Three Pioneers of Gender Lens Investing
Recognized for Decades of Work and Collaboration
US SIF and Trillium Asset Management, LLC (Trillium) are excited
to announce that Joy Anderson, Suzanne Biegel (posthumously), and
Jackie VanderBrug are winners of the 2024 Joan Bavaria Award in
recognition of their influential work in developing the field of
Gender Lens Investing.
Gender lens investing utilizes a holistic approach towards
integrating gender equity into financial systems. It informs
frameworks for how investments are analyzed, prioritized, and
executed, focusing on surfacing opportunities, decreasing risk, and
dismantling gender disparities.
The Award continues the legacy of the late Joan Bavaria, who is
often referred to as the "Founding Mother" of Socially Responsible
Investing. Ms. Bavaria’s pioneering work helped catalyze positive
change in the capital markets.
The Joan Bavaria Award presentation was held in Chicago, IL
during US SIF’s Forum 2024. The Award Committee included Mindy
Lubber, CEO and President of Ceres, Maria Lettini, CEO of US SIF,
and Matthew Patsky, CEO of Trillium. Each of the judges lead
organizations that were founded or co-founded by Ms. Bavaria, who
died in 2008 following a long battle with ovarian cancer.
“Jackie, Joy, and Suzanne, both together and individually, have
– for decades – been advocating for more sustainable, inclusive
economic environments,” said Matthew Patsky, CEO of Trillium Asset
Management. “Joan Bavaria was a smart, passionate advocate of
equality and understood the value of collaboration. Each of these
women share those traits.”
“Women are a driving force within the US economy contributing $7
trillion to US GDP each year. Yet they remain underrepresented in
many areas of industry and government,” added Maria Lettini, CEO of
US SIF. “Suzanne, Jackie, and Joy’s work highlights the vital role
of finance in driving societal progress to sustainability and
equity, and towards stronger economies.”
“The field of Socially Responsible Investing is still young and
growing exponentially. This year, talented, committed people from
around the world were nominated for the Joan Bavaria Award,”
concluded Mindy Lubber, CEO and President of Ceres. “In 2024, the
time is right to recognize these women for their collaborative and
vital work to expand gender equity and empowerment.”
About the Winners of the 2024 Joan Bavaria Award
Gender lens investing emerged as a defined field in the 2000s
and 2010s and was promoted by group of investors and field builders
- including Joy Anderson of Criterion Institute, Suzanne Biegel of
Women Effect, and later GenderSmart, and Jackie VanderBrug,
co-author of the book Gender Lens Investing.
Joy Anderson has spent the last two decades helping
investors, social change organizations, and governments think
differently about finance. As Founder and President of Criterion
Institute, she has shaped the field of gender lens investing,
pioneered approaches to integrating gender-based violence data into
political risk methodologies and authored numerous influential
reports on using finance as a tool for social change.
Suzanne Biegel (Posthumously)
Suzanne Biegel founded the consultancy Catalyst at Large and was
the co-founder of the pioneering gender lens field-building
initiatives Women Effect and GenderSmart (now 2X Global). During
the decades before her death in 2023, she spent her career
collaborating with investors, helping them move their capital in a
gender-smart way. Her legacy foundation, Heading for Change, is
working to catalyze capital at the nexus of climate and gender,
with the belief that catalyzing gender-smart capital is key to
addressing the climate crisis.
Jackie S. VanderBrug is Head of Sustainability Strategy
at Putnam Investments. She is responsible for leading Putnam's
ESG-focused business functions, including Stewardship, Engagement,
Partnerships, and ESG Strategy and Integration. She is co-author of
Gender Lens Investing: Uncovering Opportunities for Growth,
Returns, and Impact.
About Trillium Asset Management
Trillium Asset Management, LLC (Trillium) offers
investment strategies and services that seek to advance humankind
towards a global sustainable economy, a just society, and a better
world. For over 40 years, the firm has been at the forefront of ESG
thought leadership and draws from decades of experience focused
exclusively on responsible investing. Trillium uses a holistic,
fully integrated fundamental investment process to uncover
compelling long-term investment opportunities. Devoted to aligning
stakeholders’ values and objectives, Trillium combines impactful
investment solutions with active ownership. The firm delivers
equity, fixed income, and alternative investments to institutions,
intermediaries, high net worth individuals, and other charitable
and non-profit organizations with the goal to provide positive
impact, long-term value, and ‘social dividends’™.
About US SIF and the US SIF
Foundation
US SIF: The Sustainable Investment Forum is the
preeminent voice advancing sustainable investing. Members, who
represent $5 trillion in assets under management or advisement,
support US SIF’s mission is to rapidly shift investment practices
toward sustainability, focusing on long-term investment, the
generation of positive social and environmental impacts and
supporting the shift toward a more resilient and equitable planet
and society. https://www.ussif.org
US SIF is supported in its work by the US SIF Foundation,
a 501(C)(3) organization that undertakes educational and research
activities to advance the mission of US SIF, including offering
trainings for advisors and other financial professionals on the
Fundamentals of Sustainable and Impact Investment.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240626882325/en/
Talia Dunyak +1 414-376-7934 ussif@lowecom.com