March 2024

Women and Impact Investing

Pictured above: Gladis Avila, owner of Venbisustore LLC (center) with Gleidys Arias, Program Manager (left) and Kersy Azocar, President and CEO (right) of Greenline Access Capital.

Welcome to our March issue on ‘Women and Impact Investing.’ One of our featured writers, Maria Lettini, CEO of US SIF: The Sustainable Investment Forum gives us context for this edition of GreenMoney, stating, “As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it is again for a time of reflection. We delight in the pockets of progress over the years but reiterate that there is certainly no room for complacency. The World Bank estimated that there are over 2 billion women who are without equal economic opportunity. Though in the US, numbers feel more optimistic. American women contribute more than $7 trillion to US GDP each year. In addition, they control $10 trillion in assets, a number that is expected to grow to $30 trillion over the next decade. And, by 2028, estimates suggest women will be responsible for 75% of discretionary spending.”

The other featured writers in this March 2024 issue include: Geeta Aiyer of Boston Common Asset Management, Stella Tai of Praxis Mutual Funds, Kersy Azocar of Greenline Access Capital, and Bettina von Hagen of EFM. You will also find the new 2024 Clean Carbon 200 List, and New Way Homes reports a New Way of Developing Affordable Housing. And finally, check out our Video and Podcast for this month.

 In case you missed our February issue, you can still find the great lineup of articles on Aligning Money & Valuesas well as Stewardship Capitalism.

In preparation for our special April issue on ‘The Future of Water: Impacting Businesses and Communities,’ you can participate in World Water Day that is held on March 22nd each year. The 2024 theme is: Leveraging Water for Peace.

As the busy conference season has begun, you can keep up to date on what events are forthcoming with GreenMoney’s Global Green Events Calendar. Let me recommend two June conferences: GreenFin the Sustainable Finance and Investing event in NYC; and the US SIF Forum on Investing in a Sustainable Future in Chicago. 

Cliff Feigenbaum, founder & publisher

Opportunity for Women in the Clean Energy Transition

Maria Lettini
US SIF: The Sustainable Investment Forum
“As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it is again a time of reflection. We delight in the pockets of progress but reiterate that there is certainly no room for complacency. The World Bank estimated that there are over 2 billion women who are without equal economic opportunity. Though in the US, numbers feel more optimistic. American women contribute more than $7 trillion to US GDP each year. In addition, they control $10 trillion in assets, a number that is expected to grow to $30 trillion over the next decade.” 
 

Making Gender Visible: A Path to Systemic Inclusion

Geeta Aiyer
Boston Common Asset Management
Public equity investors have a unique opportunity to motivate companies to design for gender diversity and create genuinely inclusive systems within their organizations and throughout their value chains. Determined to equip investors with the tools to activate their voice, my financial firm developed Investor Guidance for Prioritizing Gender in 2022. The guidance supplies engaged investors with critical questions and essential tactics for motivating companies to adopt gender-specific approaches using an integrated, full value chain approach.
 

Unlocking Opportunity for Female Entrepreneurs Through Non-Traditional Financing

Stella Tai & Kersy Azocar
Praxis Mutual Funds & Greenline Access Capital
The UN identified the need to invest in women in two of its Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 5 (gender equality) and Goal 8 (decent work and economic growth) both pay particular attention to creating opportunity for female entrepreneurs. There is immense opportunity for sustainable investors and capital providers to meet the needs of women business owners who are in need of financing to support and grow their businesses.
 

Climate-Smart Forestry: From Niche to Mainstream

Bettina von Hagen
EFM
EFM, the forestland investment company, I co-founded almost 20 years ago was started on the premise that commercial forests could and should be valued and managed for the full range of goods and services they produce – timber, carbon, biodiversity, water provision, recreation, scenic beauty, tribal and indigenous values, and rural livelihoods. The enduring and critical truth is healthy, intact and functioning ecosystems, particularly forests, are fundamental to the earth’s life support system.
 
 

3 Takeaways hosted by Lynn Thoman: Mellody Hobson’s life—from her tough Chicago childhood to becoming Starbucks board chair to her marriage to George Lucas—has shattered stereotypes. Here, the president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments talks about pursuing excellence, how to become indispensable, tricks for managing time, the need to take risks, and much more.


Additional Articles

New Way of Developing Affordable Housing Through Partnerships with Churches

New Way of Developing Affordable Housing Through Partnerships with Churches

Churches are looking to use their real estate assets to address the growing housing affordability crisis and their own need for financial sustainability. Congregations are talking, and millions of homes are possible. New Way Homes, a non-profit that runs an impact investment fund for affordable housing development, and Workbench, a develop-design-build firm, have partnered to create a new development model.
2024 is the Year to Turn Goals into Climate Action by Mindy Lubber - Ceres

2024 is the Year to Turn Goals into Climate Action

Mindy Lubber
Ceres
Climate action plans with specific metrics will unleash both business innovation and societal advances for all including our families, communities, and the broader economy. Clear climate action plans, coupled with state and federal policy, will accelerate the clean energy economy, bringing innovation and jobs. Clean energy is growing at the fast pace and now provides 30% of the world’s electricity, on to 40% in the next four years.
Fundi Tshazibana (left) Sabine Mauderer (right)

High-Powered Women to Lead Global Central Bank Forum

Ingrid Walker
Climate and Capital Media
The 134 global members of NGFS collaborate and produce guidance on various critical topics including on supervisory practices for managing climate-related risks, design and analysis of climate scenarios and the implications of climate change for monetary policy. The collective also provides guidance for central banks on the transition to net zero and the emerging issue of nature-related financial risks.
The Benefits of Putting our Feminism into our Finances by Kristin Hull - Nia Impact Cap-GreenMoney

The Benefits of Putting our Feminism into our Finances

Kristin Hull
Nia Impact Capital
From the April 2023 Archive - Investing with a Gender Lens is not new. Many of us have been at this for a while now. And yet 2023 is the year we stand to make significant progress in bringing more balance to both our finances and to corporate America and beyond. Gender Lens Investing is an approach to investment due diligence that seeks to incorporate gender considerations into investment decision-making.
Carbon Clean 200 Companies Outperform Dirty Energy

Carbon Clean 200 Companies Outperform Dirty Energy

As You Sow and Corporate Knights recently released their 11th update of the Carbon Clean200™, a list of 200 publicly traded companies worldwide leading the way among global peers to a clean energy present and future. These companies generated almost double the returns of the main fossil fuel index from July 1, 2016, to January 15, 2024, despite geopolitical tensions that have favored fossil fuel stocks in the past two years.
Praxis Mutual Funds Releases “Real Impact 2023” Report

Praxis Mutual Funds Releases “Real Impact 2023” Report

“We work hard to provide investment options that pursue market-level returns while also aligning investors’ faith, values and investments. This report delves into many key themes for Praxis including encouraging the low carbon transition, addressing inequality, supporting low income and underserved communities, and engaging companies on good corporate governance.” said Mark Regier, VP of Stewardship Investing.

 

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