In celebration of our companions and the good work they do to advance financial progress for all, we interviewed a few of our Nasdaq Basis quarterly grant recipients about their roles, backgrounds and the significance of their work. We spoke with Cathy Cowan Becker, Accountable Finance Marketing campaign Director of Inexperienced America, on its mission to harnesses financial energy—the power of shoppers, buyers, companies, and {the marketplace}—to create a socially simply and environmentally sustainable society.
Inform us about Inexperienced America. What’s its core mission?
Inexperienced America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that goals to harness financial energy— the power of shoppers, buyers, companies, and {the marketplace}— to create a socially simply and environmentally sustainable society. We’ve 5 interrelated focus areas: Local weather Motion & Clear Vitality, Regenerative Agriculture, Labor Justice, Inexperienced Dwelling, and Accountable Finance. Via our Accountable Finance Program, we train individuals throughout the nation how their monetary choices may also help create a extra equitable and sustainable world.
Why is Inexperienced America’s mission so essential?
Inexperienced America’s mission is exclusive in that it focuses on leveraging current market forces to drive constructive social and environmental change. Our applications mobilize individuals of their roles as shoppers, buyers, and enterprise leaders to advertise and advance options to local weather change, meals system vulnerabilities, labor abuses, and extra. Our principle of change acknowledges that client decisions typically drive market traits and our strategy helps on a regular basis People understand the person and collective energy they wield with their financial decisions.
Are you able to discuss to us in regards to the Accountable Finance Program? What impression are you hoping the Nasdaq Basis’s Quarterly Grant could have on this system’s success?
Our Accountable Finance program teaches individuals about how they’ll use their monetary decisions (e.g. banking, bank cards, insurance coverage, and investing) to learn their communities. Every year, we educate lots of of 1000’s of individuals via free articles, weblog posts, informational webinars, exterior media protection, accessible how-to guides, movies, and social media posts.
We predict all individuals – particularly Millennials and members of Gen Z – have to know that their monetary decisions can’t solely profit them, but additionally construct extra vibrant communities and meet the wants of future generations. Although Inexperienced America has been educating audiences about banking and investing for many years, it can be crucial that we refine our messaging to suit the present context and tackle the challenges confronted by youthful generations.
Help from the Nasdaq Basis is offering Inexperienced America with the capability to just do that! Collectively, we’re working to demystify banking, bank cards, insurance coverage and investing in addition to serving to individuals determine the monetary choices that greatest serve their wants. Particularly, the Nasdaq Basis is supporting Inexperienced America in internet hosting free instructional webinars, selling our particular person investing course, and creating two new microsites. One such web site an Investing 101 microsite that may break down obstacles to investing by explaining fundamental terminology and spelling out the position investing can play in making a extra socially simply and sustainable economic system.
This microsite can be full and accessible to the general public in January 2025 – keep tuned!
Are you able to share one or two tales that illustrate the impression of Inexperienced America?
Inexperienced America has assets that assist companies inexperienced their funds. The CEO of Yaya Maria, Andy Mebert, spoke with us in regards to the firm’s resolution to financial institution with a neighborhood credit score union that helps working individuals within the firm’s neighborhood reasonably than investing in international monetary markets. You possibly can learn extra about our viewers members’ causes for and experiences with switching banks at https://www.greenamerica.org/we-switched-banks.
This yr, we additionally launched our Regenerative Finance Hub. This Hub helps farmers who’re adopting soil regeneration practices apply for grants to cowl some prices associated to transitioning to regenerative farming. In its first six months, our Hub helped farmers entry $425,000 in grants for invisible fencing to provoke rotational grazing, for a small processing plant that may pay regenerative farmers a premium for his or her merchandise, and extra! Already, we now have already helped transitioning farmers throughout the nation apply for over $1 million in grants!
One other instrument we launched this yr is our Local weather Good Insurance coverage Listing. Very like our Higher Banking Map that options neighborhood growth banks and credit score unions, our insurance coverage listing options native and regional insurance coverage firms. Many of those firms have been in enterprise of their communities for many years. And a number of other individuals who have switched their insurance policies to the insurance coverage firms we function have advised us they’re saving lots of of {dollars} per yr for a similar protection they have been receiving from their earlier supplier(s)!
What do you envision for the way forward for the Accountable Finance Program?
Inexperienced America is presently revamping our Accountable Finance webpages to raised promote our assets about banking, bank cards, insurance coverage, and investing – with the objective of teaching readers of all backgrounds, offering actionable assets, and motivating individuals to take motion to align their funds with their values. The 2 main assets made attainable by the Nasdaq Basis – our upgraded Higher Banking map and Investing 101 microsites – will spherical out our depository of instruments that help individuals in utilizing their monetary decisions to spend money on their communities and construct a extra sustainable and equitable world.
Our subsequent precedence is getting Inexperienced America’s assets in entrance of extra individuals! One tactic we now have developed (in partnership with GreenFaith and Third Act) is a accountable finance curriculum for regional cohorts of people and organizations looking for to “inexperienced” their funds. The cohort mannequin will encourage peer-to-peer studying and accountability in addition to develop how Inexperienced America delivers and tailors our content material. The primary cohort in Olympia, Washington, will launch this fall!
In celebration of our companions and the good work they do to advance financial progress for all, we interviewed a few of our Nasdaq Basis quarterly grant recipients about their roles, backgrounds and the significance of their work. We spoke with Cathy Cowan Becker, Accountable Finance Marketing campaign Director of Inexperienced America, on its mission to harnesses financial energy—the power of shoppers, buyers, companies, and {the marketplace}—to create a socially simply and environmentally sustainable society.
Inform us about Inexperienced America. What’s its core mission?
Inexperienced America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that goals to harness financial energy— the power of shoppers, buyers, companies, and {the marketplace}— to create a socially simply and environmentally sustainable society. We’ve 5 interrelated focus areas: Local weather Motion & Clear Vitality, Regenerative Agriculture, Labor Justice, Inexperienced Dwelling, and Accountable Finance. Via our Accountable Finance Program, we train individuals throughout the nation how their monetary choices may also help create a extra equitable and sustainable world.
Why is Inexperienced America’s mission so essential?
Inexperienced America’s mission is exclusive in that it focuses on leveraging current market forces to drive constructive social and environmental change. Our applications mobilize individuals of their roles as shoppers, buyers, and enterprise leaders to advertise and advance options to local weather change, meals system vulnerabilities, labor abuses, and extra. Our principle of change acknowledges that client decisions typically drive market traits and our strategy helps on a regular basis People understand the person and collective energy they wield with their financial decisions.
Are you able to discuss to us in regards to the Accountable Finance Program? What impression are you hoping the Nasdaq Basis’s Quarterly Grant could have on this system’s success?
Our Accountable Finance program teaches individuals about how they’ll use their monetary decisions (e.g. banking, bank cards, insurance coverage, and investing) to learn their communities. Every year, we educate lots of of 1000’s of individuals via free articles, weblog posts, informational webinars, exterior media protection, accessible how-to guides, movies, and social media posts.
We predict all individuals – particularly Millennials and members of Gen Z – have to know that their monetary decisions can’t solely profit them, but additionally construct extra vibrant communities and meet the wants of future generations. Although Inexperienced America has been educating audiences about banking and investing for many years, it can be crucial that we refine our messaging to suit the present context and tackle the challenges confronted by youthful generations.
Help from the Nasdaq Basis is offering Inexperienced America with the capability to just do that! Collectively, we’re working to demystify banking, bank cards, insurance coverage and investing in addition to serving to individuals determine the monetary choices that greatest serve their wants. Particularly, the Nasdaq Basis is supporting Inexperienced America in internet hosting free instructional webinars, selling our particular person investing course, and creating two new microsites. One such web site an Investing 101 microsite that may break down obstacles to investing by explaining fundamental terminology and spelling out the position investing can play in making a extra socially simply and sustainable economic system.
This microsite can be full and accessible to the general public in January 2025 – keep tuned!
Are you able to share one or two tales that illustrate the impression of Inexperienced America?
Inexperienced America has assets that assist companies inexperienced their funds. The CEO of Yaya Maria, Andy Mebert, spoke with us in regards to the firm’s resolution to financial institution with a neighborhood credit score union that helps working individuals within the firm’s neighborhood reasonably than investing in international monetary markets. You possibly can learn extra about our viewers members’ causes for and experiences with switching banks at https://www.greenamerica.org/we-switched-banks.
This yr, we additionally launched our Regenerative Finance Hub. This Hub helps farmers who’re adopting soil regeneration practices apply for grants to cowl some prices associated to transitioning to regenerative farming. In its first six months, our Hub helped farmers entry $425,000 in grants for invisible fencing to provoke rotational grazing, for a small processing plant that may pay regenerative farmers a premium for his or her merchandise, and extra! Already, we now have already helped transitioning farmers throughout the nation apply for over $1 million in grants!
One other instrument we launched this yr is our Local weather Good Insurance coverage Listing. Very like our Higher Banking Map that options neighborhood growth banks and credit score unions, our insurance coverage listing options native and regional insurance coverage firms. Many of those firms have been in enterprise of their communities for many years. And a number of other individuals who have switched their insurance policies to the insurance coverage firms we function have advised us they’re saving lots of of {dollars} per yr for a similar protection they have been receiving from their earlier supplier(s)!
What do you envision for the way forward for the Accountable Finance Program?
Inexperienced America is presently revamping our Accountable Finance webpages to raised promote our assets about banking, bank cards, insurance coverage, and investing – with the objective of teaching readers of all backgrounds, offering actionable assets, and motivating individuals to take motion to align their funds with their values. The 2 main assets made attainable by the Nasdaq Basis – our upgraded Higher Banking map and Investing 101 microsites – will spherical out our depository of instruments that help individuals in utilizing their monetary decisions to spend money on their communities and construct a extra sustainable and equitable world.
Our subsequent precedence is getting Inexperienced America’s assets in entrance of extra individuals! One tactic we now have developed (in partnership with GreenFaith and Third Act) is a accountable finance curriculum for regional cohorts of people and organizations looking for to “inexperienced” their funds. The cohort mannequin will encourage peer-to-peer studying and accountability in addition to develop how Inexperienced America delivers and tailors our content material. The primary cohort in Olympia, Washington, will launch this fall!
