Webinar Recap: How Foundations Can Advance Racial Equity Through Impact Investing
How can foundations that are committed to impact investing also advance diversity, equity, and inclusion? What role should foundations play in ensuring that racial equity is at the heart of the impact investing movement? These were questions that were the subject of an SSIRLive! webinar on April 23rd, which was co-produced by Mission Investors Exchange and Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) as part of an ongoing essay series in SSIR on racial equity and impact investing.
Click here to access a recording of the webinar. During the webinar each speaker explained their organizations’ efforts to advance racial equity—inherently tied to diversity and inclusion—into their institutions and impact investing practices and detailed the subsequent positive outcomes in the social sector space that have resulted from these strategic efforts. See below for speakers, our key takeaways, and a collection of Tweets from the webinar.
Speakers
- Don Chen, President, Surdna Foundation
- Holiday Hart McKiernan, Acting CEO, Executive Vice President, and General Counsel, Lumina Foundation
- La June Montgomery Tabron, President and CEO, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Key Takeaways
- Intentionality is key: Making racial equity a strategic priority first requires a transformation within the organization, and an understanding that this work takes time and you will not have all the answers right away.
- This is difficult work: Addressing racial inequity is not about blaming or shaming, it is about working together to right systemic and institutional wrongdoings, and recognizing that we all must play a role in bringing change.
- Dialogue and debate is encouraged! It is critical for foundations to be transparent, to share information on what has worked and what doesn't work. Utilitizing platforms such as webinars and peer communities such as Mission Investors exchange can help with this.
- Accountability through impact measurement: Look at your investments from a holistic perspective, focusing on the social impact of each investment. Putting social metrics in writing and adding them into investment documents also creates accountability for the investor and the investee.
How Foundations Can Advance Racial Equity Through Impact Investing
