The Hidden Architecture of Private Wealth
Date: Wednesday, March 25 (2:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET)
Hosts: Tracey Robertson and Ilse Treurnicht
Guest speakers: Jess Hackett (Coalition for Impact) and Reflection Circle of Canadian practitioners
Keita Demming, Board Director of Family Enterprise Canada
Rebecca Darwent, Trustee of Forward Global and Board Director of Foundation for Black Communities
Rudy Ruttimann, Member of Resource Movement
Price: Free
Step inside the unseen system and understand the forces that shape how private wealth really works. This session reveals the hidden architecture – the incentives, norms and narratives – that influence decisions long before anyone notices them.
Grounded in the Coalition for Impact’s private‑wealth systems map, we will explore how the system functions, hear reflections from those who have spent years navigating it from the inside, and surface your own reactions and insights in breakout groups.
Participants will come away with practical guidance on how to use this work to shift private wealth from a system of accumulation, and reimagine it as a driver of regenerative solutions and a force for systemic change.
Who is this session for?
This event is designed for:
Family offices, impact investors and philanthropic intermediaries who feel the system’s constraints even when they’re not the ones setting them
Wealth holders and advisors wanting to break from the standard path
Practitioners and innovators who’ve tried to shift the system and felt it push back
Anyone who senses there’s more going on beneath the surface than individual decisions or firm‑level strategy
About Jess
For nearly 20 years, Jess Hackett advised international families from inside the traditional wealth infrastructure: a law firm, a family office and a trust company. Over time, she became aware of the widening gap between wealth, advice, values and societal impact. That tension pushed her to step outside conventional structures and explore other ways of working. Her focus now is on how private wealth can be governed and deployed as a force for systemic change rather than a barrier to it.
Today, Jess coordinates the Coalition for Impact (C4i), a network of impact focused networks advancing financial‑systems change with a particular focus on the private‑wealth system. She recently led the development of the Private Wealth System Map—a tool designed to illuminate the dynamics of private wealth and identify leverage points for transformation. Jess also consults with the Good Ancestor Movement on projects that activate those leverage points.
Support the Future of Impact United Academy
Peer learning offerings like this are made possible by institutions and individuals who support our goal to grow the impact investing community in Canada. Help support our work by making a charitable contribution to Impact United Academy and receive a tax receipt from our partner MakeWay.