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Power Problem in a Changing Climate: The Renewable Energy Movement is Shortchanging Women and the Poor
What happens when a movement that aims to correct a global power imbalance develops an imbalance of its own? That’s the question facing renewable energy, says Solar Sister co-founder Neha Misra – a sector dominated by “largely white, often male, founder companies with Western expatriate leadership,” in which organizations with a social focus are sidelined by investors seeking quick profits. Misra discusses these and other uncomfortable truths – and why the movement must address them.
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- Energy, Social Enterprise
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Gender Discrimination Drives Income Inequality: How Impact Investors Can Respond
Investors have increasingly begun to realize that income inequality is one of the most urgent socioeconomic challenges of our time. But while the problem has many causes, few stand out as significantly as gender discrimination. In light of a new report on how investors can respond to income inequality, William Burckart, Michael Musuraca and Steve Lydenberg explore the high cost of gender discrimination – and share some of the ways investors are addressing the issue.
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- Investing
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Press release: New Gender Lens Investing Tool Helps Drive Capital to Mutual Funds Supporting Gender Equality
Gender Equality Funds screens the specific holdings of about 5,000 of the most commonly-held U.S. mutual funds—including financial giants like Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street—against a database detailing individual company performance on 12 key gender equality performance indicators. These 12 indicators measure policies that demonstrate a commitment to gender diversity and gender balance in the overall leadership, management, and workforce of companies, combining into an overall gender equality portfolio score for each mutual fund.
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- Investing
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Press release: Gender Lens Investing Assets Rise 85% in Past Year and Now Exceed $2.4 Billion
“The growth of Gender Lens Investing is one of the most positive developments in a year overshadowed by the gender pay gap, lack of women on boards and sexual harassment scandals,” said Patricia Farrar-Rivas, CEO of Veris Wealth Partners. “GLI is one of the best opportunities to mobilize capital and remedy social issues we need to put behind us.”
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- Investing
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Creating a Culture of Innovation By Letting Employees Lead the Way
For nearly 30 years, Pro Mujer has been a regional leader in Latin America – not only in microfinance, but in women’s empowerment. But facing an evolving landscape with emerging technologies and new market participants, the organization realized that it needed to develop a more innovative approach. As it considered how to establish a culture of innovation, Pro Mujer turned to a surprising (yet intuitive) resource: its employees. Cassandra Salcedo, Associate Director of Strategy and Innovation at Pro Mujer, shares five key lessons the organization learned from the process.
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- Finance, Technology
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The (Business) Case for Confidence: Why Unlocking Women’s Self-Confidence Should be a Major Development Priority
Evidence shows that building self-confidence is important: It affects how we interact with colleagues, how we present ourselves to new people, and how we perceive ourselves and our capabilities. That's why, according to Megan Madeira At Resonate, women's self-confidence is something the social business and development sectors must address. She discusses how Resonate's workshops help build women's confidence, amplifying the impact of development programs and boosting the effectiveness of businesses in the process.
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- Education, Social Enterprise
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Money20/20 Launches Rise Up Program to Foster Gender Inclusivity Within the Financial Services & Fintech Industries
Money20/20 also revealed that Rise Up was created in partnership with Wnet (Women’s Network in Electronic Transactions), the premier professional organization for women in payments.
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- Finance
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Turning Intentions into Action: How to Boldly Implement Gender Lens Investing
There is strong evidence around the business case for investing in women, yet many asset managers and impact investors remain unsure about how to integrate a gender lens into their organization’s investment strategy. Though the process can take time to implement effectively, and will differ from institution to institution, David Venn offers several key questions that can help investors take the first step.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise