A car ride, a personal meeting and an interview: Mark Finser and the future of the Rudolf Steiner Foundation.

Many times over the years I have talked with Mark Finser at meetings, here and there. Recently, after a meeting in Copake, NY, I arranged an actual interview with him. As it turned out, he drove my car, I pulled out my note pad and off we went. It was not an interview but a sharing that I in turn will share so you can get a flavor of the person who is Mark Finser.

I asked about the changes in RSF Social Finance, with his taking on the new role of Chair of the Board and Don Schafer becoming the new CEO. Don is someone who has not been connected to the foundation and its history. Mark shared how he met Don, who was in the Oakland office of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). He shared how Don approached RSF, and how he struck Mark as a person with a deep inner life, with a Quaker background and an eagerness and interest to find out about Steiner and his impulses. He has great hopes that Don with his commitment to local economy, to community and interest in finding new vehicles for financing in this meso financial realm, will move RSF forward in the direction that has been pursued during the last seven or so years.

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We then talked about his new role as chair of the board of RSF--and how the board consciously freed him up to be involved with others, to be active with other organizations, and to strengthen them. This is unique and shows the commitment to see the success of RSF not only in its own growth but in the success of others. This was seen as an essential part of his new responsibilities. We talked about this gesture of looking out for others from an organizational point of view as being important for the future. An organization is only as strong as the related ones are. It was wonderful to see bow animated Mark became when we talked about this; this is clearly a very exciting new step for him.

I then turned to the question of what else excites him at the moment and a few items appeared:

Local stock exchanges and their role for the future; the idea of buying or working with a few local stock exchanges and how this might allow everyone in an area to participate in the economy as well on that level; local membership in financial institutions.

The idea that the intention behind capital is its creative force; that this idea is becoming more accepted and talked about and researched gives him great satisfaction and hope.

He's on the Board of B-Lab, whose mission beautifully dovetails with that of RSF's. B-Lab seeks to create a way for companies to be certified as sustainable organizations, to become B Corps (The name B Corp comes from the term 'for-benefit' company). Companies would be rated on a whole array of standards and given a B Corp designation signaling to the public that they have met (or exceeded) specific environmental, social and corporate governance (internal and external) standards. This holds great promise for measuring the operational performance of organizations that purport to be 'green' and for driving the social finance movement.

Looking at board and governance structures, policies and change mechanisms that will affect business and the economy. He is very active with this and sees this as an important piece of the puzzle.

Mark is very keenly aware that through the biodynamic work, especially in the prominence of biodynamic wine, many have awakened to the ideas that farm land is valuable, that stewardship of land is important, and that land needs to be secured for production of food and other benefits to the larger good.

In a nutshell we had a great ride (he is a good driver, too, and would make a great chauffeur!) and a good conversation and not much of a classical interview--or maybe we did get a view into the heart of the matter.