We salute Woody Tasch for This Growing “SLOW MONEY ” Initiative! – Hazel Henderson, Editor
On New Year’s Eve, BusinessWeek reporter John Tozzi set the bar very high for us: he cited Slow Money as one of the “big ideas for 2010.” This capped a year in which NPR had previously called us a movement and ACRES USA had called us a revolution.
That’s a lot of excitement for a small NGO. A LOT of excitement.
The excitement is not just coming from journalists. It’s coming from many of you, with whom we’re now connecting around the country — from the most sophisticated financiers to the most finance-phobic foodies.
To make this story real and lasting, and to achieve the catalytic potential that so many of us sense, we are now heading toward the following goals, which we are sharing with a larger audience for the first issue of the Slow Money Letter:
One million signatories to the Slow Money Principles; on our way to
One million members of the Slow Money Alliance; on our way to
One million investors investing 1% of their assets in local food systems.
The first million within two years; the second million within five years; the third million within a decade.
How are we going to do it? Check out our first newsletter for the whole plan:
Inside you’ll find exciting details of our plan to launch a social media campaign, of which this email is a part. You’ll also hear updates from Slow Money action unfolding at the regional level. In Philadelphia, Madison, Austin, Boston, Seattle, Raleigh/Durham, Boulder, the Hudson Valley, Santa Barbara, Santa Fe, San Francisco, Maine and elsewhere, folks are now organizing slow money clubs and funds. To see reports from these regions, CLICK HERE.
And, for the first time, we are exploring partnerships with established financial institutions to create vehicles for individual investors. With the Calvert Foundation, we are exploring the feasibility of Calvert Foundation Slow Money Notes. With RSF Social Finance, we are exploring collaboration on the “local exchange” that they are hoping to test in the Bay Area, later this year. And you can read about these deals and other Slow Money businesses around the country here.
What fun. . .Hard work. And fun. As much fun as an earthworm in a garlic bed. . .
Let’s enjoy the first green shoots together: check out our newsletter right now, and share it with friends.
My optimism about the path we have chosen is buoyed by the reservoirs of shared inspiration, empowerment and engagement that we have tapped together, and by the spirit with which so many of you have already come forward.
Thanking you all for that, and in anticipation of all the anti-fiduciary-razzmatazz, pro-earthworm work that lies ahead,
Woody Tasch
Chairman
