Personal Wealth Coaching & Understanding Financial Trauma for Food-System Entrepreneurs


Food System 6 and our partner, Narratives Unbound, led for an interactive small-group learning session on building tools for personal financial stability.
Early-stage food-system entrepreneurs rarely prioritize their own finances. As they build their businesses, they struggle with personal money management and the challenges of fundraising and financial stability. This is an overlooked area of support for entrepreneurs but it is acutely needed, now more than ever. This workshop detailed the history of how our monetary system functions and the tools needed to stabilize personal finances and to be more empowered, as entrepreneurs and individuals. 

We had participants from 11 states across the US join for a virtual full-day group workshop that included lectures, interactive discussion with FS6 Portfolio alumni, small group financial coaching, and was followed up by the opportunity to engage one-on-one with our financial coach. 

Participant profile:
  • 73% BIPoC participants
  • 80% women or gender queer participants
  • 93% had a 2021 salary of under $80k (the average salary was $22k)​


"You are here to steward your resources. It’s the journey of overcoming our narratives that will allow you to face challenges as an individual and as as entrepreneur."
- Nafasi Ferrell, Narratives Unbound

"There is no way to talk about money without acknowledging the traumatic structure and historical relationship that we have inherited with money."
​- Suparna Kudesia, CoFed 

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Selected Participant Feedback

"The program and discussion helped me put my own financial situation & challenges in perspective. Several lessons will stick with me - a couple of the most important: Start making the abstract concrete (whether that's writing out a budget or recognizing that our trauma is embodied) + Reminding myself to adopt the abundance mindset of "Things come to us in the time that we need them." - Ash Glover- Ganapathiraju, Ojaswe Co (CPG)

"I wish the time was longer! They both had so much wisdom that can help rebuild our communities...a lesson I’ve been rehearsing in my mind is around a personal commitment to understanding my money behaviors and creating a value system that holds me in change and comfortable times." - Mimi Lucero, Inside the Husk Indigenous Foodways

"We're all on the path. There's no right answer. I have been waiting 4 years for a workshop like this. 4 years ago I tried looking for "women of color in non-profits talking about financial trauma and wealth" and had a very difficult time. Now finally, I am in the right room. It was a confirmation to me that the themes and truths I'm navigating and feeling are true, they're not just me, and I have a community to lean on...Amazing. Nafasi's pacing and highlights were perfect. Suparna's touch of sunshine and reflections was great." - Lan Ngo, Earth Orchid Edible Gardens

"Amazing job - would love a longer, few-day workshop!" - Harmonee Williams, Director of Hawaii Good Food Alliance

"Both speakers provided valuable perspectives. I never realized there was such a thing as money trauma and now I can see it all around me. The lessons learned and tips from the speakers come at a very critical time as we set out for our next stage of Future Fit Foods." - Paloma Lopez, Future Fit Foods (CPG, Sustainable Soup Mixes) 

Speakers

Nafasi Ferrell                              Suparna Kudesia                 

Founder                                                      Co-Director
Narratives Unbound                                CoFED
Nafasi Ferrell: As a Community Connector, Facilitator and Event Specialist of 10 years, Nafasi has focused her life’s work on building bridges, healing and transforming racial and economic equity. Hailing from a community and family rich in diversity of culture and philosophies in Altadena, California, Nafasi understands the importance and struggles of being immersed in many worlds. Nafasi is the founder and principal consultant of Narratives Unbound LLC, a Consulting and Education Company dedicated to advancing racial and economic equity through financial coaching, community workshops and wealth redistribution circles. Through her one-on-one financial coaching and Stages of Wealth Building Program she equips clients and groups with the knowledge and confidence to understand the colonial history of money, develop a positive relationship with money, tackle debt and create a solid financial future. Her work focuses on working adults, youth and families to support them in decolonizing their wealth building through education, saving, investing, and redistribution. Nafasi holds two bachelor’s degrees in History and International Relations, and a master’s degree in Cultural Studies from the University of Washington Bothell.

Suparna Kudesia: Suparna is a decolonial educator and immigrant mother. She brings with her over 15 years of experience imagining and breathing life into educational programs and leading organizational development. Suparna believes in the power of unraveled unlearning to shift narratives, heal trauma, and transform systems. She is guided by ancestral re-visioning, abolitionist and decolonial praxis, and manifesting collective dreams. Suparna responds to the call to return stolen wealth as the Choreographer of Collective Change by moving money where it can have a critical impact on building a beautiful regenerative food system – into the hands of young cooperators of color. Suparna lives on unceded Kumeyaay land with her partner, toddler, and numerous bunches of mint.