Dear Friend,
 
Happy International Women’s Day! As you tweet in support of gender equality, we invite you to include #gendersmart to raise awareness of our shared work to leverage investment as a tool to promote equity.
 
We’d like to take a moment to thank you for the enormous groundswell of support and momentum. In the last month, we’ve spoken to a dozen or more fund managers and investors who credit November’s Global Summit with driving them to take great leaps forward in their own GenderSmart investing agenda, whether launching new vehicles or adopting different strategies across their portfolio. We love hearing those stories and exciting updates, so please do get in touch to share.
 
We’re in our element playing this role as supporters and catalysts of the field, of which the Summit is just one component. We will have some exciting news to share with you about this soon. For now, here are a few key updates and upcoming events, and please encourage other leaders in your network to sign up here for future newsletters.
 
GenderSmart Investing Africa Breakfast. 70 people investing in Africa gathered during Sankalp in Nairobi to deep dive on issues and solutions. Thanks to our co-sponsor CDC Group and co-organiser ANDE. The meeting confirmed strong interest in a dedicated GenderSmart Investing Africa Summit, to be held late in 2019. Contact us if you’d like to be involved.
 
Women Deliver is almost sold out, so register if you haven’t yet done so. We’re looking forward to joining 7,000 others there and meeting some of you at our GenderSmart Investing side event on June 4 from 5:30-9:30pm at the convention center. If you or others would like to attend, let us know as we’ll be sending out invites soon.
 
Skoll World Forum. We’ll be hosting a breakfast during the week of Skoll World Forum, at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, Friday, 12 April. Let us know if you would like to join us.
 
OPIC 2x Challenge. There will be an event on 26 March at the Women’s Museum in Washington, DC to celebrate their success to date. We encourage you to contact OPIC directly if you’d like to attend.
 
Getting GenderSmart about Health. Equileap, with support from Tara Health Foundation, just released research assessing gender equality at 100 leading companies in the U.S., with a particular focus on healthcare plans. The Reproductive Health Investors Alliance also held a hugely successful venture fair on investing in reproductive health, with 12 companies and over 170 investors in attendance.
 
Reports and Resources. Hot off the press, the new IFC report, Moving Toward Gender Balance in Private Equity and Venture Capital, explores the link between financial returns and gender diversity, the lack of women in the industry, and steps needed to achieve gender balance. One of the key findings is funds with gender-balanced senior investment teams generated 10-20% higher returns compared with funds that have a majority of male or female leaders. Also of note, Arabella Advisors and the New Venture Fund’s Harriet Ecosystem, with support from JPMorgan Chase & Co, just released An Economy For All: How Philanthropy Can Unlock Capital for Women Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs of Color through Inclusive Investing. Also, GIIN’s Gender Lens Investing working group is winding down at the end of May and they’ve just added new resources to their website.

Finally, The Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) Gender Lens Investing Working Group just released Gender Lens Investing: A Primer For College And University Endowments, a primer that explores the link between value creation and gender diverse companies, highlights the rising trend of colleges and universities moving towards mission-aligned investing, and outlines a diverse range of tools and investment strategies available to endowment decision makers as they consider the integration of gender lens products in endowment investing. Reach out to Suzanne if you are interested in getting involved with this working group.
 
If you have a place-specific gender-smart investment focus, we’ve started developing a tool for place-based strategy and action and would love to hear from anyone who has built or used something similar.
 
In Community,

Suzanne Biegel and Darian Rodriguez Heyman
Co-Producers, GenderSmart Investing
www.gendersmartinvesting.com


 
A special thank you to our partners and supporters!