Extending the Reach
I’m writing this note from Washington, DC, where I am finishing up two and a half weeks of travel in the continental United States. Most of my time here has been spent with other clergy, first at Sacred Pause in Santa Fe and then at “Preacher Camp,” a group of friends and fellow working preachers who have met for 24 years to plan preaching for the year ahead.
As I interacted with so many amazing faith leaders, I realized again how the Invested Faith model of identifying, resourcing, and networking faith rooted social entrepreneurs goes hand in hand with the work of faith communities. We’re all looking for new and creative ways to meet this moment with tangible community care, and Invested Faith Fellows are some of our most exciting partners in this work.
Together we extend the reach of traditional faith communities, meeting the needs ot our neighbors together. Below, you’ll meet Invested Faith Fellow Ray’Chel Wilson, whose passion for helping historically marginalized communities build financial confidence and generational wealth is reshaping the way financial education is delivered.
Join us as we keep extending the reach of people of faith, working together to heal and love this world back to life.
With God’s peace,
P.S. Here’s a pic from Preacher Camp 2026.
Meet our Invested Faith Fellow
RayChel Wilson
Forourlastnames
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Ray'Chel Wilson is a Certified Financial Therapist (CFT-I) and seminarian whose work sits at the intersection of financial healing and faith-rooted stewardship. While being a founding high school teacher, she watched a contracted financial-literacy tool fail her students and built her own foolproof framework in response. That framework, grounded in the belief that money stewardship is a holistic practice as much as a strategic one, became the foundation for ForOurLastNames™, the fintech company she co-founded to empower people to move from financial trauma to financial traction and build sustainable wealth.
Why? For the sake of their last names
The upcoming ForOurLastNames™ app helps those emerging from low-income build the financial agency & financial connectivity needed to reach & sustain financial goals. In a two-week beta with roughly 40 self-selected participants at Duke and UC Irvine, users reported an 80% increase in financial wellbeing. In a DIG interview during Robin Hood Blue Ridge Labs' Founder Fellowship Phase 1, one participant put it simply: "I need this."
There are many ways to support Invested Faith—and every gift makes a difference. Your generosity helps equip more than 90 faith-rooted social entrepreneurs in 28 states and the District of Columbia as they build stronger, more just communities. Learn more at investedfaith.org or reach out to start a conversation.