Criterion Institute

12/10/2021

On International Human Rights Day, join Young African Women Initiatives to end violence against women NOW!!! Follow the Young African Women Initiatives to learn more.

11/03/2021

From Intent to Action: Using Finance to Address Gender-Based Violence
on Thursday, November 4, 2021 at 2:00pm EDT

Gender-based violence has enormous costs to the people who endure it, but also to society and the economy as a whole.

Join us for a conversation with leading experts as we explore tools and opportunities for investors who wish to deploy their capital to bring gender-based violence to an end. Speakers include Tiedemann Advisors' Managing Director and Partner, Teresa Wells | The Criterion Institute's Founder and President, Joy Anderson I Stardust Fund's Managing Director, Lawanna Kimbro I KL Felicitas Foundation's President and Co-Founder, Lisa Lynn Kahululani Kleissner I Radha Friedman Consulting's President, Radha Friedman

Please register here: https://bit.ly/3jl9fdH

10/21/2021

Gender-based violence has enormous costs to the people who endure it, but also to society and the economy as a whole.

In the U.S. alone, the annual cost of lost productivity due to domestic violence is estimated as $727.8 million, with over 7.9 million paid workdays lost each year. A 2018 report found that the total economic costs to the U.S. economy caused by intimate partner violence were a staggering $3 trillion over the victims’ lifetimes.

While efforts focusing on using finance to address gender-based violence are still in the early days and many obstacles remain, there are a number of avenues investors can pursue.

Join us for a conversation with leading experts as we explore tools and opportunities for investors who wish to deploy their capital to bring gender-based violence to an end. Speakers include Tiedemann Advisors' Managing Director Teresa Wells, CFA and Criterion Institute's Founder and President Joy Anderson.

Register for the From Intent to Action: Using Finance to Address Gender-Based Violence webinar on Thursday, November 4, 2021 at 2:00pm EDT: https://bit.ly/3jl9fdH

In the U.S. alone, the annual cost of lost productivity due to domestic violence is estimated as $727.8 million, with over 7.9 million paid workdays lost each year. A 2018 report found that the total economic costs to the U.S. economy caused by intimate partner violence were a staggering $3 trillion...

06/09/2021

Founder Joy Anderson spoke with David O'Leary on the Impact Investing Podcast, discussing systemic inequalities - and how if you're not addressing this in your impact investing, you're not really an impact investor. Visit the link to listen to the episode

Homepage for The Impact Investing Podcast where host David O'Leary dives into the field of impact investing. Listen to changemakers from all walks of life who are using for-profit principles in surprising ways to drive social and environmental impact.

06/08/2021

Within impact investing, there is often an inherent power imbalance – with capital holders typically holding the most potent decision-making power. How can organisations and investors disrupt this power imbalance?

Candide Group is one such organisation that is directing capital towards investments dedicated to social justice and sustainability. In 2019 they launched the Olamina Fund – to address the historic lack of access to capital in American communities, namely Black and Native communities, who have faced decades of disinvestment and intentional extraction. The Olamina fund includes impact-orientated loans to a variety of women and BIPOC-led private debt providers who invest in critical community staples such as small business development, worker cooperatives, and low-income housing.

Read the full article by Denise Hearn and Alyssa Ely at https://ssir.org/articles/entry/impact_investors_need_to_share_power_not_just_capital #

Lack of access to capital is a longstanding and well-known barrier to equity for communities of color and women, but overcoming systemic injustices will take more than moving money. How investments are made, and the power dynamics behind those decisions, need to change, too.

06/05/2021

Many of us have been on a journey together for the last few years about how to use finance to reduce gender-based violence. Join us for this mid-year update (optimized for different timezones) before we gather for our month of action in September (Convergence XVIII) to reconnect, discuss progress, and new possibilities that have emerged.

This event is for previous Convergence attendees, serving as a place to gather mid-year to reconvene and talk through updates, but also our new partners in our Gender-Based Violence work and those new to Criterion’s work on Gender-Based Violence who may have interest in partnering with us on this program in the future.

The below links will take you to the time optimized events for the US and Australia - happening 7th June at 9PM EDT/8th June 11AM AEDT

https://bit.ly/3fSv432 (US)

https://bit.ly/3gexEPN (AUS)

Please join us for this first event in the Pre-Convergence XVIII series

06/04/2021

An abundance of research shows that most investors view white, Western-educated men as “most worthy” of investment across a number of asset classes. In the US, venture capital investments in women sits at $4.9 billion – a mere 2.3% of industry totals, and the stats are even worse for female founders of color. So how do we improve venture capital investments into women-led ventures?

Companies like SheEO, a nonprofit venture capital firm, is striving to lower barriers to entry for venture founders by designing an inclusive due diligence and screening process. Their approach doesn’t require the use of credit scores or an investment committee to decide which business it will lend to; SheEO instead leans on its global investment community to democratically vote on who will be funded. SheEO also takes steps to educate its investor network on issues of race and ethnicity bias – this has organically led to 75% of Canadian finalists considered for investment being Black, Indigenous, women of color and/or LGBTQS2S+. Proving that equitable process and building relationships across racial, cultural and economic boundaries can produce “power with” rather than “power over” outcomes for the entire community.

Read the full article by Denise Hearne and Alyssa Ely in the Stanford Social Innovation Review

https://bit.ly/3fVfRg8

Lack of access to capital is a longstanding and well-known barrier to equity for communities of color and women, but overcoming systemic injustices will take more than moving money. How investments are made, and the power dynamics behind those decisions, need to change, too.

06/03/2021

Impact investing has the potential to tackle systemic injustices more intentionally by analysing power dynamics in investment processes. Criterion’s Denise Hearn and impact investment advisor and gender lens specialist, Alyssa Ely, recently co-authored an article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review

Simply directing money towards underrepresented groups does not address the root causes of social and economic inequities. Analysing the mechanisms behind how, where, and to whom money moves is essential to promote effective social change. One of the seven suggestions the article makes for investors is to move beyond over-valuing financial knowledge and instead recognise that contextual and experiential knowledge of an issue (usually held by nonprofit groups or community organizers) must be embedded throughout the process.

Many organisations are recognising the value of other forms of knowledge, building theminto the very design of their investment products. Adasina Social Capital, an investment management firm that bridges financial markets and social justice, pays social change organisations to provide insights into systemic risks that other investors miss. They then used this data to create their public equity ETF (https://bit.ly/3wPGie5).

Read the full article at https://bit.ly/3fVfRg8

Lack of access to capital is a longstanding and well-known barrier to equity for communities of color and women, but overcoming systemic injustices will take more than moving money. How investments are made, and the power dynamics behind those decisions, need to change, too.

12/29/2020

In September, our Convergence XVII convening brought together 81 people across 11 countries for a Month of Action focused on using the power of finance to address gender-based violence. One of the results stemming from the convening was the publication of 13 roadmaps: https://bit.ly/34mmJyk
In 2021, we will again host Convergence with a focus on financing the reduction of GBV, building on the insights and momentum from this year. If you're inspired and ready to take action, register today for Convergence XVIII: https://bit.ly/37tWkAo. The experience will begin upon registration, as we connect participants to each other via our digital venue and community.

PRE-ORDER FOR 2021 EVENT: CONVERGENCE XVIII is an International Call to Action and Digital Conference, Optimized For Global Time Zones

12/21/2020

Our signature convening, Convergence, will be back in 2021!
Convergence XVIII will focus on moving forward specific and tangible ideas to leverage the power of finance to address gender-based violence, building on the insights and momentum from this year's convening.
Register today and learn more: https://bit.ly/37tWkAo
The experience begins upon registration as participants are connected to each other via our digital venue and community, so don't wait!

PRE-ORDER FOR 2021 EVENT: CONVERGENCE XVIII is an International Call to Action and Digital Conference, Optimized For Global Time Zones

12/18/2020

There is no more urgent time for social change leaders to engage finance and lead the way to our collective future. In our newly released Blueprint, we discuss the opportunity for Faith-based Organizations to use finance as a tool for social change, with a focus on Milwaukee.

12/15/2020

Exciting news: The Womanity Foundation is launching the new Call for Proposals!

The Womanity Award focuses on the prevention of violence against women and girls. They want to catalyze amazing partnerships and accelerate the dissemination of impactful models addressing violence against women and girls across different countries in the Global South. They focus on the power of collaboration and partnerships to address the root cause of violence against women and girls and they are looking for a pair of organizations that will work together with their support.

In this fourth round of the Womanity Award, they aim to find innovative programmes focused on preventing domestic violence against women and girls. This is one of the most prevalent forms of abuse experienced by and .

Head to their website for details on how to send your proposal, the eligibility criteria, what kind of support and funding provides, and full details about the selection process. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2021.

https://bit.ly/2IWERra