The Feb 4th GAIA Global session will open the 2021 cycle, in which monthly sessions will each focus on a specific acupuncture point for societal renewal and planetary healing. This first session will tackle mission-based finance, and will involve dialogues hosted by Katrin Käufer, executive director at the Presencing Institute and director of the Just Money Program at MIT’s Community Innovators Lab (CoLab). Her research focuses on leadership, social transformation and on social and green banking. She co-authored with C. Otto Scharmer “Leading from the emerging Future: From Ego-system to Eco-system Economies” in 2013.

 

This GAIA session will coincide with the release of Katrin's new book "Just Money: Mission-Driven Banks and the Future of Finance".

 

How do you create a financial system that serves a community and supports local entrepreneurship? This dialogue features two innovators, Mizi Mtshali and Nsika Masondo from the National Stokvel Association of South Africa.

 

Mizi Mtshali is a South African social entrepreneur with a background in fine arts, design, music, digital media, television production and brand communication. He is the CEO of the National Stokvel Association of South Africa, a legislated institution that represents over 11 million South Africans.

 

Stokvel is a form of credit union that is building on a rotating saving and credit system. This financial system is used not only in South Africa but also in East Africa, South America, China, and Pakistan. In this session Katrin Käufer, director of the Just Money Program at MIT, will talk with guests about their vision for a local financial system and what kind of leadership it asks for.

 

  

 

Mercedes Bidart (Quipu Markets) is an Argentinian social entrepreneur who developed Quipu, a digital marketplace for micro-entrepreneurs in informal settlements. In this dialogue we ask the question of what is money? Who designs money? and what is my personal relationship to money.