A Month for Imagination: September 2022
CONVERGENCE XIX is an international convening that is designed to expand what is seen as possible. It is optimized for global time zones.
Imagine a world where investors, as standard practice, divest capital from corporations complicit in reinforcing systems of violence and exploitation. Where a speech or a tweet from a movement leader could move markets, channeling investment capital into transformative feminist solutions to climate change and economic inequality.
Imagine if governments required the paid involvement of women’s rights organizations in the design and implementation of private sector initiatives. If measures of economic success were premised on a reimagined understanding of GDP that account for the enormous contributions made by women through unpaid care work. Imagine if we could fundamentally disrupt who holds power within financial systems and re-design them according to feminist principles and frameworks.
Financial systems have historically been intertwined with patriarchy, serving to uphold and reinforce inequality and injustice around the world. Criterion believes we can change that. We believe that systems of finance can become important tools to achieve a feminist future, and that one significant barrier to achieving it may very well be a failure of imagination.
With Convergence XIX, Criterion seeks to create a safe space – where we will bring together thought leaders and practitioners from diverse fields to test ideas, design strategies, build relationships, and uncover new pathways to action.
