes out of being Quakers.”
Coming up next month: In my life and work, after much searching I have found a way to harmoniously combine spirituality and money. I work from within the system and with colleagues who are leading the way to a different economy. However, my cohost is more of a skeptic. As Peterson admits in the episode, when he hears the word finance, he thinks of “a machine designed to extract profit.” In next month’s column, Peterson will share some of his struggles and questions around capitalism.
Resources and Recommendations
Check out the December 2015 issue of Friends Journal on Economic Justice and Poverty (available at Friendsjournal.org/issue-archive). Diana also recommends the 2006 romantic comedy Friends with Money, about four longtime friends; three are very wealthy and one is struggling. She calls it “one of the best depictions of the money dissonance we’re talking about this season.”
Do you have a question about Quaker values and money? Or a resource to recommend from your own financial journey? Let us know and you might get featured on the show! Leave a voicemail by calling 317-QUAKERS (317-782-5377) or send an email to [email protected].
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Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. Quakers Today and Friends Journal are not a registered entity and are not an affiliate or subsidiary of Natural Investments. Find the Disclosures and Disclaimers and Form CRS for Natural Investments at naturalinvestments.com/disclosures-disclaimers.
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