Criterion Institute is making a long-term commitment to demonstrating possibilities for using finance as a tool to affect social change around gender-based violence.

Over the next several months, we are demonstrating the possibilities for philanthropists and impact investors to have direct, positive impact on gender-based violence. In partnership with Tara Health Foundation, we will create a model portfolio as key to our broader programming on gender-based violence.

This model will be a direct investment portfolio of debt and equity investments in US enterprises that intentionally contribute to ending gender-based violence. We see the creation of such a portfolio as the most tangible way to demonstrate how finance can be used to affect gender-based violence and to make our work on this issue understandable to a wider audience of philanthropists, investors, fund managers and social change agents.

In addition to the creation of a model portfolio, we will publicly share tools that will help build the broader impact investing eco-system and equip the field with the ability to understand the existing and potential impact companies—both private and public—can have on gender-based violence and strengthen the pipeline of investment opportunities.