3 women who developed ‘gender lens investing’ receive Joan Bavaria Award

Three women who pioneered the field of gender lens investing were named winners Wednesday of the 2024 Joan Bavaria Award bestowed by US SIF: the Sustainable Investment Forum and Trillium Asset Management.

The winners — Joy Anderson of Criterion Institute, Suzanne Biegel (posthumously) of Women Effect and later GenderSmart, and Jackie VanderBrug, co-author of the book “Gender Lens Investing” — were recognized at the US SIF Forum 2024 in Chicago.

“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.”

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 field emerged in the 2000s and 2010s.

The award continues the legacy of Bavaria, who is often referred to as the “Founding Mother” of socially responsible investing. Bavaria’s work helped catalyze positive change in the capital markets. She died in 2008 following a long battle with ovarian cancer.

“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.”

Here is a brief resume of each of the three winners:

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 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.”

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