5 Ways to Be a Clean Money Revolutionary in 2017

A SOCAP Guest Post by Joel Solomon

My first book, The Clean Money Revolution, is coming out in May. So, you may be asking, what is clean money?

Clean Money is money aligned with purpose: money that is about more than self-interest; money that prioritizes the commons; money that makes the world better. Clean money regenerates ecosystems, builds fairness and equity for people, and helps achieve a healthy balance between people and planet.

Clean Money is revolutionary, and it’s also evolutionary. It expands our view of finance from a bank balance, or net worth calculation, or the name of a company you own stock in.

Clean Money builds true security and real prosperity, based on long-term thinking, and a safe, fair resilient future.

Clean Money considers where materials came from, who assembled them, and whether that process was just, regenerative, or destructive. From there, choices can be made. Choices that factor in the future of civilization.

We are in the midst of a great economic shift. It is a time of big challenges but also huge potential. The clean money revolution is the biggest opportunity for making money in history. Reinventing how we steward resources, feed, house, educate, transport, keep healthy, and employ humanity, while protecting natural systems, and the biosphere, are the prosperity drivers that can give us 500 more years of generative civilization.

This revolution can be peaceful, joyous, and smart. You will make it real.

5 Clean Money Practices

1. Invest as if lives depend on you.

Because they do. Be proactive. Research options. Socially Responsible Investing (SRI): screening global stocks and bonds for “less bad”, is a basic first step. Clean money thinks through where materials came from, who assembled them, and whether that process was just, or unjust, regenerative or destructive.

2. Ask annoying questions.

Wealth managers are seeing the trend. More insistent questions will lead to new products in mutual funds, retirement plans, bank accounts, insurance, and wealth management. Cleaner consumer goods, sourcing policies, environmental regulations, fair pay, and reduced discrimination, will follow.

3. Spend + invest locally.

Strengthen community. Recirculate dollars. Make better jobs. You can choose where you shop. Make choices that align with YOUR values.

4. Agitate, agitate, agitate.

Stand for what you believe in. Research. Get informed. Insist. Model it. Tell your friends. Be courageous. Use your influence. Take risks. Then go further. A movement is well underway, gaining momentum. It’s early. You are a leader.

5. Remember your ancestral responsibilities.

We are all ancestors, bloodline procreators or not. The people of many tomorrows are watching us. They want us to be smart and own responsibility for how we live our lives, what we consume, who we disadvantage, how we participate as citizens, and how our actions contribute to a safer, more loving, more just future.

Transitioning to clean money is no dutiful, painful exercise in morality. It is inspiring, invigorating, satisfying, life-enhancing. It gives meaning, purpose, and personal agency.

That’s what I mean by the Clean Money Revolution.

See you there.

Joel Solomon will be hosting the SOCAP 365 event “Capital Shifts for a Regenerative Economy: A Holistic Approach to Trends & Opportunities” at Impact Hub Berkeley on Thursday, March 2, 2017 from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM. Join Joel and a panel of leading thinkers and practitioners to discuss coming shifts in capital and how a “clean money revolution” might help us build a regenerative economic system that works for all. Learn more and get your tickets here.

Joel Solomon is Co-Founder and Chair of Renewal Funds, Canada’s largest mission venture capital firm, with $98MM under management. Renewal Funds invests in Organics and Envirotech.

With Founder + Funder Carol Newell, Joel implemented a “whole portfolio activation to mission” strategy as leader of her “activist family office”. As ED of the Endswell Foundation they spent down a $20M endowment, leaving Tides Canada Foundation and Hollyhock as legacy charities while supporting BC’s renowned environmental community. As CEO of Renewal Partners’ seed capital fund over $10M was placed into dozens of green companies.