SWEEF Capital Publishes Practitioner’s Manual for its Gender ROI Assessment Tool

Singapore-based SWEEF Capital has published a Practitioner’s Manual to accompany its groundbreaking Gender ROI Assessment Tool.  “Increasing numbers of organizations, government bodies, industry advocates and investors are engaging in frank conversations about barriers preventing women’s full participation in many activities, including access to capital and meaningful career pathways,” writes the gender-lens investment firm. “The new…(Read more)

Scaling Gender Change in Canadian Climate Finance in Developing Economies

Global Affairs Canada has released a new report entitled A Journey of Purpose: Learning to Scale Gender Change in Canadian Climate Finance in Developing Economies. Authored by Dr. Edward Jackson for the Department’s Climate Finance Division, the discussion paper examines Canada’s USD 3B long-term debt portfolio with multilateral banks and funds aimed at financing major…(Read more)

Gender inclusion through investing: Exploring the possibilities in Bangladesh

On December 13, 2022, LightCastle Partners, a Dhaka-based management consulting firm, hosted an expert panel entitled “Gender Inclusion through Investing: How can we do that?” The event was co-sponsored by the Biniyog Briddhi Programme, a Swiss-funded initiative that provides impact-linked financing to social tech enterprises in Bangladesh (see https://www.sie-b.org/) and which had organized a previous…(Read more)

Ventures at the Helm of their Impact Measurement

Longtime Jackson and Associates colleague and global thought leader in impact assessment, Karim Harji has worked with a team of colleagues—Laura Budzyna, Penny Hawkins, and Heather Hachigian—to produce one of the field’s most innovative tools, entitled Ventures at the Helm. “This guide,” the authors write, “seeks to help impact ventures identify and advocate for the…(Read more)

Special Journal Issue Launched: Growing Gender Lens Investing in Emerging Markets

“Driven by reciprocal scholar-practitioner partnerships, future research on the growth of gender lens investing in emerging markets should be Southern directed, methodologically plural, anchored in open data, and actionable in real time,” write co-editors Carolina Robino and Edward Jackson in their editorial for the recently launched special issue of the Journal of Sustainable Finance and…(Read more)

A Gender Lens Investing Roadmap for Australian Investors

One of the most significant events at the Impact Investment Summit for the Asia Pacific region, held in Sydney on March 29-31, 2022, was the release of the report entitled A Roadmap for Australian Investors: How to invest to achieve gender equity, racial equity, diversity, and inclusion, by Capital Human and Impact Investing Australia.  Taking…(Read more)

Standards Setters Work Together on Inclusive Finance Playbook

On February 18, 2022, the Investor Leadership Network convened a group of prominent standards organizations to discuss a common playbook for accelerating and measuring inclusion in sustainable investments. As ILN reported: “Roundtable participants included senior leaders from Values Reporting Foundation, Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), Responsible Investment Association (RIA), OECD’s Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG),…(Read more)

She Disrupts: Mentoring Women Social Entrepreneurs in Vietnam

In 2021, Creatella Impact and Women’s Initiative for Startups and Entrepreneurship (WISE) implemented a women’s economic empowerment program in Vietnam that provided mentoring and coaching to accelerate the success of women-oriented social-business startups in Vietnam. The program was supported by Investing in Women (an initiative of the Australian Government), Global Affairs Canada and the GSRD…(Read more)

CAFIID releases 2021 State of Sector Report

On December 1, 2021, the Canada Forum on Impact Investment and Development (CAFIID) launched its 2021 State of the Sector Report.  Among other findings, the report found that Canadian impact investment assets in developing and emerging economies total $3.5 billion, a significant increase over the past three years. The report also examined diversity in the sector,…(Read more)

Gender Lens Investing and Green Financing in Small Island Developing States

Kizzann Sammy, Senior Associate with Jackson and Associates and Principal of Kochi Consulting, was recently invited to present a paper to the UN Women Expert Group Meeting on the theme of achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and…(Read more)