2020 has shown all of us, and the philanthropic community in particular, that resilience in any investment and grant-making strategy is vital. It has proved a pivotal moment to look again at how your values or those of your organisation align with your investing.

Ariadne invites you to take part in a special course of online seminars on Gender Lens Investing. These are for grant-makers, trustees and board members; high net worth individuals; programme, investment and management officers; and anyone in the philanthropic community who is interested in investing to help achieve gender equality and justice.

They will be hosted by Jo Andrews, former Director of Ariadne and co-founder of Equileap, which works to accelerate gender equality in the workplace. The seminars will explain gender lens investing, why it matters and how it can be carried out or incorporated into your practice of philanthropy. It will also look at how GLI might include non-binary gender definitions and intersectional marginalisation, such as racial justice.

There is no cost to take part. It is possible to sign up for the whole series or individual sessions.

Here are dates and brief details of what each hour-long session will cover.

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Gender Lens investing – What Does It Mean and Why Does it Matter?

Thursday 8 October

14:00 – 15:00 BST / 15:00 – 16:00 CEST / 09:00 – 10:00 EST

This will look at how the term Gender Lens Investing was invented and what it means. The session will review how it has developed in the eleven years since it was first coined. We will look at what it can help to achieve, review the research that shows that investing with a gender lens brings both solid market returns and a social dividend. We will look at what those benefits are.

Speaker:

– Suzanne Biegel, Founder of Gender Smart Investing and Godmother of the GLI Movement

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What does the data tell us about gender equality in Europe compared to the rest of the world?

Thursday 22 October

14:00 – 15:00 BST / 15:00 – 16:00 CEST / 09:00 – 10:00 EST

We will look at work funded by the European Union, carried out by Equileap, reviewing gender balance and equality in companies in 10 European countries. The session will examine what this tells us about the different approaches to gender equality in the different countries. It will place the results in a global context and identify which areas Europe does well on and where there is room for improvement. It will also look at GLI provision in terms of investment products with a European focus.

Speakers:

– Paola Marko, Senior Research Analyst, Equileap

– Karin Forseke, former CEO of the Swedish Investment Bank, Carnegie and Co, and former COO of LIFFE (London International Financial Futures Exchange)

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Extending Gender Investing Principles to LGBTQI and Racial Justice

Thursday 5 November

14:00 – 15:00 GMT / 15:00 – 16:00 CET / 09:00 – 10:00 ET

Most work on gender lens investing looks at gender from a binary point of view and captures snapshots of organisations using mass data procedures. This session will look at how at GLI principles could be adapted to a LGBTQI and extended to other diversities such as ethnicity. The session will look at the potential gains and challenges. It will also explore how future funds could be created that incorporate intersectional lenses.

Speakers:

– Tia Subramanian, Gender-Based Violence Program Director, Criterion Institute

– Marvin Owens, Deputy Chief Development Officer, Corporate Relations, NAACP & Impact Shares

– Ethan Powell, Founder/President, Impact Shares

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How do we invest with a gender lens – what does the gender lens investing sector look like?

Wednesday 18 November

14:00 – 15:00 GMT / 15:00 – 16:00 CET / 09:00 – 10:00 ET

An exploration of the experience different grant-makers and investment managers have had of investing with a gender lens. What has their practical experience been and how has it changed their practice? It will also look at how big the GLI market is and what sorts of products are available and coming on stream.

Speakers:

– Danielle Walker Palmour, Director, Friends Provident Foundation

– More speakers to be confirmed

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Changing Contexts: Where do we go from here?

Thursday 3 December

14:00 – 15:00 GMT / 15:00 – 16:00 CET / 09:00 – 10:00 ET

This final session will think about how COVID and new movements of change and protest alter the context for GLI. Are GLI funds more resilient than other mainstream investments in a crisis? How can we incorporate new priorities around racial and ethnic justice into GLI? Will COVID impact on the GLI sector in terms of diverting resources to other causes?

Speakers:

– Ceri Goddard, Project Director, Equality Impact Investing Project

– More speakers to be confirmed

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There is no cost to take part.

If you have any problems or queries with your booking, please contact Florent Gonthier, Ariadne’s Programme and Events Assistant: florent.gonthier@ariadne-network.eu

This series is funded by the European Commission (Project title: INGENDER, Project number: 831633)