Field Building

Since its founding in 2002, Criterion has been involved in several field building efforts. Field building is the work where you create a new coordinated set of thought, of actors and institutions, or of activity. It can be a field of ideas like Sociology or systematic theology, these field are often contested and shifting. Criterion’s field building efforts have focused on building the fields of impact investing and gender lens investing.

In 2006, in partnership with Kevin Jones and Timothy Freundlich, Joy Anderson established Good Capital, the first institutional expansion-stage fund using the power of markets to create a more equitable economy and a more sustainable world. Through this Criterion had a significant impact on pipeline development in the impact investing eco-system.  The insights and learnings from Good Capital fed conversations on the emerging field of impact investing, and Joy’s position at the helm of the firm made Criterion a key part of the conversation.

Beginning in 2005, Criterion hosted 16 conferences over the course of ten years, during which leaders from finance, women’s rights organizations, and the many expressions of the Christian church met to push the boundaries on how to use finance as a tool for social change. Held around the United States, Convergences not only fostered friendship and collaboration — they changed the conversation. At Convergence, ideas and conversations converged to create energy, collaboration, and direction.

The State of the Field of Gender Lens Investing report was published in October 2015, culminating from Criterion’s many years of field building and relationship cultivation through our Convergence gatherings.  The report narrates the history of Gender Lens Investing, offers several strategic road maps for the future, and names in the bibliography many organizations that are doing this work. A generous grant from the Wallace Global Fund allowed Criterion to research, publish, and amplify this report through a Summit in Washington, D.C. in April 2016.

Resources 

Field-Building Events