Peter Buffett

Peter Buffett is a musician, composer, author, and philanthropist known for his contributions in these fields over 30 years. He is co-chair of the NoVo Foundation, which aims to catalyze a transformative shift in global society towards equality and partnership. He challenges the status quo and calls for systemic change in his 2013 New York Times op-ed and radio podcast titled "The Charitable-Industrial Complex."

What we learnt

Peter Buffett shares his insights and experiences in the world of philanthropy and impact investing. He discusses his personal journey, starting with his involvement in philanthropy in 2006 when he became responsible for a large foundation. Peter emphasizes the importance of understanding the historical and social context when addressing social issues and the limitations of current philanthropic approaches.

Buffett expresses his skepticism about the effectiveness of traditional philanthropy and impact investing, stating that the current mindset of quick returns and fear-based decision-making is not aligned with addressing the complex problems we face. He believes that the current ecosystem is mismatched with human nature and highlights the need for a more holistic and relationship-centered approach to address societal challenges.

Buffett shares his experiences working in Kingston, New York, where he engages directly with the local community and focuses on meeting their immediate needs. He discusses the interconnectedness of various issues such as childcare, healthcare, education, and food access, emphasizing the importance of addressing these needs in a comprehensive manner.

While Peter acknowledges that his approach may be unconventional in the world of investment and philanthropy, he expresses hope in finding like-minded individuals who recognize the need for a different mindset and approach. He believes that humility, a willingness to listen, and a deep understanding of one's privilege are essential qualities for individuals in positions of wealth and power.

Peter also discusses the importance of creating positive outcomes in communities. He emphasizes the significance of marginalised communities feeling safe and seen, and being celebrated. However, Peter highlights the challenge of scaling such an approach, as it requires contextual understanding and cannot simply be replicated on a large scale.

Peter shares his perspective on legacy and the need to shift away from the idea of leaving something behind for oneself. He emphasizes the importance of change starting from within and radiating outward. He shares his personal journey with his partner, Jennifer, and how they had to confront past experiences and work on themselves to create meaningful change. Peter also suggests focusing on small actions and the potential long-term impact they may have. He references a book called "How the Irish Saved Civilization" to illustrate the idea that small, seemingly insignificant actions can lead to significant outcomes. He concludes by expressing his desire to see individual lives positively impacted, as it signifies real change.

Overall, Buffett calls for a shift in consciousness and a focus on building relationships and understanding the interconnectedness of various systems to create a more sustainable and equitable future. He acknowledges the challenges in bringing about this change but remains optimistic about the possibility of a different world emerging through collective efforts.

If you had a magic wand…

It would start with self-examination and healing for the individual. I mean, everything starts from the inside out. So, I get all these families, patriarchs, and whoever it might be in various settings, where they could cry honestly, where they could look at themselves and recognize that they're inside something that owns them in a certain kind of way. There are myriad interventions that work for different people in different ways, from the every treat and talk therapy to psychedelics and everything else you can think of. There are a lot of different ways to get somebody to crack, and I think that would be my first hope: that people could stop and recognize what's running them and how much healing needs to happen. That might start to break down these issues around fear, self-worth, power, control, and all these things. So, I guess that would really be the first step: the self-part. 

And then, if I think about the family on this small farm, they have had two children born in the house who are now in the fields at four years old, helping to start the seeds and all that. For a better future, I would like to see more of that and less focus on getting advanced degrees or pursuing other career paths, unless it is something like being an astronaut, which is great. But honestly, it would be more beneficial to get people to reflect on themselves and what drives them and why.

Key quotes

‘’it's so seductive to be on these world stages, to be in these big rooms with these big people, and to think that you can make change on some grand scale. Our choice was no. Actually, we've been there, we've seen it, we felt it, we were caught up in it, we believed it. And then we started to realize that it is just seduction on a grand scale.”


If you have money and power, and you're surrounded by more of those kinds of people, change has to happen first from the inside out. And then from those outward concentric circles. 


One of my favorite quotes from a guy named West Jackson is, "We are a species out of context." When you say "leverage the current ecosystem," I think the current ecosystem is wildly unmatched to who we are as humans. That's why I love the fact that you're in a place that's going back to year 1100 because that's who we are, actually. We've created this current ecosystem that is in no way reflective of who we are as humans. It's created all of the reasons why things like impact investing come up, like how do we get ourselves out of this thing, which I don't frankly think we can do with the jewel secreted.


Over the course of these many years since 2006, we have shifted from that broader idea and how that might be funded through various organizations that exist, recognizing that once you have resources, everybody's got their reason for getting them, and they will tell you stories and show you pictures, but if you're not there, you're probably missing something. Now, in Kingston, New York, where I am, there's an area called Midtown, which is where most of the black population lives. If I'm not there every other day, I'm there every week, talking to the very people that we are hoping to support. I learned that a black girl needs whatever her parents need: childcare, health access, food access, educational opportunities, and more. Now we have focused a lot of our work there.


I don't know how the framing of impact investing can be sort of deconstructed into what the world really needs at this moment, which is not anybody thinking they're going to get a return, essentially, other than well-being, other than future right-sizing of what we built because the last couple of hundred years are just not real.


I mean, the relationship is ultimately the answer. The crash of 2008 would not have happened if you saw your banker in the grocery store and your kids played together. It's all about relationships.


We're pulling things out of the ground and turning them into junk at a rate that just the accounting is off. If you look at basic accounting, the entire last 200 years have missed the inputs and the outputs. It's all been the production model and how you get consumption spun up, and there's no regard for what we're pulling out of the ground or what we're putting into the water, air, and everything else. That is catching up with us obviously, but we're so comfortable. My feeling is that convenience is what's killing us.


I didn't have any preconceived notion of what a boardroom felt like or what ROI was. It gave me a particular perspective. Fortunately, I have a father. When you talk about intergenerational mechanisms, it's all about the trauma that most people carry around from their parents and their parents and their parents.


We live in such a traumatized culture in so many ways, which starts from the disassociation. To get the next generation on a path of healing and connection, when they probably have super wealthy parents, something's probably out of whack. 


When I'm up in Kingston and I see a girl benefiting from some small thing we've done, like getting her hair braided for school, I realize that if that 10-year-old ends up being the grandparent of the person who feels the change, that's great. I'll be long gone, but a different world might be possible.


It all comes down to how the money was earned, what people believe money should be used for, and their perception of their own place in the world. Unfortunately, this does not attract individuals who are humble and willing to ask for help. People who are willing to listen and not impose their own opinions are rare. 


I think that would be my first hope: that people could stop and recognize what's running them and how much healing needs to happen. That might start to break down these issues around fear, self-worth, power, control, and all these things.


My wife has a great three-word phrase that we live by, which is "safe, seen, and celebrated." We have to prioritize safety first, for sure. But then, being seen, being witnessed, and being acknowledged, and then celebrated for the unique human that you are - those three words pretty much say it all. And you can't really do that at scale. I mean, that's part of the problem. Ultimately, you can, but you can't have that be the approach. How do we scale this up? While it's so contextually significant in terms of what it means in place? 


There was a woman at one point, and we were talking about legacy. And she said, "Legacy is such a penis word." In other words, this sense of something that's about you that you're going to leave behind. I think we have to get rid of that stuff. 


I think to focus on these little things might be the thing. There's a book called "How the Irish Saved Civilization," and it's about the monks that were just in meditation, copying all these texts. They were just doing it to copy, but they ultimately were copying classic literature and things that, if they hadn't done it, we wouldn't have all these great works. They didn't know they were doing that. They were just doing it. That's the way I think about our work. We don't know what's going to happen because we're doing it. But if we feel it and we're responding, and we're connected, and we're vulnerable, and all those things, it might make a difference. And I'd rather see that 10-year-old light up because she's got a place where she feels safe. Because then I know I've done something that's really real.