The five pillars of our 10-year strategic plan represent the systems change we seek to effect in the world.
We aim to expand how the field of innovative finance understands the ways power, bias, and privilege operate and impact systems of finance.
Our goal is for investors of all types to assign value in their investments based on a methodology that assumes a more just and equitable future.
We empower social change organizations to design and implement strategies that engage systems of finance as part of furthering equity.
We support social change organizations, governments, and investors to design and implement strategies that use finance to prevent and mitigate the effects of gender-based violence.
We partner with government agencies to support them in using their power to align their innovative finance programs with their social and gender policies, thereby influencing what is expected of organizations using finance to increase equality and justice.
Criterion’s work is about expanding what investors, governments, and civil society organizations see as possible for using finance to create transformative social change. Explore our resources based on the specific types of audiences they were intended to support.
Building on years of existing work and partnerships, Criterion Institute launched the Power of Policy Program this February of 2020.
This poem was inspired by a wonderful quote used by both Martin Luther King Jr., and President Barack Obama in their speeches: “the arc of the moral universe — of history — is long but it bends toward justice…”
From the beginning, Criterion has played a significant role in establishing the field of gender lens investing. We began with (re)Value Gender, which built key research methodology that bridges gender expertise and finance expertise and creates a space for leaders to practice, build insight, and produce evidence. We looked for examples of bias in investments, where gender patterns were undervalued and, as a result, risks and opportunities missed.
The State of the Field of Gender Lens Investing report was published in October 2015. This groundbreaking piece of research culminated from Criterion’s many years of field building and relationship cultivation through sixteen innovative Convergence gatherings.
The "Gender Lens Investing" champions a holistic approach towards integrating gender equality into financial systems, underpinning the belief that finance can and should be a force for social good.
The purpose of Criterion Institute is to expand who sees themselves as able to use finance as a tool for social change. At the core, we are changing “how” social change happens. As a result, over the past 20 years, Criterion has had a significant focus on our “how.”
Our work spans research, design, and field-building. Below is a sampling of some of our recent work.
The Blueprints demonstrate how a variety of social change organizations can design strategies that use systems of finance as tools to create positive social change.
These roadmaps lay out insights for how finance can be used to address gender-based violence in a range of sectors, asset classes, geographies, and investor types.
The TOOLKIT is designed to support your journey as you explore how finance can be used as a tool to create social change.
1K Churches was launched in 2012 to galvanize a movement in the faith-based community and engage US churches to invest in the local economy.
These gender-based violence due diligence tools analyze existing due diligence categories – including political, regulatory, operational, and reputational risks – and show how they can be affected by gender-based violence.
Gender-based violence is ubiquitous. More than 1 in 3 women worldwide experiences physical or sexual violence, and millions of men, boys, and gender-diverse individuals are affected by physical, sexual, and emotional abuse daily.
Our work depends on an ever-expanding community of team members, advisors, donors, and other partners who help us demonstrate our theory of change and ultimately achieve our mission. Learn more about how you can become more engaged in our work.
Invitations to Engage