Rachel Robasciotti said she became aware at a very young age how much having or not having enough money mattered.
Growing up poor in a segregated neighborhood and raised by a Black single mother who struggled to make ends meet, she saw firsthand how different life was for the haves and have-nots. Opportunities were harder to come by; strong families buckled under constant pressure; and crises seemed to hit the Black parts of her rural community a bit harder than others.
So Robasciotti, who graduated from high school at 15, understood that money could also be the key to making a difference. Ten years later at age 25, she founded her own financial firm to put power back into the hands of the people.
In 2020 she launched
“I wanted to bring to women and people of color information about how they could manage their own financial lives, and I wanted to do that on the investing side in a way that was really inclusive and responsible for the world,” Robasciotti told Financial Planning. “It's no surprise that the people who are most impacted by climate change are people of color. It's no surprise that the people who are impoverished by the sub-minimum wage are disproportionately women of color … I often say, if you want to stop playing crisis whack-a-mole with social justice issues, start to see the intersection of these and the intersection of extractive capitalism.
“People's kindness and the resources of the planet are an exhaustible resource, so I think it's really important that the investment industry start to see that and own our roles as asset managers, insurance brokers and financial planners. It’s important that we move toward the future with an intention of understanding that what you invest in matters.”
Those are some of the topics Robasciotti hopes to cover during the
Organizers for the event being billed as “the world's largest wealth festival” recently announced a slate of eight additional speakers who will deliver remarks at the conference, including Robasciotti as a keynote presenter.
Future Proof is gearing up for the event via its
It’s all possible because of the #RiseTogether campaign, which runs from Feb. 1 through March 31 to coincide with Black History Month and Women's History Month. During this time, any attendee who registers for the Future Proof Festival will be able to offer an underrepresented industry colleague a complimentary ticket to the event.
Each paying attendee who extends a complimentary ticket will then be entered into a raffle to win a three-night stay at Hyatt Huntington Beach during the conference.
“It's true that, as an industry, we have not done a good job at fostering diversity, which is why the demography of our business looks nothing like the demography of America,” Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management and co-creator of the Future Proof Festival, said in a statement. “But it is also true that there is a massive wave of talented people of color blazing new trails in the financial advisory space. I'm hoping our event can blow the lid off of this phenomenon and help usher in a more inclusive future.”
“We believe that our ability to innovate, as an industry, relies on varying perspectives and thoughts to challenge the status quo,” added Advisor Circle CEO Matt Middleton. “By cultivating an inclusive event environment, we create opportunities that empower our financial services and wealth management audience to collaborate, develop and inspire positive change together as a community.”
Robasciotti believes that Future Proof and other events like it can have a tremendous impact on the industry by changing the perception of what an industry leader looks like. By lifting up new voices that buck the status quo, you ensure that the future that you're creating is much different from the past.
She added that because the entire world is advocating for a change, financial professionals are doing themselves a disservice when they listen to the same perspective over and over again.
“The industry has not shifted significantly in terms of who's managing the assets and who's doing the advising on the investing side. And I think we're at a place globally because of the times and the pandemic and racial justice uprisings and the ‘Me Too’ movement … we're in a moment where people want things to happen, and that’s going to come from new voices,” Robasciotti said. “What you get when you don't let new water into a system is a swamp. So if we aren't happy with the way things are turning out, it's probably because we need some new voices and some new blood moved into the system.”
Robasciotti also thinks the conversations and experiences at Future Proof won’t be quickly forgotten by its attendees.
“Generally when these kinds of things are over, people block out whatever the events are and go about business as usual,” she said. “But what I think will happen at Future Proof is something that will be very different, just by virtue of who we have speaking. It's going to illuminate the common thread that all of the inequities and crises that we are facing in the world are intersectional.”
Here are the other recently announced speakers who will take the stage at Future Proof this September. They join Robasciotti, Equity Army Founder Annie Jean-Baptiste and Onyx Advisor Network founders Emlen Miles-Mattingly and Dasarte Yarnway.
Rashad Bilal: Financial advisor and co-host of the business and finance podcast Earn Your Leisure. Passionate about financial literacy, he also runs the online educational platform Earn Your Leisure University, which introduces students to financial literacy through culturally responsive education while providing career training and business mentorship.
Troy Millings: A lifelong friend of Bilal and the other force driving both the Earn Your Leisure podcast and Earn Your Leisure University.
Rianka R. Dorsainvil: Co-Founder of 2050 Wealth Partners and host of the 2050 TrailBlazers podcast, which addresses the diversity gap in financial planning.
Ian Dunlap: An investing and stock analysis expert who founded Red Panda Academy, an organization that is focused on educating investors who are new to trading. Dunlap also hosts the Market Monday podcast.
Sandra Gabriel: Founder and chief relationship officer at communications agency Gabriel PR. She is also the editor-in-chief of FBI STYLE.
Trevor McFedries: As CEO at Dapper Collectives, McFedries works to bring decentralized organizations to mainstream culture. He is also the CEO of technology startup Brud, and the creator of virtual pop star Lil Miquela.
Tyrone Ross Jr.: Former CEO and co-founder of Onramp Invest and its educational arm Onramp Academy. He is also the founder of 401stc, a storytelling consultancy and host of the On Purpose podcast.
