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You can read about Day 1 here, and Day 2 here. In 2018 I went to Charleston to spend time with my friend, Stuart Williams, to see for myself what drives him, and what makes him do the things he does. This is my report from Day 3. ~ Lawrence Bloom As I waited for Stuart at a coffee shop near his home on Johns Island, I wrestled with just how egregious I should be on flushing out the comments that make him the lightening rod that he has become in the government and not-for-profit worlds. Given that getting him alone is a feat unto itself, I decided to just dive in to see just how direct I could get him to be on issues that are often very sensitive. Having already witnessed the passion he has for inclusion, I decided to try and pry out his thoughts on the subject, and, not to disappoint, I found his view to be different to most others, but again, it is one that is hard to argue with because although he leans Democrat most of the time, he really does embrace many Republican ideas. Bang - “marginalization and exclusion are economic models and are deliberate. As long as modern humans have stood upright, we as a race have extracted things for two reasons, need and or greed, and don’t think for one moment that extraction means only natural resources from the earth. We have extracted indigenous people’s lands and assets, we have extracted free labor i.e. slavery, and we continue to extract people’s capital, hopes, dreams, and even worse their very souls”. He then turned the questioning on me “how much do you think a human life is worth in monetary terms”, his blue eyes piercing me without a blink until I answered. Being unprepared for the question I shamefully admitted that I would need to think about that. “Well, let me help you, if we break down a life into hours, do you think the answer is $7.25 for an hour” he quizzed, still not having blinked, “no” I said, “when you put it that way, an hour of someone’s life is probably worth more than $7.25”. I pushed harder. “If we fail at inclusion, I will use some artistic license in reciting a quote from Virgil’s Aeneid (note to self to find out what that is and read it) to describe the outcome”, Williams says. “as I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding; like the American (Roman), I seem to see the River Potomac (Tiber) foaming with much blood." There are many who heed the advice Williams gives, as an example of why, he wrote this in July 2016: Do Not Write Off The Reality of Trump & His Tactics It has long been said that civil unrest in the US will not come from an ethnic minority but from the "forgotten white fe/male" who believe (with valid reasons) that their needs are always being overlooked. It is factions of these people who are stocking arsenals of weapons, believe in white supremacy, and are growing in number. Furthermore, according to Political Research Associates 97% of mass shootings are committed by white males. This may not seem like a sea change that could swing an election unless we look at the race make up in America where we find that +/- 197,000,000 (almost 67%) of US Citizens are white. Add to this that 47% of voting age public are stating they are independent, and we can begin to see what Trump is doing - going on a sell-out strategy to get as much of the "forgotten white fe/male" vote as he can. If he gets +/- 61,000,000 votes from the right states he will at worst win, and at best he will not so surreptitiously incite a race and humanitarian divide that could lead to a level of civil unrest and a divide in our nation that has not been seen since before the mid 60's. Every day, we are exposed to surreptitious advertisers using secretive communication practices meant to mislead us about products or services. I believe Trump and his strategists have done their homework and have designed and are executing a brilliant game plan based upon how they believe they can win. We may be witnessing the rants of a mad man, but they are backed through research conducted by a bright, calculating, powerful team of people who have done their homework, crunched the numbers and believe they have found a niche they can exploit to win the election. It is time to stop writing off Trump and his brain trust as this is for real". I guess we can all decide how right or wrong he was with this prediction, however, if you believe he was right, you may wish to know that he is predicting a meltdown of society based upon the promotion of division and hate that have become monikers of the Trump administration. “Before the end of his first term we will see blood in our streets as a result of a broken system, which is not to be confused with a system being broken by the unrest” he says. “But what of the current remedies?” I asked. “Our national politicians are useless, the Democrats deal in bribes as welfare is a joke, entitlement it is the guilt trip of extraction, and both are actually designed to keep people excluded”. He fully believes that welfare and entitlement were born out of guilt, and he finds it loathsome that “we bribe people to remain excluded by giving them barely enough to survive, but not enough to become included and to thrive”. As for the Republicans, they get the next full frontal on Trickle Down Economics, “another joke” he says, “firstly, you have to actually be in the barrel to capture anything that trickles down to the bottom, and secondly, even if you are in the barrel, what started at the top is barely a droplet by the time it gets to you.” “What about philanthropy and the not-for-profit industry”? I ask. All of a sudden he stops me abruptly, “my dear fellow, do you want to go on like this or just cut to the chase”, he says. I got the feeling that although polite, this was not a question. “To find the cause we have to take a deep look into the socioeconomic pyramid to see who or what is hiding in plain sight. Who or what gets to benefit from the Top thinking that the residents at the Bottom are all lazy and just want handouts, and the Bottom thinking that all of the residents at the Top never release any of their capital, neither of which are true”. He had mentioned this before but now he took it a stage further. “If I go to the residents at the Top and perpetuate a narrative that those at the Bottom need more money to help with an effect of poverty, I can probably convince them to release more capital. Then, if I go to the residents of the Bottom and agree with them that the Top does not do enough, I can probably convince them that I am their answer. However, what I forget to tell both parties, is that the majority of the money released from the Top will never make it to the bottom, hence I can perpetuate the narrative of the Top not releasing enough, and the bottom being lazy and wanting more. Add to this that certain community leaders do not want problems fixed as it puts them out of a role of power, and it does not take a genius to figure out where the choke points are. So, until the Top and Bottom have a direct line of sight to each other nothing will change, as not only is entitlement the guilt trip of extraction, it feeds so many that are not even marginalized”. “Examples”? I ask with less gusto than I started this interview. “Let me start by saying that there are numerous NFP’s and Foundations that do incredible work and must be supported, even if many of them are focused on the effects of a lack of inclusion and not the cause. Many people with huge hearts have donated billions and billions of dollars, but because poverty and lack of inclusion are economic models, we have been fighting economics with charity for at least 60-years which is like taking a knife to a gun fight, and the fact that no solution has been found speaks for itself”, he says. “You appear to be a good researcher, so go and see what the net worth of certain politicians and NFP leaders was before they entered their respective offices, and then look at what they were when they left. Do the same for certain community leaders that represent marginalized community segments, and, while you are at it, go and find where over 70% of the $427Billion donated by American’s in 2018 went, as it never made it to fund the Bottom-Up innovations it was purposed to support". “Do you know where it went”? I asked. “Personnel, G&A, administration, “awareness”, fund-raising, and professional fees”. I must admit, I had never thought of charity, entitlement, welfare etc., “feeding” those not in marginalized communities. “So, what is left?” I asked. “Access" he blurts out. "Why on earth would we destroy something that has worked for 70% of humanity, as opposed to working our tails off to provide the other 30% with access to it. Empowerment, business, economics, commerce and an edited version of Charter Cities is the answer. Editing capitalism to become inclusive, and empowering all people to become included, which makes the modern business leader the most important person in the room”. Obviously, the above statement is what Impact Economics has been designed to do but given we spoke enough about that in our prior two interviews, I pressed on with my line of questioning about access. “Access will allow marginalized people to increasing economic vibrancy in their own communities. Access leads to inclusion, inclusion leads to equity, equity leads to resiliency, and before something can be sustainable it must be resilient. Thus, access can equal sustainable". “Is this why Impact Investing is so important?” I ask. “Impact Investing is important for numerous reasons, but it pales in comparison to the impact modern business leaders can have. Are there some businesses that knowingly make their money at the expense of segments of humanity and or our planet, - for sure, however, most modern business owners truly care about their communities and have a high desire to help". ​ "Let's put into context the potential positive impact businesses can have in in America.In our country there are over 16,000,000 operating businesses, combined, they employ over 129,000,000 people, they touch every community in the US, and they all use financial, human, and environmental resources to run their operations. The most important of these companies come from the two extremes of the socioeconomic spectrum i.e. those being started by younger entrepreneurs who have already accumulated great wealth and a now focusing some of that capital, but more importantly their intellectual capital, on the social and environmental problems we face; plus those being started by new entrepreneurs living in marginalized communities and who are last starting to be included in the start-up ecosystem. Obviously, we must expedite the rate at which the latter are empowered to participate i.e. be included! ​ Today, the US public companies alone hold more than $2 Trillion in cash assets on their balance sheets, indeed some of it is levered, and too much remains offshore, however for the focus of this conversation, let us assume that the cash on hand at private companies makes up the difference. So, what could happen every business truly embraced Impact Economics which includes the modern Leadership and Management practices of Profit for Purpose? Current research shows that they would: Generate higher corporate revenues Positively affect 129,000,000 current employees and the people/communities they support Increase EDI by hiring and investing in more people residing in marginalized communities Produce greater corporate margins Help increase the velocity of capital and standard of living in virtually every community in America Deliver enhanced corporate bottom-line results Reduce the effects of climate change and help steward and regenerate imperative parts of our environmental ecosystem Increase corporate brandy and equity values Support investments in Impact/Purposed/Mission-driven businesses while making a profit Decrease employee and customer/client turnover Help imperative initiatives get to scale Hire the best and brightest talent Bring offshore capital back on shore Help transform finance, education and poverty Reduce reliance upon and interference by government The current management theory being taught at undergrad and grad schools and being passed on at companies is wrong and that, in and of itself has to change”. As you guessed it, he has already started changing that at the College of Charleston. I had seen research (not from Williams) that supports his claims, however, I had also read about the failure of at least two Charter City pilot’s, so I pushed him on that. “They failed because they did not push the envelope far enough, leaving too much influence from the very administrations they were designed to negate” Williams says. “We need to revisit the structure of Charter Cities and support Paul Romer in his work, possibly combining them with the model for of bio-spheres, but certainly implementing Impact Economics within them”. Recognizing I was running out of time I fired off one more question, “are you anti-government and not-for-profits?" I asked. “No, I am not, but I am 100% against demonizing the top and bottom of the socioeconomic pyramid so that they can hold on to the narrative that they are the answer when clearly they are only contributors, and at times, inefficient and ineffective ones at best. What we need are public/private partnerships run by people who wish to build economic ecosystems where everyone and everything (including government and not-for-profits) are included, where people are empowered, and where the choke points are unlocked”. “Can you give me an example”? I asked. “Yes, in 2012 I was asked to design an economic model to help with immigration, I agreed, but only if I was given the freedom to do it using a whole systems approach that would also contribute to helping solve additional problems that our country faced. Because our country was (still is) facing so many critical and systemic problems, I felt that this was an opportunity to show the true potential of Impact Economics. In 2012 (and now it is worse) welfare, immigration, minimum wage, healthcare, education, and decaying infrastructure were worthy of inclusion in the top ten problems our nation faced. Critical problems often require solutions that numerous people are critical of and I knew that the solution I had designed would fall into that category. Although America’s infrastructure was crumbling before our eyes, the scale of capital and human resources required to not only fix the problems but to replace the outdated infrastructure with sustainable alternatives appeared to be unavailable. Additionally, it was sad to observe that the drive for the American Dream had resulted in the unintended consequence of many service- oriented jobs being aligned with failure and/or embarrassment, and thus numerous able-bodied American citizens refusing to accept certain unskilled positions when welfare could provide an alternative. The latter was often driven by the level of the minimum wage, and by the fact that employers hire illegal immigrants because they will accept lower pay for doing the jobs that are hard to fill. We should be mindful that in many instances, wages are not depressed by those who accept them, they are depressed by those who pay them. In 2012 illegal immigrants made up +/- 5% of our population and we are being led to believe that there were +/- 5,000,000 that have been in the country long enough to be given immunity, over which there was the usual political fight. My first step therefore was to find a bi-partisan way to get past this problem. I suggested that our country should adopt a mandate that all able-bodied illegal immigrants in the designated category above be required to serve a minimum of 4 years of service to this country if they wished to receive immunity and have any potential of becoming citizens. They should be given the option to work on sustainable infrastructure projects, receive a living wage (above the current minimum), pay taxes, receive on the job training (education), and access to healthcare. Individuals could add an additional year of service for each (non-able bodied or not of appropriate age to work) immediate family member only that they wished to remain with them in the US. Individuals opting to decline this offer would be escorted back home. As the above could only work if there was also focus on reducing the future flow of illegal immigrants, investments would need to be made in border control that would create a positive economic and social impact for the border towns that were straining to fund the costs associated with the defense of these borders, while treating illegal immigrants in a humane manner. Investments in the infrastructure, technology and the labor force required to secure our borders would increase the velocity of capital in those regions, helping regenerate economies and communities. As the above would obviously require capital, the borders should be secured in a manner that would stem the flow of corporate tax dollars out of America (in essence bringing more of them back), while stemming the flow of illegal immigrants into America. America should always welcome immigrants for the right reasons, but it should be on a legal basis. Next, there were too many able-bodied people on welfare and it was time that the tax dollars being spent on that be put to work to drive empowerment and not entitlement. In addition to the offer to immigrants, my suggestion was that the country mandate that all able bodied people on welfare also join in providing service to their nation, and in doing so, receive a living wage (above the current minimum), pay taxes, receive on the job training (education), and have access to healthcare. The minimum term of service would be four years, and failure to accept this mandate would make those eligible to work, ineligible for welfare. In essence we would be taking current welfare dollars and redirecting them to building sustainable infrastructure projects. The extra capital required to bridge the gap between the redirected welfare dollars and what it would cost to pay a living wage would be funded by the private sector companies given the contracts to build America’s sustainable infrastructure. Next, our country should bring back a draft under a servant leadership structure that allowed flexibility while rewarding service. The choice of how to serve would go way beyond which branch of the military to enter, as draftees could choose between initiatives such as sustainable infrastructure, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, clean-tech, education, healthcare, etc. The program was designed as follows: High school students already accepted too college serve for a minimum of 1 year, however, college bound draftees could select to volunteer for up to 4 years of service, with the government paying for one year of college for each year served. Students selecting this option would receive basic room, board, a small stipend, and healthcare while in service. Students opting not to attend college would enter the draft as apprentices, thereby receiving enhanced training in a specific vocational or technical skill. Draft tenure would be dependent upon the time required to learn their trade. Students selecting this option would receive a living wage (above the current minimum but paying taxes) and a full benefit package. Dare we even begin to think that by bringing people together from different socioeconomic backgrounds, races, religions etc., to work under a common cause, we might just heal some of the divides apparent in our country. The program would be made available to any American wanting to enter it based upon a needs test, i.e., open to those citizens currently employed in jobs paying less than the draft so that they would have the option of receiving the same opportunity as everyone else. Next, the government should outsource much of the necessary work to appropriate (accredited as sustainable) private sector companies that agree to: Full transparency on all revenues and expenses Adherence to all required sustainability initiatives/mandates, i.e., providing equal returns to all stakeholders (employees, communities, the environment, financial and supply chains) Their payments being made based either: - On a capped ROE, i.e., a fixed return over and above the total agreed upon expense required to complete a project; or - Net of tax, i.e., the tax is taken out at source. We ran the numbers, and the program would have worked, however, it was shot down because it was too bipartisan. This was the first time Williams had mentioned this work, and I was blown away by its vision and simplicity i.e. use a problem to create a solution that fixes multiple additional problems. Finally, as he was readying to leave, I asked him one more question. “Where do you feel America is today?” “We are rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. Not that they are not important, but for the foreseeable future we should not be fighting over where the pendulum falls on gun control, right to life/choice, a bloody wall, etc., etc., as they are the chairs. The gaping hole in the hull is the hate and divide that have exponentially grown since Obama was elected and while we rearrange the chairs, we are not focused on term limits, money and special interests out of politics, and politician benefits”. I truly enjoyed my three days with Stuart, and I left incredibly excited to be an integral part of his book that will provide any reader with options on how they can participate in and personally benefit from Impact Economics and the creation of a sustainable future. He appears to see the world in four dimensions and at times he gets frustrated at his inability to make what he sees one dimensional so that others can comprehend it. As I left Charleston, I reflected upon the time I spent with his students, the residents of marginalized segments of Charleston he empowers, and the business and civic leaders he works with because it is through their adoption of Impact Economics that I have hope for the future. My only question is, can this work be scaled in time? I guess that is up to all of us. You can read about Day 1 here, and Day 2 here.

You can read about Day 1 here and Day 3 here. In 2018 I went to Charleston to spend time with my friend, Stuart Williams, to see for myself what drives him, and what makes him do the things he does. This is my report from Day 2. ~ Lawrence Bloom I knew that my second day in Charleston (a Wednesday) was going to be long, and of course it starts off as manically as the first day ended because Stuart cannot go anywhere on the CofC campus without being approached by multiple students wanting a piece of his time. Even a cup of coffee at a great campus coffee shop turns into a parade of passionate and purposed students wanting to learn how they can make their fortune by solving a problem they care about. And of course, there is the phone, the never-ending vibration that is either a call, or an alert about a call or a meeting. Even by 8:30am I was starting to be fearful that the pace being set would continue and here is why: "A Williams Wednesday" Coffee at 8am (he has been up since 5) 9am Meetings start in the ImpactX Classroom at CofC, these include meetings with: Individual students and student teams from present and past ImpactX cohorts. Each meeting focuses on helping the participants get to the next stage of developing their Impact Innovation. Individual participants from the free Community Impact Entrepreneurship class he teaches on Wednesday evenings from 7 – 8:30pm. Stuart runs a Fall, Winter and Spring cohort each consisting of 12 weeks of classes where any resident of the Greater Charleston region can come to receive the opportunity to participate in and personally benefit from the creation of a sustainable future. Over 600 people have taken the class and hebhas helped every one of them. By the way, 70% are female, 60% are minority, and 50% live in Charleston’s most marginalized community segments. Business owners and leaders wishing to go through In Place Impact’s Corporate Impact Index so that they can make greater profits while making a greater difference Individual candidates (virtually from all over the world) wising to be considered to become Impact Economics Certified, thereafter building their own companies to embed Impact Economics in their communities i.e. In Place Community leaders and foundations (virtually) wanting to know how they can embed Impact Economics in their communities. Interns working on many of the projects and events In Place Impact runs CofC administration staff about things like Impact CHS Day, the event Stuart designed and donated to CofC to help educate Charleston residents on Impact Investing and all things required to build a community that is economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable for ALL residents of Charleston Impact entrepreneurs who have brought their Impact Innovations into the free Impact Incubator he started and still helps run Local Impact Investors interested in funding a locally grown Impact focused Innovation Lunch – Maybe 2:00-3:00pm Reserved for candidates that he mentors who are in CofC’s MBA program 3:20 - 4:45pm Help teach the accredited 6 credit ImpactX class he designed for CofC 5:00 – 6:15pm Reserved for his weekly meeting with his Impact Scholars (recipients of the Rebecca and Stuart M. Williams Impact Scholars program he launched at CofC) 6:15pm Dinner – maybe 7:00 – 8:30pm Teach the free Community Impact Entrepreneurship class he designed and runs 8:45pm A glass of wine at Halls Chophouse Once we get into the “quiet” of his office, my fears are confirmed as the whiteboards are already full of diagrams and schematics that were not there when we left the night before. Some of the work had been done by student teams in the ImpactX class, but a great deal of it had been done by Stuart in prep for this morning’s session, which is a deeper dive into the Multi-Stakeholder Capitalism program he has called Impact Economics. As we work through the details of his program, it becomes clear that no stone has been left unturned. What is good for one ends up being good for all, and it is very easy to see (even though I do not have a degree in economics), that this can truly increase economic vibrancy in every segment of a community. It is also very easy to see that any resident can participate in and personally benefit from the creation of a sustainable future. Stuart’s decision to purely use business and economics in building out his multi-stakeholder capitalism model is a controversial one, especially within the not-for-profit industry. “Of course, there is a need for not-for-profits” he states, “however, there are way too many of them, and those that are inefficient and ineffective are the biggest choke points in the flow of top-down capital wishing to fund bottom-up innovation. Furthermore, they are a choke point that is hiding in plain sight. On mass, the not for profit industry is the most dysfunctional, inefficient, and ineffective ecosystem I have ever seen. Of course, there are numerous that must be funded and kept alive, but just imagine if you took all of the money that is donated to those that do not drive outcomes and gave it to those that have always demonstrated positive outcomes”. I enjoyed stirring this pot so I asked him to give me his biggest angst with the not-for-profit industry within his recent memory “well, don’t come asking for money to fund awareness for a problem that we all would have to live under a rock not to know exists. Additionally, at least in Charleston, the seemingly exponential growth in the number of not-for-profits has been accompanied by a similar growth in the number of consultants wanting to charge for raising money for them. This is a small community, and they all call the same list”. Stuart further cemented the fact that he will never receive an invite to speak at an annual gathering of not-for- profits when he continued to say “when you give back every day you don’t need a Tuesday to do so. I received over 180 requests to fund things on Facebook on Giving Tuesday last year. I chose not to answer the vast majority and was then slammed on Private Messenger for not donating. I had my team check how well some of them were doing only to find that they either received no donations at all or did not even achieve 10% of what they were asking for”. Needless to say, as he is ever the opportunist, he saw this as an opportunity and has now challenged some of his students to build an app that allows donors (anonymously or otherwise) to list: How much they are prepared to donate each year What they care about and the problems they want their money to help solve What percentage of their overall donation amount they want to give to each issue they care about Financial efficiency metrics they will support i.e. what percentage of donations actually make it to the end user to fix the problem The geographic focus of their donations The app will be made available for free to all not-for-profits that can show tangible outcomes from the deployment of donations they receive and, that can clearly show that 35% or less of the donations they receive are spent on administration and awareness. I should note here that the not-for-profit industry (as a community stakeholder) clearly has a seat in the Impact Economics multi-capitalism stakeholder circle. I should also note that the innovations that Impact Economics provides for not-for-profits are profound, and a huge help with the need for capital and human assets. Wednesday’s are the best days to visit Stuart as you get to see how Impact Economics positively effects so many of the segments of its multi-stakeholder capitalism program i.e. Educational institutions Students Community residents Impact Entrepreneurs Impact Investors Businesses Not-for-Profits The Government Marginalized community segments Also, in one day, you get to see how all of them integrate into a new flow of capitalism designed so that when each stakeholder/community segment “wins” and they all win. My overall assessment of the day was that in each meeting there was a level of excitement in those we met with that I had not seen in some time. Additionally, the feeling of hope for humanity was palpable and the expectations of being able to solve many of our social, economic, and environmental problems were incredibly high. Like Stuart, my favorite piece was the community class as I began to see why he says that the people who face the problems often have the answers. The class is an omnibus edition of many of the classes (but mainly the ImpactX class) that he has been instrumental in embedding at the College of Charleston. It is a $13,000 value that anyone can receive for free because as he says, “inclusion matters”. The ecosystem he has built to help all community residents results in an access to the knowledge, information, tools, contacts, context and even capital required to foster change through business and economics that I have not seen before. Over a well-earned glass of wine that night, Stuart told me that he is tired of the narrative about businesses being bad, as companies are truly an important stakeholder in any community. He says that “It is time that we stop talking about killing off capitalism and instead change the narrative too leveraging it in a more inclusive manner”. I can’t help but draw a parallel between “not at the expense of any segment of humanity and of the planet, then, by driving positive impact to segments of humanity and the planet”. Tomorrow I get stuart to myself to find out what really makes him tick. I am hopeful that I can stir the pot a little more because what comes out can be incredibly profound, even if we don’t like hearing it. Oh, and as for the phone, I think it melted. You can read about Day 1 here and Day 3 here

(Please find day 2 here) In 2018 I went to Charleston to spend time with my friend, Stuart Williams, to see for myself what drives him, and what makes him do the things he does. This is my report from Day 1. ~ Lawrence Bloom In 1993 Stuart co-created the original platform of "Making A Profit While Making A Difference". This was a full quarter of a century before Larry Fink, the vast majority of the members of the The Business Roundtable, and other global business leaders in Davos 2020 started calling for change and extolling the virtues of Leadership and Management through the lens of Profit for Purpose and Multi-Stakeholder Capitalism. Thought of as some kind of "liberal hack" (Stuart is actually fiscally and militarily center right and socially and environmentally middle left), Stuart freely admits that 25 years ago the initial search for traction to the platform was arduous. "Everyone could not have been nicer, and I got to drink numerous cups of tea with many remarkable people, however, I got very used to being shown the door without obtaining the results I had hoped for", he says. The company he co-founded in 1991, The Strategic Research Institute (SRI), quickly became a global powerhouse in the C-Suite, business-to-business conference industry, thereby giving him a platform to continue pushing his ideas forward. "It was not long before SRI was holding over 100 conferences each year on multiple continents and, as such, I was regularly rubbing shoulders with global heads of state, leaders of the world's largest corporations, and owners and managers of the world's largest asset pools". Stuart went on to sell the New York based company in 2006, at which stage it had held over 2,000 conferences, targeting 7 industries, on 5 different continents. Stuart recalls a seminole moment in the late 90's where at one of his own conferences there was a great deal of joy about 5% of the world's assets being managed using social and or environmental screens. "The people on the panel felt that it was a 5% success, when I challenged them that it was actually a 95% failure we all had to admit that the message we were putting out was not resonating with people". According to him, there was a realization that the community representing TBL, ESG, SRI etc., had done a good job in selecting new acronyms for the same thing, but had not moved the needle in its approach to gaining adoption. The dawning of a new century brought opportunities and challenges. In the circles Stuart moved in the very late 90's, Impact Entrepreneurship and Investing had become a "thing" and there was hope that this might be the catalyst that people were waiting for. However, the events of 9/11 slowed momentum as many of the evangelists for "Impact" had to focus on saving their own core businesses. "I was running a business that was 100% reliant upon people's ability and willingness to travel, and quite rightly, both of those necessities were taken away by the terrorists attacks". Ironically, also in 1993, SRI held its first Asset-Backed Securities conference and it soon became the number one event in the world for professionals working in that sector of finance. Stuart had a "ring side seat" for the incredible growth in Asset-Backed Securities noting that "the first conference had +/- 400 attendees, but when we sold it to the American Securitization Forum (ASF) in 2004, the conference had over 4,000 participants", he mused. The sale included a management contract for 3 years and a move of the conference from its historic location in Scottsdale Arizona to Las Vegas Nevada, and an ultimate increase in the number of attendees from 4,000 to almost 8,000 people. "The conference you see in the movie The Big Short was that conference" he says. He goes on to say, "how ironic that Asset-Backed Securities played a major role in the collapse of the financial markets; that the very conference that was started the same year as the creation of "Making A Profit While Making A Difference" was in the movie; and, that the collapse of the conference and the financial markets in general would become a rallying cry for adopting the very tenets of "Making A Profit While Making A Difference". The tenets Stuart speaks of ring true today: 1. Make as much money as you want, not at the expense of any segment of humanity and or the planet. 2. Once you have achieved step 1, now make as much money as you want but do it by driving positive Impact to segments of humanity and or the environment. Stuart likes to say that even though those two statements sound similar, they are actually a long way apart. Whether by luck, divine intervention, or their business smarts, Stuart and his partner sold SRI in 2006 to Bruce Wasserstein's private equity firm, Wasserco (now Eagle Tree Capital). As part of the sale, he joined a 5 person Executive Team challenged with integrating 6 of Wasserco's portfolio companies into one, then, on August 15th 2007, (one week before the financial crisis truly started) the team sold the company to Incisive Media in England. Stuart then took off for New Orleans to decompress and to think about how best to transform capitalism using the Making A Profit While Making a Difference platform. He spent the best part of a year going back and forth to New Orleans to build houses with Habit for Humanity for victims of Katrina but, actually spent most of his time helping people with their consumer debt. "I can remember the words as if they were yesterday", he says with a smile. "Before you kill yourself, or even worse kill someone else, do you think you could find something other than building or demolition to do", was the sage advice from the foreman at Habitat. "I had just run through a wall to knock it down quickly without realizing it was still holding up the ceiling", Stuart says. This, after a series of other blunders, resulted in the appropriate reaction from the foremen. Because Stuart had worked alongside people who were actually going to be living in the homes being built, he became aware of the abhorrent levels of predatory lending that were prevalent in the communities effected by Katrina. So, ever the entrepreneur, he set himself up on a sidewalk with his cell phone and an old table, and called each lender on behalf of hundreds of people with credit card debt, car loans, mortgages etc., etc. where the terms were so onerous the borrowers would never be able to pay off their loans. "At first, people just hung up on me and it was almost like being back in 1993. However, when I threatened to have the local Network News affiliates film the lines of people waiting to see me, and the lenders saying no to loan modification requests, I got the traction and results I wanted". Stuart managed to get loans forgiven, interest rates reduced, payment holiday's etc., etc., etc. for many, many people, and it again strengthened his resolve to find a better way. Upon completing his "detox" work in New Orleans, Stuart began to focus on the root cause of the socioeconomic and environmental problems we face. "The first step was to erase the chalk board as there was no way to add new plays to a play book that had been broken for so long", he mused, "also, starting from scratch allowed us to see the wood from the trees". Us to Stuart, means his 3 children from his first marriage. "We decided to see for ourselves why the base of the socio-economic pyramid does not work", he stated, which became almost a two year project. Stuart and his family used focus groups made up of people living in disenfranchised communities to try to get to the root of the problem. In room A, they convened a cohort of the eldest community members who were at least 75 years of age In room B, they convened a cohort of community members who were in their early 20s Both groups were asked the same questions relating to the "choke points" preventing empowerment and progress. However, the older community members were also asked to think back 60 years and provide appropriate answers for that time. Once complete, all participants were invited into the same room where they were joined by their community's religious, philanthropic, government, and business (if any) leaders to see and discuss the results. In virtually every community they were in the answers to each set of questions were almost identical. Worse, the answers from the elderly residents were almost identical to those form the younger residents, and worst of all, was that the answers from 50-60 years ago were the same as the answers today. Thus, it was clear to see that over the past 60 years, nothing had changed, and some even argued (and with good reason) that things had become worse. Through deeper research, Stuart and his family discovered that: Poverty is driven by economics. The vast majority of poverty eradication initiatives focus on the effects of low economic vibrancy e.g. hunger and a lack of access to fresh, healthy food; homelessness and inadequate housing; sub-par education and healthcare; violence and inter-community crime; high rates of unemployment; and inadequate transportation, to name a few. However, this has been like trying to cure the symptoms, while paying no attention to the disease. Most initiatives are designed to be win/lose i.e. if one community segment "wins" one or more others "lose". This creates polarization and ultimate failure. There are clear choke points that prevent top-down capital from supporting bottom-up innovations. Many of them hide in plain sight. Many initiatives are designed to continue Entitlement as opposed to transforming to Empowerment Numerous initiatives are not "In Place" i.e. they try to help from afar Poverty is an economic model, and hence it is driven by economics. To date, most initiatives have been driven by philanthropy or government programs, hence we have been fighting economics with charity. That is not going to work, hence the current results. Armed with the root cause of the problem, Stuart and his family believed they could design a solution that: Fixed the root cause i.e. lack of economic vibrancy and not just the effects Empowered every community stakeholder and community segment by providing each with a seat at the economic table Produced tangible benefits for each entity at the table but in a way where if one benefits they all benefit Ensured Each Solution was: - Win/Win - Inclusive - Top-Down - Middle-Out - Bottom-Up Used a circular economy based upon "Making A Profit While Making A Difference" Focused on business & economics more than charity and philanthropy Unlocked the capital flow choke points Placed economic, social, and environmental balance at the center They also surmised that any program that could help the rich get richer (if they wanted to be) even if it meant that the poor got "rich", would not be received well by the capital flow choke points hiding in plain sight and they were right. To read about that you will have to wait for his book, "Pimping Poverty" to be released soon. However, here is a snippet that relates to this article as Stuart strongly states: "For decades the .1% have been demonized as being a major problem in the goal to eradicate poverty. However, it is time to take a hard look at reality, and to stop blaming those trying to help. Ask yourself a question. Do you know any family of ultra wealth that does not donate copious amounts of time, money, passion, and purpose to initiatives they care about? We have asked just over 500 people from all over the demographic spectrum, and to date, not a single person has said yes. Needless to say, and based upon our personal values and virtues, we can disagree with the causes each one of us supports, however, there appears to be no doubt that families of wealth truly do help with their time and capital. Now ask yourself a second question. Why is the poverty problem getting worse, when over the past 60 years, billions of dollars have been donated, gifted, granted etc., to millions of people purposed to eradicate poverty? Maybe, it is simply time to play "follow the money", to see where the choke points are that prevent "Top-Down" capital from finding, funding, measuring, and scaling "Bottom-Up" innovations. (At In Place Impact, they call that find, fund, measure, scale, repeat). There is no doubt that on many occasions, only small percentages of the capital released from the "Top", finds its way to the intended targets at the "Bottom". Our belief is that a large portion of it never makes its way passed the middle of the demographic pyramid, i.e. the sector that makes an incredible living, out of those who have made an incredible fortune. This sector includes the government policies that don't just keep the status quo, they make it worse! Further down the demographic pyramid (at the community leader level), we ourselves have been told not to "come in here and rock the boat", when we have provided free help for those living within those communities. After 25 years worth of work, we no longer look at the demographic pyramid being a single shape, but rather a pyramid that in of itself is made up of a myriad of smaller pyramids inside it, each with a "Top" and a "Bottom". It is plain to see that there is no "direct line of sight" between the "Top" and the "Bottom", and that the current conduits channeling capital from one to the other have way too many choke points within them. Without a direct line of sight, people hold on to narratives that are not based upon fact. One narrative that has been socialized throughout the "Bottom" is that the people in the "Top" do not care and they do nothing to help. This could not be further from the truth. One narrative that has been socialized throughout the "Top", is that the people in the "Bottom" are there because they want to be, because they are lazy, and because they want handouts. This again could not be further from the truth. In summary, we need to stop blaming the "Top" and or the "Bottom", and focus on the choke points preventing high percentages of "Top-Down" capital from fully supporting the "Bottom-Up" innovations they target. Eradicating poverty in America has proved hard enough, if we do not remove the choke points that are hiding in plain sight, we will never succeed. The "Top" and "Bottom" need a direct line of sight to each other". Using all of the above, Stuart designed Impact Economics which is a business-driven, inclusive economy that through its natural operation starts to increase economic vibrancy within every segment of a community. It is 100% inclusive of all community stakeholders, and drives positive benefits for each one, however, if one segment benefits, they all do. Impact Economics provides the following community stakeholders with a seat at the "circular economy table": Educational Institutions Students Impact Entrepreneurs Impact Investors Corporations Not-for-profits City, Municipal, State, and National Governments ALL Community Residents ALL Community segments The Environment Impact Economics uses Inclusive Capitalism to create community-based (in place) economies where: Economic vibrancy is increased in each and every segment of a community People are empowered to create a better quality of life The effects of poverty begin to be eradicated purely through the use of business and economics Every community resident can participate in and personally benefit from the drive to create a sustainable future Not a single entity is asked to donate anything Capital flow chokepoints are unlocked No segments within the community are demonized Every community segment has a direct "line of sight" to the others so that misleading narratives can be changed Communities can become economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable for all residents Everything is done In-Place, and the beneficial results remain In-Place Increases in economic vibrancy remain In-Place Local people build their own companies to help every stakeholder within their communities Success is politically agnostic To prove his model worked, Stuart set in place a 5 - year pilot in Charleston, SC which ended in May of this year. "The results were beyond my expectations, Impact Economics really works and it has been embraced by the City, The Mayor, The College of Charleston and multiple business, community and not-or-profit leaders, and community residents and students. It is allowing anyone the opportunity to participate in and personally benefit from the creation of a sustainable future. By using Impact Economics, Charleston will become a community that is economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable for everyone". When you visit with Stuart in Charleston and you see Impact Economics at work, it is hard to imagine my quote about him is wrong: "As the world continues to talk about developing new community based economic systems and adapting capitalism, In Place Impact has done it. Furthermore, they have tested their models for almost a decade, proven that they work, and are giving 6,000 people the opportunity to deploy them in their communities" Stuart and his team are now scaling Impact Economics in communities across the world. Impact Economics is already in Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Liberia and multiple states across the US. They invite anyone to come to Charleston to see it work and they have an amazing program to Certify people to do this in their own communities i.e. "In Place". They run it all through www.inplaceimpact.com. Once at scale, Stuart believes that Impact Economics will be the annual catalyst for the following: $2B of funding for Impact Studies in schools $600m to fund locally grown Impact innovations 2.5m students and community residents taking Impact Studies classes 500,000 companies embracing the Leadership and Management principles of Profit for Purpose 60,000 jobs in the Impact genre 2,000 Impact focused for profit companies being launched Increases in economic vibrancy in marginalized community sectors Critical steps being taken for communities to attain the SDGs The creation of communities that are economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable for all residents To spend time with Stuart is like having a quadruple espresso with a Red Bull chaser. His mind is never quiet, and his red shoes are a blur as he paces back and forth in front of a multitude of Whiteboards. His phone rings constantly and requests for his time seem to fly in by the minute, but somehow, what seems to be completely manic and random ends up in a clarity of the problem and the simplicity of the solution that I have rarely seen. I can see why people are drawn to Williams, and I can see why they believe he has indeed designed the future of sustainable communities, businesses, capitalism, and economics. I ended my visit watching Stuart help mentor a group of undergrads at The College of Charleston where he runs the Rebecca and Stuart M.Williams Impact Scholars program, and where he also designed and helps teach the award winning ImpactX class. To end the class he tells his students this: "What is in our heads makes us marginally dangerous to the status quo, but what is in our hearts makes us a global force to be reckoned with". What a way to finish my first day in Charleston, knowing that through our youth we have hope for humanity. You can read about Day 2 Here

On March 29th, 2023, Mayor John Tecklenburg issued a proclamation that March 29th has become Stuart M. Williams day in Charleston, SC. Some highlights include: Designing, helping fund, and still helping teach the award winning ImpactX Class at the College of Charleston. Stuart has now donated over 11,000 hours of his time in the past 10-years. For the past 7-years, Stuart has taught the ImpactX class totally for free to residents of the greater Charleston region. Over 700, people have taken the free evening class, with over 70% of the participants being women, 60% being minorities, and 50% residing in great Charleston's most marginalized community segments. Starting and funding the Rebecca and Stuart M. Williams Impact Scholars program at the College of Charleston For the past 14 months teaching the ImpactX Class one per week at the Al Cannon detention Center in North Charleston. Using Charleston, SC as the US catalyst and exemplar for the creation and global roll out of Impact Economics.