Putting Your Money Where It Matters - A TFW Interview With Patrice Brickman, Philanthropist & Entrepreneur
By Monika Samtani and Emily Montague
Patrice Brickman, Inspire Capital
On a surface level, the terms non-profit and for-profit sound diametrically opposed. Dig a little deeper, however, and you might find that these two kinds of organizations have a lot to learn from one another.
Patrice King Brickman has spent her adult life exploring the possibilities that exist at the intersection of for-profit business models and charitable organizations dedicated to the common good. Inspire Capital, the groundbreaking private equity/venture firm she founded and now manages, has brought these possibilities to light in truly novel–and stunningly effective–ways.
While her organization was founded in 2016, Patrice’s story starts many years before that, when she was a girl learning from the service-minded dedication of her parents and grandparents in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
“My parents were and still are a big influence and inspiration in my life. My mom still volunteers all over her community, at 76,” she tells The Fem Word. “My parents and grandparents have always modeled giving back to your community. It was never a debate, or a discussion, it was just something you did.”
She views their influence as central to the powerful set of values and beliefs that forged her future career and philanthropic work. It was always about something much deeper than white-knighting or throwing money at other people’s problems. Her family taught her to be integrated with the community around her, and they encouraged her to see her own, individual identity as a product of everyone who lived in that community.
“There was deep messaging that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves, [that we needed] to be inclusive, and kind.”
It’s a testament to her role models’ influence that Patrice didn’t merely absorb these lessons, but also consistently acted on them. She remembers joining her mother and grandmother in service projects that addressed the socio economic issues faced by Montgomery County, Maryland’s most vulnerable populations.
These formative experiences would lead her to develop a passion for serving underprivileged women, especially those facing homelessness.
“My passion around all of this was likely sparked two decades [before I founded Inspire Capital], when I was volunteering and working with women at the Greentree Shelter in Bethesda.”
Greentree Shelter is a transitional home for homeless families, particularly those led by single mothers (though they also provide services for two-parent families). Working here gave Patrice a boots-on-the-ground perspective on how homelessness, economic opportunity, and financial resilience intersect with one another.
“I was helping [these women] with job applications, and resumes, ultimately founding and running a job fair for homeless women. One thing that always struck me was how much more I had in common with these women [than I’d been led to believe].”
Patrice and her colleagues at the Fintech Abu Dhabi Conference, 2021
As a society, we tend to view homeless people as pariahs, firmly placing them in the category of “others” with whom we’d find it hard to relate. This is a more comfortable way to perceive the issue––but it’s also an inaccurate view that creates painful divisions within our communities. As Patrice explains, the differences that separate us stem from fairly minor events in lives that would otherwise look much like our own.
“The difference [between these women and women like me] was that they lived so marginally that there was little room for error. They did not have financial resources or social capital to fall back on if they slipped up. One defaulted loan, sick child, or lapse in a payment could render them in the shelter, and everything else spiral[ed] from there.”
“It taught me how intersectional life is. So many families are on the brink of instability. Women and mothers are incredibly resilient, [and] they are often just one small opportunity away from stability and success.”
Women have spent centuries, even millennia, in an economically disadvantaged position. This is doubly true for minority women, especially black or hispanic women who are often discriminated against by financial institutions. The way Patrice and many other experts see it, it’s simply not realistic to expect these women to “pull themselves out of poverty” without significant help from more privileged demographics.
Alongside housing, employment, and childcare initiatives, one of the best ways to aid these disadvantaged women is by investing in minority-run, female-led businesses and nonprofits around the globe. The reason is simple: as Patrice points out, true sustainability means self-directed sustainability.
“When thinking about how to provide sustainable wealth for minority women and their families, it of course [must be] through their own financial freedom and flexibility. Nonprofit services are a needed resource for many, but in order for these women and families to truly have their own autonomy and success, we need to fund them and their work.”
This kind of autonomy impacts more than the individual beneficiaries. Their communities gain a measure of stability and autonomy every time these women succeed.
“[My kids] are bright, spirited, fun, and engaged people who are as passionate about these issues and the world as I am…much of what I know about social justice and human compassion is born from them.”
Patrice Brickman (right) with her kids (left to right): Kenna, Anna, Lane, Leah on a mission trip to India in 2019.
“EDWOSB investments are more likely to create positive outcomes across other social issues than any other form of investing,” Patrice explains. “When you think of the social problems women and communities face, they often have the answers and solutions already in mind––they simply lack the resources to do anything about it. When women have their own money, and therefore their own power, however…then they are able to become the full forces for good they were meant to be. I am a firm believer that problem solving happens from the inside.”
“Impact investing” is a relatively new phenomenon, and it is being championed by leaders like Patrice and her partners at Inspire Capital.
The premise is fairly simple: women who achieve financial security through business ownership and investment lift up the rest of the population both directly and indirectly. They tend to hire more women, give more to women-focused charitable organizations, and advocate more readily for women who are still trapped at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder.
“If you look at any grassroots, tightly woven community, women are the movers, shakers and doers,” Patrice notes. “They organize social events, raise awareness for community happenings and issues, create networks, care for the most vulnerable, and champion the next generation.”
There’s plenty of historical backing for this statement, too.
“From an anthropological lens, women have been partaking in unpaid labor since the dawn of time, and [we] still are. The positive in that is, women are taught and inherently have these incredible skills that they should and now can monetize. They also have always relied on one another.”
In short, women have naturally been developing, sharing, and utilizing entrepreneurial skills for millennia. They simply weren’t paid for them. Now women have the chance to not only celebrate these skills, but also use them to build businesses and lift up their communities financially, emotionally, and spiritually through their careers.
Of course, women-led entrepreneurs, investors, and philanthropists aren’t the only ones making a difference in areas like advocacy and economic development. We’ve seen more and more male-led organizations taking up the same causes. Plenty of male business owners are seeking to employ, support, and empower women through their own CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives and financial commitments.
“Across the impact space, we are catching on that when you empower any marginalized group, you are promoting a better society that we all benefit from,” Patrice says. “Men are also witnessing that when you support women, you support not only a community but an entire future generation. That sounds like a pretty good argument to me.”
As of this writing, Patrice’s own organization has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into women and minority-led businesses, especially those with a notable stance on social impact.
Her developments in the realm of nonprofit finance and sustainability have been groundbreaking as well, and her organization’s research into profit generation for charitable entities continues to provide valuable insight into the complex world of impact investment and the growing support behind business-for-a-cause initiatives in the U.S.A.
At home, Patrice is instilling the same values her parents and grandparents taught her in her four children. Even more importantly, she continues to learn from them, and she gives them a core role in her still-unfolding mission to guarantee a better, more equitable future for all.
Patrice Brickman
“[My kids] are bright, spirited, fun, and engaged people who are as passionate about these issues and the world as I am,” she says. “They teach me [new lessons] everyday, and much of what I know about social justice and human compassion is born from them.”
This is a perspective only parents can truly understand, and it takes a certain kind of courage to love one’s children with such humility. That humility is, perhaps, the central source that powers so much of Patrice Brickman’s incredible work. Beyond her humility and down-to-earth presence lies a keen, empowered, and deeply empathetic personality that has defined Patrice from the very start.
As always, The Fem Word finished our interview with the same question we ask all of our guests. “Patrice, can you tell us about a moment when you felt truly powerful?”
“I feel powerful when I get to connect and share on these topics that are truly changing the world. I feel the most powerful when I get the opportunity to learn from those who share lived experiences as to how this work has impacted them and their communities. As a person with a sizable amount of privilege, continuing to learn and grow my understanding of how I can use my position for good is a lifelong journey. I may not always get it right and I certainly don’t have any of the big answers, but as I continue to have conversations its a testament that we are on the right path.”
She went on to reflect on the changing tides she witnesses on a daily basis through her work, and finished our conversation with a profound message of hope for the near future.
“Representation matters, empowering women and girls matters, putting your money where your beliefs are matters. I feel powerful when I think about kids talking about their moms careers the same way they historically did about their dad’s. And I feel powerful when I think about the ways these women will go back and empower their own communities. As scary as the future may seem at times, these opportunities give me a ton of hope.”
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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the interviewee, and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Fem Word organization. Any content provided by our interviewees are based on their opinions and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.