What is Gender Lens Investing and How Can it Change the World?

Fulcrum Capital and Bloodworks Northwest to hold Gender Forward Investing Symposium to Leverage Power of Finance to Address Some of World’s Most Pressing Economic & Social Issues

SEATTLE (May 23, 2019) – Next Thursday, May 30th, Bloodworks Northwest and Fulcrum Capital are hosting a Gender Forward Investing Symposium drawing national leaders on the topic of gender lens investing to Seattle for an afternoon exploring the impact of this emerging national economic trend and its impact on nonprofits like Bloodworks. Bloodworks Northwest is hoping to be a catalyst for change here and across the nation. 

What is gender lens investment?
It’s the use of capital to effect real change in the lives of women and children. Harnessing the power of finance for both economic gain and to address systemic social challenges; gender-based violence, women’s underrepresentation in leadership positions. Right now, women and children make up almost 3/4 of those living in poverty in the United States.

Why does gender lens investment make sense?
According to a McKinsey Study in 2017, achieving full gender equality in the workforce could boost global GDP by $28 trillion by 2025. That’s greater than the six of the Eurozone economy today! Right now, only 29% of all enterprises in the U.S. are women owned. More importantly, senior management positions are held by women only 19% of the time. Leadership at the corporate level needs more female voices, especially in finance. Women hold senior roles in only 9% of Venture Capital Funds, only 6% in Private Equity firms and only 3% in Hedge Funds.

Why should gender be a factor in investment?
Experts say, better outcomes are consistently achieved if gender diversity exists. Companies with high gender diversity had lower stock price volatility and fewer drawdowns than similar companies with less gender diversity (Gender Diversity Continues to Work – Morgan Stanley 2016). Meanwhile, women are expected to control two-thirds of U.S. private wealth by 2020 (Market Watch 2019).

Featured Speakers:

·Joy Anderson – Founder Criterion Institute will provide background and lay out the case for finance to analyze gender as part of its work and depict how finance can be used to create meaningful change for women and girls.

·Chris Andersen, President & Executive Director – InFaith Community Foundation will provide real world example of integrating gender lens investing into an asset base of over $400 million, specifically pursuing investments that undermine the conditions that promote gender based violence.

·Tresa Thomas-Massiongale -BloodworksNW Chief Investment & Partnership Officer will offer a perspective of Bloodworks’ goals and motivations for investing in gender as a call to action for other investors, philanthropists and community leaders.

·Darcy Johnson – CEO Fulcrum Capital will provide a broad overview and speak to traditional asset class diversification and the importance of generating competitive returns.

About Bloodworks Northwest Bloodworks (formerly Puget Sound Blood Center) is backed by 75 years of Northwest history and 250,000 donors. It is local, nonprofit, independent, volunteer-supported and community-based. A recognized leader in transfusion medicine, Bloodworks serves patients in more than 100 hospitals in Washington, Oregon and Alaska — partnering closely with local hospitals to deliver the highest level of patient care. Comprehensive services include blood components, complex cross-matching, specialized lab services for organ transplants, care for patients with blood disorders, and collection of cord blood stem cells for cancer treatment. Bloodworks Research Institute performs leading-edge research in blood biology, transfusion medicine, blood storage and treatment of blood disorders. Patients with traumatic injuries, undergoing surgeries or organ transplantation, or receiving treatment for cancer and blood disorders all depend on our services, expertise, laboratories and research. Blood donation appointments can be scheduled on the Bloodworks App. For more information, visit bloodworksnw.org.