“Teach her about how money really works, and she can change the world.” —Linda Davis Taylor

Women are changing the world. We’re learning from, and becoming, innovators in politics, science and engineering, arts and culture, and, perhaps most notably, business and finance. How we earn, spend, and invest our money can help us not only shift and enrich our lives and communities but transform our perspectives around money.

Katrin Kaeufer is one of the women leading this change. During this three-session Circles program, Katrin—the director of the Just Money Program at MIT’s Community Innovators Lab—will share her story of what led her to work with banks.

In what ways can our attitudes around, and our understanding of, money and finance help address the challenges of our time? What can we learn from innovators? What are the personal and globe implications of our relationship with money? Together we will explore how the future of money intersects with our personal futures and how we can participate in writing a new and more hopeful story.

Three 60-minute sessions will include Katrin’s story of what drew her to helping banks move toward more conscious values, as well as group discussion, small-group sharing, and personal writing.

SESSION 1: MARCH 7th
Where Does Your Money Sleep at Night?

In this first session, Katrin will share her personal journey into the world of values-based finance and present inspiring examples on how financial institutions are using their role to change the world. Through interactive discussion and small group sharing, we will begin to explore the dynamic story of women and finance, as well as unfurl our personal stories and relationships with money.

SESSION 2: MARCH 14th
Using Finance as a Tool for Good

How do existing organizations successfully combine impact with profitability? What can we learn from them? Through open dialogue and reflection, Katrin will lead us in applying principles embraced by values-based banks to our own financial lives and/or our businesses.

SESSION 3: MARCH 21st
The End of the Neutrality Paradigm

There are many examples of innovations in the financial system—but are they sustainable? How can these innovations grow and help transform financial values? In this final session, Katrin will help us step back and look at the future of our overall economic system and how we each figure into it. What are the implications of the current polycrisis (ex: Covid, climate change, and class disparity), how might we reorganize our society and our economic system, and what are the implications for each of us personally?

Katrin Kaeufer

Dr. Katrin Kaeufer is director of the Just Money Program at the Community Innovators Lab within the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and cofounder and executive director of the Presencing Institute. Katrin teaches on leadership and transformational change. Her research focuses on leadership, organizational change, and mission-based banking, as well as on participatory action research.

She is the author of Just Money: Mission-Driven Banks and the Future of Finance. (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2021), which explores the role of mission-driven banking for addressing societal challenges. She is also coauthor with Otto Scharmer of Leading from the Emerging Future: From Ego-System to Eco-System Economies. www.katrinkaeufer.com