How do we fund our movements without knowing the resources needed to achieve our wildest & most deserving dreams? Can budgets be maps of liberatory possibility, even in times of uncertainty? Join Alex Fischer of A Bookkeeping Cooperative and Autumn Brown of AORTA in a creative experiment in bringing seemingly disparate organizing practices together: the creative elements of envisioning change (speculative fiction) and the skill of mapping resource allocation (budgeting). Using participatory and joy-based activities, this workshop is one part creative collective story-telling, and one part financial spreadsheet.
In this workshop, we will be broadening the understanding of budgeting as a way to manage resources to meet the needs of our visions and dreams, while remaining nimble and responsive as conditions change. While we will touch on the details of budgeting processes and financial management, this session is focused on creating a joyful experience for participants to re-think their relationship to budgeting, which has historically been an oppressive, top-down and limiting process.
We will collectively create the story of our movements' future and then map out the resources necessary to bring that future into reality. We will also introduce tiered budgeting and scenario planning as key skills for planning amidst uncertainty. This workshop is for participants who want to re-shape their relationship to budgeting and financial planning. Participants will leave with lots of laughter, questions and an expanded sense of how budgeting can support the futures we are bringing into existence.
Facilitator Bios
Autumn Brown
Autumn Brown is a mother, artist, and facilitator. The youngest child of an interracial marriage, rooted in the complex lineages of counter-culturalism and the military industrial complex, Autumn is a queer, mixed-race Black woman who identifies closely with her African and European lineages, and a gifted facilitator who grounds her work in healing from the trauma of oppression.
Alex Fischer
Alex Fischer is a queer Sicilian-Jew who brings a social justice perspective to financial management. They believe that understanding finances is important to collectively managing resources at the individual, organizational and systemic levels. They bring games, laughter, bad jokes and an innovative liberatory approach to financial management & education. Alex lives rurally with their all-trans family & is deeply invested in small-town organizing.
Event Dates and Times
Oct. 21st, 12-2:30pm PST/1-3:30pm MST/2-4:30pm CST/3-5:30PM EST
OR
Oct. 28th, 3-5:30pm PST/4-6:30pm MST/5-7:30pm CST/6-8:30pm EST
Access information
Zoom: We will be meeting via Zoom. If you have access to a computer or laptop, we encourage you to join the event by computer to make navigating the materials more easeful.
Breaks: In our 2.5 hour workshop, we will be taking at least one 15 minute break. This break will be timed on the day of to adapt the needs of the group.
Captions: We will be offering live CART Captioning during the training.
ASL: We will be providing ASL interpretation during the workshop.
Chat: This event includes use of the chat function in Zoom. Participants will be asked to enter responses in the chat throughout the event.
Recording: The workshop will be recorded and shared with registered participants.
Tech and access support: A tech and access support person will be present throughout the event to attend to any emergent participant needs regarding Zoom and access.
How to choose your rate:
AORTA offers our public trainings at different rates depending on your individual and organizational access to money and wealth. Our sliding scale is an intentional effort to distribute resources equitably between organizations and organizers we work with.
Please reflect on the self assessment linked below to help you consider what rate to pay to attend this workshop.
https://aorta.coop/public-program-rates
Rates for Individuals
These rates are for you if you are paying for the training without financial support from an organization. The cost listed below is for 1 person attending the full event.
Solidarity: $50
Sustain: $70
Full Cost: $90
Redistribution: $120
Rates for individuals supported by organizations
These rates are for you if you are a member of an organization that is paying for your participation in the training. The cost listed below is for 1 person attending the full event.
Solidarity: $225
Sustain: $340
Full Cost: $450
Redistribution: $675
Group Registration: If you're an organization that would like to sign up more than 10 participants, please email programs [at] aorta [.] coop.
Note: The above rates do not include eventbrite registration fees.
Image description: An illustrated splotchy dark purple background sprinkled with stylized stars and circular shapes suggestive of a starscape. In the center of the graphic are overlapping golden circles like a venn diagram framing grayscale images of the facilitators with their names in curved text, Autumn Brown and Alex Fischer. Autumn is looking to the side and is wearing a geometric patterned top with a hood with her hand placed over her heart. Fischer is smiling and looking at the top corner of the image. They are wearing a botanical printed button down top. Above the images is bold golden neon text that reads, “Speculative Budgeting, Resource Management in Times of Uncertainty; a virtual workshop presented by:”. Under the facilitator images is attribution text with the name of their coops, “@AortaCoop” and “@ABookkeepingCooperative”.