Update: Hi everyone, I've hit my first target (horray!) but every additional contribution will really help this get off the ground. I've added a new £7 perk for those who wish to support, so please read the pitch below and get stuck in! Cheers, Brett
Empowering people to grapple with the financial system
Hello all. I’m very happy to say that I have a book coming out with UK publisher Pluto Press in May. It’s called the Heretic’s Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money. The book aims to provide a gateway for a reader to enter the matrix of global finance, and to rewire it in positive ways. I’m really excited about it and hope it’s going to help a lot of people.
Now I've got a new project, related to the book, that I want to get off the ground. I’d like to design, and then start, a London-based school of financial activism (click on the link for more details about the project and my background). The school will be based on experiential learning and will take campaigners on immersive journeys into how the financial system works and into how they might use it for social and environmental causes.
Much financial education is pretty dry and exclusive, alienating most people. That's why I'm interested in making fun and mischievous courses, set within the physical space of the financial sector. I want to develop a 'syllabus' covering five major areas:
- Money
- The financial intermediaries that steer money around the world
- The main instruments they use to do that
- The major problems associated with that
- How we might do it differently through alternative modes of finance
Learning modules are interwoven with real experience. We may, for example, visit a derivatives exchange, or see how a trading platform works by using one. We’ll look through the actual manuals that a JP Morgan M&A banker uses, and interact with financial models. We’ll analyse news stories in the Financial Times, taking on the persona of a fund manager, trader and corporate banker. We’ll seek to identify sources of disconnection in finance, and explore ways in which they may be reconnected. We can discuss alternative systems in Canary Wharf bars, test out alternative currencies and lending systems, and meet people with bold new ideas for future economies.
The workshops will set the framework for a more permanent School of Financial Activism, ideally with its own offices, regular events and structured support programmes. The School will seek to develop resources for campaign groups, and encourage bold experimentation in alternative finance, shareholder activism, hedge fund activism, and social studies of finance.
Help build a global financial revolution!
All of this needs time and money to organise. I currently work freelance doing journalism and helping out campaign groups, but this doesn’t pay very much (I often help out groups that have very little money themselves). I thus often find myself living week-by-week, never knowing where money will come from. So, what I want to do is simple. To get my new project off the ground, I don’t just want to ask for donations. Rather, I’d like to offer you something tangible, and awesome: Limited edition versions of my book, along with vouchers for the future courses I develop!
NEW PERK: For those with a less disposable income, there are Chartered Financial Activist stickers up for grabs for a contribution of £7. This is a mischevious play on the financial industry 'Chartered Financial Analyst' logo. Stick them on the window of your nearest global investment bank!
For those with a little bit more free cash, there are four limited edition series of The Heretic's Guide to Global Finance available:
The Junior Traders: If you contribute £20 to the campaign you'll get a signed copy of the book (softcover version), with a personalised note, delivered to you. There are 100 available. They'll come labelled with 'The Junior Trader series', a number from 1-100, and a Chartered Financial Activist ink-stamp.
The Hardass Cityboys: If you contribute £50 you'll get a signed copy of the hardcover version of the book, and a voucher for 50% off a future course at the School of Financial Activism. There are 25 books available in this series, each representing one of the 25 wards of the City of London (the London borough at the heart of global finance). Each book shall be ink-stamped with its designated ward and come labelled with 'The Hardass Cityboys series'. Will you get Bishopsgate, Lime Street or Candlewick?
The Hedge Fund Gamblers: Fancy a game of high-stakes poker? If you contribute £125 you'll get a signed hardcover version of the book, a voucher for a free future course at the School of Financial Activism, and a bespoke Heretic's Guide to Global Finance poker card deck made exclusively for me by Steve Shedden (5 available). The question in the mind of the gambler is this: "Are these collectors items?" Maybe... if the book ever becomes famous, ha ha. The book comes labelled with 'The Hedge Fund Gamblers series', numbered 1-5.
The Three Hackers: If you contribute £250 you'll get a signed hardcover version of the book with bespoke cover artwork, and a voucher for a free future course at the School of Financial Activism. Three are available, each with a different cover representing one of the three parts of the book (which are 'Explore', 'Jam', 'Build'). The bespoke covers will be co-designed by myself in conjunction with some awesome artist/designer friends from London & South Africa. Comes labelled as 'The Hacker Series', numbered 1-3. When combined, the three books open a vortex into an alternative financial system. Awesome.
How I'll use the money
Once the book is published in May, I'll get the copies and deliver them to you. In the interim, I'll use the money to help me launch the School. The money will act as seed funding, allowing me to design the project properly and get the pieces in place, from which point I can attract funding from larger organisations that can help me scale it up. Examples of things I need to do are:
- Take time to design the initial workshop series, and create learning materials
- Find venues and rent them for the initial meetings
- Scout for sponsors, prepare materials and proposals for them, and pitch to them
- Develop promotional materials to publicise the courses
- Travel around the UK to promote the idea
- Line up collaborators (both individuals and organisations) who can contribute to the courses
