About Both/And Finance
Who I Am | What I Do | Connect With Me
Who I Am
Hi. I’m Rebecca Blumenshine (she/her). I'm a financial educator and coach who specializes in community-minded personal finance.
My professional background includes over a decade of finance experience across nonprofit, corporate, and public sectors. Before launching Both/And Finance in 2023, I worked in the fields of grassroots nonprofit fundraising (5 years), public policy analysis (2 years), and - most recently - corporate finance management (6 years). My education includes an MBA, a Master of Public Policy, and a BA in Sociology.
You can find more of my resume details on my LinkedIn page here.
A consistent theme of my life has been trying to understand why our economic and financial systems are so anti-human, despite being created by people. My passion for this is driven by my deep desire to be part of building a more fair and just economy.
I am often asking questions like, “how can I best contribute to collective efforts for change?" and "how do I make personal financial decisions when I disagree with almost everything about our current financial system?” I don’t claim to have all the answers to questions like these. But, I’ve found that I have a relatively unique combination of skills and experience that help me provide meaningful support to others as they chart their own financial journeys while holding similar questions.
I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota with my partner, Martin (they/them), and our 4-year-old child, Valentine (he/him). Also sharing our home is our exuberant pit-mix dog, Roxie, and our aggressively friendly cat, Vegetable.
What I Do
I support people who disagree with our current financial system who want to BOTH wisely navigate that system in their own lives AND participate in making it better.
I do this through: 1) free resources, 2) coaching services, 3) on-demand courses.
Free Resources
I write essays about topics at the intersection of personal and community finance. I mostly focus on navigating the complexity of applying a community-minded perspective to personal financial decisions. You can read my essays here.
I am also part of a collaborative project to develop and share free financial tools. For example, I'm in the process of developing a collection of "Radical Financial Spreadsheets" for people who want to explore their finances transparently, independently, and with the flexibility to apply their own values. Some of these spreadsheets are introduced in my Financial Foundations Course here.
One way to stay posted when I publish new essays or tools is to sign up for my free newsletter here.
Coaching Services
I provide education-forward coaching and consulting services to people seeking increased clarity about their financial lives. Among other things, I help people who want to build their capacity to manage their personal finances in alignment with their values and priorities. I also help people who specifically want to focus on increasing the positive impact of their resources, often focusing on helping people add a community investing component to their investment portfolios. You can learn more about my coaching service offerings here. You can also directly book time to chat with me about coaching here.
On-Demand Courses
I'm launching a series of Both/And Finance courses that you can start at any time after January 2, 2024. This course series is comprised of two courses: 1) Finance Foundations and 2) Investment Management. Each course is designed to be taken over approximately 3 months. Together, these courses can help you understand your current financial situation, plan for your financial future, and manage your own investments. You can learn more about both courses here.
Connect With Me
Questions, feedback, or just want to connect?
Reach out to me by email at: contact@bothandfinance.com
Curious about working together?
Let me know by filling out this short, no-commitment interest form.
Also, if you're wondering... the only social media I'm on is LinkedIn. Feel free to connect with me there too!
Whether we ever connect directly or not, I hope you find something on this site useful. Together, let's move our economy towards something better - BOTH personally AND collectively - for all of us! Thank you for whatever your relationship is to this work!