Economic insecurity among women brings long-lasting consequences for families and the overall economy. Many women are now the breadwinners in their households. Their loss or reduction of income impedes their ability to provide for their families. This, in turn, can have a negative impact on the well-being of children and can lead to increased education and economic inequality.
Faith investors have long engaged companies and governments on exploitative practices involving child labor. They have also weighed in on negative infant formula marketing, violent video games, and obesity impacts from junk food over the past four decades. In fact, faith investors are typically the first shareowners to flag negative business impacts on children.
As faith communities know from their decades of advocacy, there is deep benefit in coming together to share knowledge and grow commitments aimed at achieving meaningful real-world changes. Those same lessons can be applied to faith-based investing efforts. As investors, faith communities must learn from each other, coordinate across different groups, and make their collective capital count.
Adam Matthews, director of ethics and engagement at The Church of England Pensions Board is on the vanguard of a growing trend among activist institutional investors of all sizes who are no longer waiting for governments to tackle the world’s most important and impactful environmental and social issues, particularly climate change.
(From the archives) The United Church of Christ was present at the creation of a new era in the intersection of faith and finance. In the early 70s, energized by the anti-war and anti-apartheid movements, the women’s movement, and the battle for civil rights, Protestant denominations began to examine how their religious values and social justice positions were reflected in their investing and business decisions.
Religious investors have been a vital force in the development of modern responsible investment. Pax World, the first SRI mutual fund in the U.S., was launched in 1971 by two Methodist ministers. In that same year the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility was founded, and over the next half-century ICCR members have been engaging with corporations on issues ranging from the South Africa boycott to climate change.
For all investors, but particularly for communities of faith in these turbulent times, the prospect of impact investing offers an abundance of meaningful opportunities to realign and reaffirm how our values support our investment strategies. From a congregation that decides to make a deposit in a local credit union or Black-owned community development bank, or to a church-based pension fund that invests in climate resilience.
\”How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech but in truth and action.\” (1 John 3:17-18, NRSV) Traditionally seen as a call to greater charity, in 2020 this verse can provide inspiration for investors to integrate their values and pursue impact through their portfolios as well.
Join thousands of leaders online — from the private and public sectors, utilities, solution providers, investors, and startups — who are advancing systemic solutions to address the climate crisis through five key markets: clean energy, electrified transportation, the circular economy, carbon removal and sustainable food systems.
Started by Wendy Burton in 2015, World Tree USA, recently surpassed $2M on the Equity Crowdfunding Platform. This marks the third most successful capital raise in Wefunder’s history and the highest amount raised by any female founder. The agroforestry company offers investors the opportunity to participate in a timber investment through its Eco-Tree Program.
