Gender Equality - ImpactAssets

Equal rights and access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender identity is fundamental to whether and how societies thrive. However, women across the world experience significant gaps in access to opportunities and resources when compared to men. Creative and flexible investment from impact investors and philanthropists can play a critical role in closing the gap by addressing the social and economic empowerment of women and girls.

Our Focus Areas

Advance Economic Inclusion

Scale financial products and services focused on women, and ensure equitable funding flows to businesses, funds and ventures owned by women.

Improve Lives and Outcomes

Invest in products and services that improve access to health, housing, agriculture and land ownership, the care economy and education.

Increase Representation
and Voice

Increase representation in leadership roles, foster inclusive business conduct, and provide platforms to elevate voices.

Our Impact By The Numbers

Portfolio companies and impact funds

of companies and funds in ImactAssets’ gender equality portfolio are led by women

“I knew all these amazing women who were underseen and undervalued, from those who were in leadership and governance all the way through to their customers — and I realized one way I was helping to build the field of gender-lens investing was just by investing my own capital. But I thought, instead of setting up a foundation that would just be my and Daniel’s own, I wanted to use the DAF structure that ImpactAssets has built to create an evergreen endowment that everyone could participate in that would focus on best-in-class climate and gender investing.”

— Suzanne Biegel (1963-2023. Read about Suzanne’s legacy here.)
Heading for Change

LEARN MORE IN OUR 2023 IMPACT REPORT

Focus Area Spotlight

Improving Access to Capital for Women is Critical at Every Level

Ensuring women have better access to financial tools and services is necessary to move the needle toward gender equality. Today, women are far less likely to receive funding across the capital spectrum, from large private equity investments to microfinance loans.

In the U.S. alone, women receive only 4% of small business loans from mainstream financial institutions. Women living below the poverty line face even steeper odds: many of them lack the bank accounts and credit scores required for banks to approve funding.

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