The Power of the Circle

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All Systems Go!

Thanks to our amazing cadre of nearly 60 volunteers, the first cohort of 35+ Invest for Better Circles are up and running.  Our monthly calls with this global group of Circle Leaders have provided wonderful opportunities for sharing, learning, reflection and new ideas.

At each meeting, we have invited a few leaders to share their experiences in recruiting members, structuring their meetings and developing trust in their communities.  While most Circle leaders have recruited all members from their personal networks (and most Circles have co-leaders so that means 2 networks), others have augmented their groups with women from the Invest for Better website inquiry list.  While most Circle leaders offer membership for free, a few which are focused on high net worth populations ask for a modest membership fee and use the proceeds to pay speakers.  Several leaders have emphasized the importance of taking time to build an esprit de corps and understanding among the group.

“I was a little intimidated by the idea of leading a Circle, but the first couple of meetings have been great!”  –A new IFB Circle leader

 

Valuable Resources

Here at Invest for Better, we’ve been working to deepen the Toolkit curriculum for the Circles.  Volunteers from the Steering Committee and elsewhere have created template presentations for each meeting.  Thus far, we have tackled Impact Investing Overview, Public markets and Shareholder activism, and Cash & Cash Equivalents.  Private Funds/Direct Investing and Real Assets are the remaining topics.

In response to demand, we also offered our first “Ask the Expert” session, featuring Steering Committee member Kathleen McQuiggan of Artemis Advisors,  who delivered a standout session on Investing 101.  Her straightforward, incredibly clear tutorial, along with a robust set of Q&A, can be found on the Invest for Better website here.  We intend to offer more cohort-wide “Ask the Expert” sessions over the coming months.

“We worked at the beginning to get an understanding of where they each are in their journey and are trying to tailor the experience to them.” –A new IFB Circle leader

 

Join the Movement

We believe that we are reaching about 350+ women in this inaugural cohort and aim to reach 1000 in 2021.  To that end, we are pleased to announce that we will launch a Winter Invest for Better Circle cohort in March and will actively recruit Circle leaders over the coming months.  Please let us know via the JOIN US button if you are interested in leading or joining a Circle.

“We seek to create lots of conversation and community across the group; this is about sharing and engagement, not instruction.” –A new IFB Circle leader

At our last cohort call, one Circle leader posed the question “are we trying to create a movement?”  Our answer. H@#$…. yes!.  So, if you want to join our movement, if you want women to take control of their capital to shape our economy going forward, if you want women to sit at the table and craft the rules of capitalism, please JOIN us!