About the research:

My PhD explores how attitudes about slavery changed amongst wealth holders and influential persons within Quaker communities in the 17th and 18th centuries. This research traces early Quaker abolitionist lineage, starting with investments in and support for various forms of Quaker involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, and explores the debates, discernment, movement building efforts and wins among Quakers and other dissenting groups, which resulted in ending their ties with slavery and organising to make it illegal in Britain and the United States. The aim is to produce a detailed case study and blueprint for modern day wealth holders and philanthropists to explore origins of wealth and move towards reparations, divestment and abolition.

About Josiane:

I am a philanthropy and policy advisor, supporting senior leaders and teams to build and execute strategies that strengthen culture, community power, and racial and economic justice. I’ve led retreats, global research and events for some of the largest funders in the world (working with over $7bn in assets), and trained staff across local government, international NGOs, and small grassroots groups all over the world – from Beirut to Amman, Mexico City to New York. I’m also a published poet and writer on the role of art and wellbeing in social change, a Quaker Trustee of a national arts-based charity and a former lecturer at the University of Bristol on social innovation. I am currently based in London, UK and a member of North London Area Meeting.

You can find me on LinkedIn: https://linkedIn.com/in/josianesmith