REC will be hosting two Summer Organizing Retreats, for students to come together and discuss the endowment, corporate power, and strategies for winning.

ABOUT REC SUMMER ORGANIZING RETREATS

How would you change the world with one million dollars? What about $10 million, $100 million, or $1 billion? Students across the country are standing up to corporate power and demanding control over their universities' money!

Universities, as major institutional investors, are failing our communities by supporting the financial status quo in higher ed: maximizing profit over all social or environmental considerations; choosing high-risk, high-reward dealings; investing in highly complex financial instruments with little transparency; banking with Wall Street, instead of equally sound local community institutions; and choosing to not engage or influence the corporations in which they’re investing.

Youth are getting together and piece-by-piece, campaign-by-campaign, building an endowment movement. We invite you to join us for a week-long training retreat to develop your endowment knowledge and share strategies from across the movement! Our summer program is perfect for someone new to the responsible investment movement in higher education, or for someone looking to develop a strong campaign plan for next year. There is no previous experience or knowledge required.
WHAT WILL BE COVERED

We will be discussing a number of subjects relevant to today’s student leaders, including -

- Confronting corporate power: corporations and universities
- How to understand your endowment and the responsible investment strategies that can develop alternative economies
- How to be an effective student leader: recruiting, engaging, and organizing your campus
- Analyzing success stories! How has responsible investment impacted workers’ rights; environmental justice issues such as climate change, hydraulic fracturing and mountaintop removal coal mining; corporate contributions and our political system; LGBTQ nondiscrimination; poverty in our local communities; and much more.
WHO SHOULD APPLY?

If you have a passion for social justice and are prepared for an intensive and intimate experience, you have everything you need. The goal of this training is to provide students with all of the knowledge they would need to create change at their university from the ground up. No previous knowledge or experience in finance, organizing, or activism is required.
TWO RETREATS

Northeast Summer Organizing Retreat

Where: Murray Grove Retreat and Renewal Center, Lakona Harbor, NJ. Within two hours of NYC and Philadelphia by car, and also fully accessible to both cities by public transit
When: Sunday evening — Saturday morning, July 28 — August 3, 2013

West Coast Summer Organizing Retreat

Where: Ben Lomond Quaker Center, Ben Lomond, CA. Less than 2 hours south of San Francisco by car, and also accessible by public transit.
When: Saturday evening — Friday morning, August 17 — 23, 2013
COST

The suggested tuition -- including food, housing, and staff time for the entire week -- varies depending on the number of attendees from your school:
• If you are the only attendee from your school: $300/person
• If you are one of 2 attendees from your school: $210/person
• If you are one of 3 attendees from your school: $160/person

However, we recognize that not everyone is in a position to pay this much or raise this much money. We hope to work with each attendee to pay on a sliding scale whatever they may be able to. Between REC's scholarship funding and your own fundraising abilities we are committed to making sure that all who wish to attend will be able to. Full and partial scholarships are available and we will also have travel funding available for those who are unable to support their travel. Let's work together to figure it out!
DEADLINE

Apply using our Google Form. Rolling until spaces are filled! We are currently still accepting applications. The sooner the better.

November 9th, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, MA

The Future of Higher Education Endowments
Conversations about Responsible Investing and Sustainability

Universities collectively hold more than $400 billion in their endowments. While there are similarities between the 800-plus institutions, each school has its own unique set of circumstances. Some schools manage their investments in-house, some use outside managers, and many use consultants to provide advice on a wide variety of investment policies and practices.  Investment choices can also be influenced by a school’s mission.  Money can be invested in a variety of asset classes, such as real estate, private equity vehicles and community institutions, in addition to stocks or bonds issued by publicly traded companies.

Endowments provide a substantial portion of many schools’ budgets and wise management of these funds is essential for ensuring the future of colleges and universities. Increasingly, students, alumni, and communities are asking that endowment managers practice responsible investment and take more robust action to ensure their investments encourage environmental and social sustainability. Considering these factors also can mitigate investment risks that often are not taken into account in traditional investment management, which why a growing number of large institutional investors are taking action, dramatically changing options in the investment world.

Join the Initiative for Responsible Investment, a project of the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University, and the Responsible Endowments Coalition, for this one-day gathering where we will explore different options for the investing of endowments, and related transparency and accountability issues relevant for campus communities. This space will bring together a small group of highly knowledgeable students, administrators, faculty, and trustees, to discuss, in an open and intellectual way, their thoughts and desires for how endowments can change while continuing to meet their fiduciary duty and performance expectations, limit risk, and incorporate the values of the college into the investment process.

More information available soon.

This conference is limited to administrators, trustees, faculty, members of Committees on Investor Responsibility, and a limited number of other students.

To register contact Katie Grace at the Initiative for Responsible Investment at Katie_Grace@hks.harvard.edu. Directions upon registration.

"I attended REC's Summer Organizing Institute in 2009 and it was truly inspiring! ...  I met a bunch of smart, fun students from other campuses, learned about the initiatives they were undertaking, and applied their ideas and tactics to my school's campaign.  The skills I learned at the Summer Organizing Institute have been integral to my organizing and I strongly recommend it for any student that also wants to create change on their campus." Mary Schellentrager, American University '10

About REC Summer Organizing Retreats

How would you change the world with one million dollars? What about $10 million, $100 million, or $1 billion? Students across the country are standing up to corporate power and demanding control over their universities' money!

Universities, as major institutional investors, are failing their communities by supporting the financial status quo in higher ed: maximizing profit over all social or environmental considerations; choosing high-risk, high-reward dealings; investing in highly complex financial instruments with little transparency; banking with Wall Street, instead of equally sound local community institutions; and choosing to not engage or influence the corporations in which they’re investing.

Youth are getting together and piece-by-piece, campaign-by-campaign, building an endowment movement. We invite you to join other students from around the country for a week-long training retreat to develop your endowment knowledge and share strategies from across the movement! Our summer program is perfect for someone new to the responsible investment movement in higher education, or for someone looking to develop a strong campaign plan for next year. There is no previous experience or knowledge required.

What will be covered?

We will be discussing a number of subjects relevant to today’s student leaders, including:

• Confronting corporate power: corporations and universities


• How to understand your endowment and the responsible investment strategies that can develop alternative economies


• How to be an effective student leader: recruiting, engaging, and organizing your campus


• Analyzing success stories! How has responsible investment impacted workers’ rights; environmental justice issues such as climate change, hydraulic fracturing and mountaintop removal coal mining; corporate contributions and our political system; LGBTQ nondiscrimination; poverty in our local communities; and much more.

Who should apply?

If you have a passion for social justice and are prepared for an intensive and intimate experience, you have everything you need. The goal of this training is to provide students with all of the knowledge they would need to create change at their university from the ground up. No previous knowledge or experience in finance, organizing, or activism is required.

Apply Now

Northeast Summer Organizing Retreat

Where: Murray Grove Retreat and Renewal Center, Lakona Harbor, NJ. Within two hours of NYC and Philadelphia by car, and also fully accessible to both cities by public transit
When: Sunday evening -- Saturday morning, July 28 -- August 3, 2013

 

West Coast Summer Organizing Retreat

Where: Ben Lomond Quaker Center, Ben Lomond, CA. Less than 2 hours south of San Francisco by car, and also accessible by public transit.


When: Saturday evening -- Friday morning, August 17 -- 23, 2013

Cost:

The suggested tuition -- including food, housing, and staff time for the entire week -- varies depending on the number of attendees from your school:
• If you are the only attendee from your school: $300/person
• If you are one of 2 attendees from your school: $210/person
• If you are one of 3 attendees from your school: $160/person

However, we recognize that not everyone is in a position to pay this much or raise this much money. We hope to work with each attendee to pay on a sliding scale whatever they may be able to. Between REC's scholarship funding and your own fundraising abilities we are committed to making sure that all who wish to attend will be able to. Full and partial scholarships are available and we will also have travel funding available for those who are unable to support their travel. Let's work together to figure it out!

Fundraising:

Let us help you find funding! Check out our Fundraising Guide for Students (.doc) to get started on proven strategies to raise money for your summer plans. Email us with questions or for support with fundraising or on the application process.

Apply Now

Questions?

Email us at organize@endowmentethics.org and we'll answer all of your questions. We look forward to meeting you!

Spread the word!

Please spread the word by hitting 'like' and 'share' on Facebook below and tagging your friends and folks:

In some ways, the best way to for me to explain the magnitude of the social forum is to say that it took three weeks to sit down and write something. More than any conference or event I’ve been to, the Social Forum (www.ussf2010.org) was by far the most intense and engaging, inspiring yet overwhelming. I was expecting to be able to continue to check email while in Detroit. That only happened a couple of times at midnight and 6 AM, but not once during the day.

We left for Detroit Monday morning, deciding to drive to save on money and greenhouse gas emissions. In the six days of the trip – Monday through Saturday – there were not many moments that I wasn’t engrossed in conversation or listening to an amazing presentation. 15,000 activists and organizers from around the country overwhelmed downtown Detroit to the point that, driving around the city, you always knew someone—and it wasn’t hard to find a good discussion.

REC planned two workshops in Detroit. In one, we did an overview of our work and of the possibilities for universities in changing their endowment investments. Out of that great group, we met some new allies including the Mary Knoll Office for Global Concerns and the Food Project along with representatives from schools around the country.

The other workshop REC worked with the United States Student Association and North American Students of Cooperation (links), the largest student-run student group in the country and the leader in cooperative housing and cooperatives at colleges and universities, to talk about the democratization of colleges and universities and the higher education system as a whole.

While REC focuses on changing the way endowments are invested, we believe that is important to engage with other groups working on issues like financial aid, community engagement, and housing in order to build a stronger, more diverse, and more comprehensive movement for making universities more accountable to their numerous stakeholders. In the workshop we discussed free higher education, more community engagement and student control, and how to make these things happen—with groups coming to work together.

Other workshops were also inspirational. Grace Lee Boggs, who at 95 years old is truly a mother of many of the movements today, spoke about her experiences as a community organizer for more than seven decades in Detroit and where she thinks the movement should go.

Just having so many people doing important work together in one place was incredible. It gives so much hope, knowing that if there are 15,000 people willing to come all the way to Detroit for five days, there must be many times that number working in their communities every day for a more just and sustainable US.

Finally I especially want to thank our hosts, the Fialka-Feldman family, truly a family of organizers, particularly Micah, a disability justice pioneer (http://www.throughthesamedoor.com/), to the organizers of the US Social Forum, and to the entire City of Detroit for welcoming all of us.