Today marks the 105th International Women’s Day (IWD), a global holiday to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. In this vein, we are immensely proud to announce that BSW Associate Advisor Meera Meyer has been named the 2016 Zonta Foothills Club Woman of Achievement!
Meera (center) with Zonta board members Marta (left) and Tommie
Meera joined BSW in 2014 as an Associate Advisor and currently serves on the boards of Project Education South Sudan and the Women’s Partnership Market. Meera transitioned her career from the non-profit sector to finance, with an emphasis on impact investing. Having represented BSW at Colorado Impact Days, the SRI Conference, and Schwab Impact, Meera is quickly establishing herself as an expert advisor in the emerging field of impact investing.
Now spearheaded by the United Nations, this year’s IWD campaign theme is gender parity. Although it has been over a century since the inaugural International Women’s Day, according to the World Economic Forum, women won’t reach economic parity with men until 2133. Further, less than 7% of all philanthropic dollars find their way to programs designed specifically for girls and women. Meanwhile, gender lens investing has gained tremendous traction in recent years as investors concerned with gender parity seek to align a portion of their portfolio with their values. Investors using a gender lens target investments that: Promote workplace equality; Support products and services beneficial to women and girls; Increase access to capital for women entrepreneurs.
For clients or colleagues interested in learning more about gender lens investing, the Criterion Institute is hosting a workshop in Denver on the topic—several BSW Advisors will be attending , so we hope to see you there.
BSW has implemented gender lens investments within many client portfolios, including over half a million invested in the Win-Win Community Investment Notes and gender lens screened equity portfolios. If interested, please contact your advisor, we are happy to help.
Happy International Women’s Day!
