A Win-Win for Women: New Calvert Foundation Impact Investment Initiative Gets $1 Million Citi Grant

Women's History Month may be over, but as the many events and panel discussions held at the United Nations on and around March 8 to celebrate International Women's Day showed, not only is there much work yet to be done, it's getting done.

One of the day's many panel presentations, hosted by the UN Office for Partnerships and the US Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center Forum as part of the conference "The Role of Business in Empowering Women," introduced an innovative new program called "WIN-WIN," the Women INvesting in Women INitiative, a Calvert Foundation project that was created to raise $20 million "from women and those who care about women" to invest in organizations and projects that create opportunities for women across the globe.

The panelists were Lisa Hall, president and CEO of Calvert Foundation, a $200-million leader in impact investing, working in 100 countries and guided by a mission "to maximize the flow of capital to disadvantaged communities in order to create a more equitable and sustainable society,"[1] and Pam Flaherty, CEO of the Citi Foundation, which "supports the economic empowerment and financial inclusion of low- to moderate-income people in communities where Citi operates."[2]

A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY: INVEST WITH JUST $20

It's a simple financial proposition: If you invest $100, every dollar will go directly to flexible and affordable loans for women, and you get up to 2% interest on your investment, plus the knowledge that you've helped to empower women.

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Reynard is a Justmeans staff writer for Sustainable Finance and Corporate Social Responsibility. A former media executive with 15 years experience in the private and non-profit sectors, Reynard is the co-founder of MomenTech, a New York-based experimental production studio that explores transnational progressivism, neo-nomadism, post-humanism and futurism. He is also author of the blog 13.7 Billion Years, covering cosmology, biodiversity, animal welfare, conservation and ethical consumption. He is currently developing the Underground Desert Living Unit (UDLU), a sustainable single-family dwelling envisioned as a potential adaptation response to the future loss of human habitat due to the effects of anthropogenic climate change. Reynard is also a contributing author of "Biomes and Ecosystems," a comprehensive reference encyclopedia of the Earth's key biological and geographic classifications, to be published by Salem Press in 2013.