September 6 – 28, 2023
Criterion’s Convergence XX, taking place virtually throughout the month of September 2023, will explore injustice as a systemic risk, bringing together thought leaders and practitioners from diverse fields. Together we will delve into questions such as: Who determines which emerging and ever-changing economic, socio-political, and market-related events are deemed systemic risks? How does finance assign value, and how can we change how that value is assigned to various social justice issues? What if we stopped seeing the inequities and injustices currently facing us as intractable? How would we invest differently today if we believed a just and equitable future were possible?
Join us this September as we explore these and other questions with socially minded investors, philanthropists, policymakers, and systems change activists, all working on a wide range of social justice issues. Through full-group sessions and intimate conversations, we will test ideas, reframe narratives, design strategies, build relationships, and uncover new pathways to action.
Secure Your Spot Today
We invite you to join us as we kick off the next iteration in our virtual TOOLKIT training series on “Using Finance as a Tool for Social Change.” Whether you are a social change actor seeking to understand how finance can advance your organization’s mission, an investor looking to deepen your social impact, or a policy maker navigating the innovative finance landscape, our TOOLKIT workshops are designed to help you explore possibilities of how you might use systems of finance as a tool to advance gender equality and social justice goals. Regardless of your starting place, experience, or comfort with finance you will find that the TOOLKIT workshop creates a much-needed bridge between the worlds of finance and social change.
This is a unique opportunity to expand your financial imagination and explore possibilities for using finance to advance gender equality goals. You will leave this workshop with a new understanding of your power to influence finance and use the system as a tool that contributes to the change you’d like to see in the world.
Upcoming Dates – Register using the links below
July 17, 2023 (11am ET)
October 16, 2023 (7pm EDT) | October 17, 2023 (10am AEDT)
Over the last 21 years, Criterion Institute has been a sustained experiment in systems change, particularly systems change in and through market systems and systems of finance and investment. We invite you to join us in our series of training sessions on our approach to systems change. We will be sharing case studies and strategies on what we have learned over the past two decades and how our learning can be applied to a range of other systems change efforts within gender lens investing, impact investing, and innovative finance.
Criterion’s “how” is unique. We are intentionally disrupting systems of power. We are aware of our own power. We have a specific business model that supports our ability to make this change. Not all individuals or organizations can make the choices we make, but nonetheless there are lessons to learn from our “how.”
The series of trainings will draw on our recent publications and collective learning, including Disrupting Fields, a reflection on power dynamics in field building using the development of gender lens investing and climate finance as case studies and documentation on our six areas of activity, which drive our theory of change and the day-to-day organization of our work. Participating organizations will learn more about how to transform systems and address power in context.
Upcoming Dates – Register using the links below
July 13, 2023 (11am ET)
October 12, 2023 (7pm ET) | October 13, 2023 (10am AEDT)
Twice a year, we host an interactive session where we share an update on what Criterion is working on and what we’ve accomplished and hear from our different partners how our shared work is playing out in their world. This event is for current partners and for those who want to explore partnerships with Criterion. From fostering a feminist financial imagination to creating a global system of standards for the field of gender lens investing, we’ll share insights coming out of our current programs and invitations to collaborate across a range of activities.
We hope you will join us during one of the time zones listed below.
Upcoming Dates – Register using the links below
Session One – November 9, 2023 (11am ET) | Session Two – November 10, 2023 (12pm AEDT)