Reimagine Wealth Pod 🎙️

in this episode…you’ll hear from Saulo Araujo, the Director of Global Philanthropy, and Chung-Wha Hong, the Co-Executive Director, at Grassroots International. together we discuss Grassroots International’s Solidarity Philanthropy framework which in their own words is an “evolving framework built on principles and practices informed by the social movements we accompany, our sense of responsibility, and extensive experience in grantmaking.” it is a way of accompanying social movements beyond making a financial contribution and,  “takes the critical view that our collective liberation is bound up with one another, and that neither donors nor social movements alone can overcome  the contradictions and the challenges of our current moment of acute overlapping crises.”

Subscribe to the Reimagine Wealth Substack (episode transcriptions can be accessed through the episode page on the Reimagine Wealth Substack).

Reimagine Wealth website

publishing cadence? still figuring this out, check back or subscribe to see latest episodes!

music produced by my brother, Joshua Middlebrooks, you can find him on Soundcloud at Intothegerogian

resources and links lifted up in this episode:

Solidarity Philanthropy (stay tuned, Grassroots International will be sharing more resources about Solidarity Philanthropy soon!)

Grassroots International website

get involved and support their incredible work!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jordynmiddlebrooks.substack.com/subscribe

in this episode…you’ll hear from Vera Kelsey-Watts, the owner of Saltbox Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). together, we delve into what it can practically look like for an institutional home to leverage its reputation to agitate the status quo and incubate new ways of being.

Subscribe to the Reimagine Wealth Substack (episode transcriptions can be accessed through the episode page on the Reimagine Wealth Substack).

Reimagine Wealth website

publishing cadence? still figuring this out, check back or subscribe to see latest episodes!

music produced by my brother, Joshua Middlebrooks, you can find him on Soundcloud at Intothegerogian

resources and links lifted up in this episode:

Saltbox Financial

take action: contact Congress to speak up against the Big Beautiful (Billionaire) Bill

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jordynmiddlebrooks.substack.com/subscribe

in this episode…you’ll hear from Morgan Curtis (she/her) as she shares about her own work as an Ancestors & Money coach and her own personal transformation which includes: her path towards redistribution, navigating intentional decisions around enoughness, and drawing on her own faith to make choices grounded in what she feels called to do (without knowing how they might turn out)

publishing cadence? still figuring this out, check back or subscribe to see latest episodes!

music produced by my brother, Joshua Middlebrooks, you can find him on Soundcloud at Intothegerogian

Subscribe to the Reimagine Wealth Substack (episode transcriptions can be accessed through the episode page on the Reimagine Wealth Substack).

Reimagine Wealth website

resources and links lifted up in this episode:

Ancestors & Money website

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jordynmiddlebrooks.substack.com/subscribe

in this episode…you’ll hear from Chuck Collins, who is the great-grandson of the founder of Oscar Mayer meat processing brand, and who describes himself as someone born on third base. we discuss his book, The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Spend Millions to Hide Trillions (Polity Books), which unmasks the industry of professional enablers that assist the ultra-wealthy to hide wealth and dodge taxes.

Subscribe to the Reimagine Wealth Substack (episode transcriptions can be accessed through the episode page on the Reimagine Wealth Substack).

Reimagine Wealth website

publishing cadence? still figuring this out, check back or subscribe to see latest episodes!

music produced by my brother, Joshua Middlebrooks, you can find him on Soundcloud at Intothegerogian

resources and links lifted up in this episode:

The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions

Chuck’s website and writing

Inequality.org

Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism by Brooke Harrington

Gene Sharp’s Pillars of Support (that uphold a system of support)

take action: contact Congress to speak up against the Big Beautiful (Billionaire) Bill

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jordynmiddlebrooks.substack.com/subscribe

in this episode…you’ll hear from Angelina Alanis (she/they), the Community Organizer and Communications Coordinator for the Festival Beach Food Forest (FBFF), share about the vision for the FBFF, how came into being and how it has evolved and expanded, how their majority volunteer-led team organizes and governs themselves to foster collective democratic decision-making, and about how the forest is a tangible example of what a regional solidarity economy - quite literally rooted in place - can look like.

publishing cadence? still figuring this out, check back or subscribe to see latest episodes!

music produced by my brother, Joshua Middlebrooks, you can find him on Soundcloud at Intothegerogian

Subscribe to the Reimagine Wealth Substack (episode transcriptions can be accessed through the episode page on the Reimagine Wealth Substack).

Reimagine Wealth website

resources and links lifted up in this episode:

Food Forest Website and more about its lore is on the FAQ page

take a virtual tour of the forest!

come to a FBFF event!

FBFF’s fiscal sponsor: Fruitful Commons

Sociocracy

People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources (PODER)

PODER’s Struggles & Victories, including the Holly Power Plant Shutdown

TreeFolks

Austin’s History regarding the 1928 Master Plan

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jordynmiddlebrooks.substack.com/subscribe

in this episode…you’ll hear from Miriam Zoila Pérez (they/them) who is a Cuban American writer, activist, and a certified YNAB money coach. Pérez shares about how we might reframe budgeting and money management as a political act and tells the story of their family’s class oscillation, which was and is largely shaped by immigration.

publishing cadence? still figuring this out, check back or subscribe to see latest episodes!

music produced by my brother, Joshua Middlebrooks, you can find him on Soundcloud at Intothegerogian

Subscribe to the Reimagine Wealth Substack (episode transcriptions can be accessed through the episode page on the Reimagine Wealth Substack).

Reimagine Wealth website

resources and links lifted up in this episode:

Pérez’ website

their YNAB Coaching profile

their recently published YA novel: Camila Núñez's Year of Disasters

their free newsletter about money management

their article they referenced in the conversation, Why I Don’t Want to Hear about Your Vacation to Cuba (an about Cuba politics from the perspective of a progressive Cuban American)

YNAB overview (TikTok)

Ramit Sethi and his podcast Money for Couples with Ramit Sethi

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jordynmiddlebrooks.substack.com/subscribe

in honor of today being mother's day, in this episode…you’ll hear from both Susanna Penfield(our beloved guest from episode 5, linked below if you haven’t listened to it yet) and her mom, Annie Penfield!

together, Annie and Susanna share more about:

what it was like when Susanna approached Annie about her desires to redistribute her entire $1M inheritance

the messiness that comes with moving towards each other instead of away from each other

the narratives of wealth they each had been born into and internalized as well as the narratives they’re now trying to live into

the need to move beyond individual action and into collective action, and how they are practicing that together

publishing cadence? still figuring this out, check back or subscribe to see latest episodes!

music produced by my brother, Joshua Middlebrooks, you can find him on Soundcloud at Intothegerogian

Subscribe to the Reimagine Wealth Substack (episode transcriptions can be accessed through the episode page on the Reimagine Wealth Substack).

Reimagine Wealth website

resources and links lifted up in this episode:

Reimagine Wealth Pod: episode 5: trust-busting with Susanna Penfield

Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC)

Donor-Organizing Groups discussed in the episode:

Solidaire

Northern New England Women’s Investor Network

Vermont Women’s Investor Network is a part of this larger network

Good Ancestor Movement

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jordynmiddlebrooks.substack.com/subscribe

in this episode…you’ll hear from David Cobb (he/him) as he shares his own learnings and lived experience around what it means to be a Marxist revolutionary, the difference between dogma and ideology, how his mindset towards solidarity economy shifted, and how might non-reformist reforms be leveraged to create a post-capitalist future.

publishing cadence? still figuring this out, check back or subscribe to see latest episodes!

music produced by my brother, Joshua Middlebrooks, you can find him on Soundcloud at Intothegerogian

Subscribe to the Reimagine Wealth Substack (episode transcriptions can be accessed through the episode page on the Reimagine Wealth Substack).

Reimagine Wealth website

resources and links lifted up in this episode:

People’s Network for Land and Liberation

NPQ PNLL article

NPQ Building a SE article

USSEN and Solidarity Economy

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jordynmiddlebrooks.substack.com/subscribe

in this episode…you’ll learn how to use Mighty Deposits to find a values-aligned credit union or bank near you!

publishing cadence? still figuring this out, check back or subscribe to see latest episodes!

music produced by my brother, Joshua Middlebrooks, you can find him on Soundcloud at Intothegerogian

Subscribe to the Reimagine Wealth Substack (episode transcriptions can be accessed through the episode page on the Reimagine Wealth Substack).

Reimagine Wealth website

resources and links lifted up in this episode:

Mighty Deposits

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jordynmiddlebrooks.substack.com/subscribe

in this episode…you’ll hear ari rosenberg (she/her) demystify elements of our tax system (including how it is legally structured to disproportionately benefit the ultra wealthy), explore what a just tax system might look like, and discuss ways we might begin to reclaim our power over our tax dollars.

publishing cadence? still figuring this out, check back or subscribe to see latest episodes!

music produced by my brother, Joshua Middlebrooks, you can find him on Soundcloud at Intothegerogian

Subscribe to the Reimagine Wealth Substack (episode transcriptions can be accessed through the episode page on the Reimagine Wealth Substack).

Reimagine Wealth website

resources and links lifted up in this episode:

Wealth Hoarders by Chuck Collins

Chicory Wealth

organizations organizing and mobilizing around tax justice:

Americans for Tax Fairness

ProPublica

Patriotic Millionaires

Organize the Rich by Michael Gast

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jordynmiddlebrooks.substack.com/subscribe