Fall at Ujima Wednesdays: In Us We Trust

We’ve been taught to count our wealth in dollars while forgetting the currencies that first made us human. Perhaps democracy is not only lost through stolen votes, but through forgotten values. Join us for our fall Ujima Wednesday Workshop series, In Us We Trust, to remember and rediscover the hard currencies that shape our lives–and the holy currencies that shape our souls.

We define “holy currencies” (borrowing from Eric Law and the Kaleidoscope Institute) as the essential, non-material resources—such as truth, time, gracious leadership, place, and relationships—that shape our souls and build the foundation of a healthy community. In contrast, we define hard currencies as the finite, external instruments—such as cash, equity, and debt—that the dominant economic system uses to measure and control value. 

Through the lens of trust, we aim to explore how we can reclaim wealth that cannot be bought or stolen, and to acclaim a wealth that cannot be bought, cannot be stolen, and only grows when it is given away. Perhaps we have been richer all along.

9.9: Talkback: In Us We Trust | RSVP

Donna Bivens & Justin Merrick

We begin September with a collective reflection on our Fall 2026 workshop series theme: In Us We Trust, exploring the concepts of holy and hard currencies. Through a conversation on wealth, relationships, interiority, and trust, we’ll build from our summer series on Mutual Aid and open the questions that will guide our fall workshops.

9.23: Holy Currencies and Hard Currencies| RSVP

Noni Session

Join Noni Session, co-founder and Executive Director of the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative, in this discussion on how holy currencies offer a path grounded in holistic stewardship, in direct contrast to hard currencies which often rely on extraction and oppression to function.

10.14: Truth and Wellness | RSVP

Donna Bivens

Join Donna Bivens in a discussion on wellness as a currency. We’ll reflect on what people are going through right now: the day to day attacks on people's physical wellness, including environmental disasters, and on how relief is often withheld (or misplaced),. Who actually ends up on the scene? Holistic healers...join us to learn more about how we can build a wealth of wellness together.

11.18: History of Money | RSVP

Chris Desan

Join Christine Desan, Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and author of Making Money: Coin, Currency, and the Coming of Capitalism, in a discussion on the history and mechanics of hard money:  how finite, external instruments like cash, equity, and debt have been used by the dominant economic system to determine  and govern value.

Stay tuned, more workshops to be announced!