Criterion’s work is about challenging and changing the power dynamics around using finance for social change. Learn more about how we are radically expanding who sees themselves as having the power to reinvent the financial system as we know it.
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.
Explore our extensive library of resources on using finance as a tool for transformative social change. Browse by category and sub-categories to find the most relevant materials for your needs. Our library contains reports, case studies, toolkits, and other content aimed at investors, governments, civil society organizations, and anyone interested in harnessing capital for positive impact. Dive in and discover insights and guidance to help drive progress on critical issues.
In this report, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Criterion Institute have partnered to highlight the critical opportunities that child-lens investors can unlock by embedding a strong nutrition focus within their work.
Coralus' non-traditional approach to selection and allocation demonstrate how power can be shifted within investment approaches. Below, we identify six of these, with an evaluation of how they disrupt traditional power dynamics.
Our mission is to broaden what matters in our economic decisions by expanding who has power and influence in the work of reinventing the economy.
This overview of a recent Criterion report provides guidance about the power dynamics that underlie field-building.
Criterion is developing over 200 Standards of Practice. This short set on Translation represents ways investors can shift how gender expertise is valued within certain financial processes, structures, and analyses.
Not every congregation will have the same access to capital, the same financial savvy, or the same investment goals. Congregations will be drawn to a range of mission priorities. We have identified ten areas of social concern that are relevant cultural and social issues, and influenced by economic structures.
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