NESsT’s Gender Lens Investing Is About Setting Intentions and Living by Them.
NESsT was recently invited to participate in Catalysing Equality, a report written by Value for Women and UN Women to set the baseline for gender lens investing in Latin America, with strategies from 29 first-mover impact investors committed to gender equality. We were honored by the invitation and congratulate the authors for a ground-breaking report.
In contributing to the report’s findings, NESsT stood out as one of the few impact funds in the region that was not created to invest in women-led and women-focused enterprises only but that has adopted a very intentional gender lens. We invest in enterprises where the entrepreneurial teams need to be committed to gender equity and inclusion, and to adopting practices that contribute to improving the gender impact at all levels of their business. In this way, we are helping to mainstream gender lens investing and ensuring that all entrepreneurs are committed to placing the voices, needs and roles of women at the center of all of their decisions.
This intentionality was at the heart of the report findings. Most investments with a gender lens support companies led by women serving women, but this is not enough. A successful adaptation of gender lens investing concepts fundamentally transforms the negative ways in which people perceive gender differences, which is needed to overcome systemic gender barriers. Setting the intention to improve the lives of women is crucial because it guides stakeholders when making decisions, prompting them to critically evaluate workplace gender biases and to search for the best solutions that can drive positive change for the employment of women.
It is their intention plus action creates more equitable workplaces that can change discriminatory behavior on every level.
At NESsT, the gender lens is integrated into every decision-making process, from how we deploy capital to how we communicate with our investors and choose our advisors - gender is never absent.
All of our portfolio companies are working to eliminate gender biases in their hiring practices, pay equitable income and provide women with the same professional development opportunities and level of job security as men.
Within NESsT’s incubation portfolio:
79% of portfolio companies hire more than 50% of women workers and/or suppliers.
63% are led by women.
46% were founded by women.
NESsT Portfolio Managers integrate gender inclusive practices alongside each portfolio enterprise, exploring different ways to utilize their unique business initiatives to uplift women.
And NESsT walks the talk. We are committed to measuring our own gender inclusion and equity at all levels. To adopting DEI, sexual harassment and anti bullying policies. To insisting that our board be gender balanced.
Now, the question is how to do it.
How can you develop your own gender lens investing strategy?
NESsT created a step-by-step process that you can use to guide your organization to capture your gender lens impact to date and to develop a gender lens investing (GLI) strategy with your portfolio companies.
Here is a sneak peak at the 10 gender equality modules that we created to support our portfolio:
Module 1: Understanding NESsT’s GLI Framework
Module 2: Eliminating Implicit Biases
Module 3: Applying a Gender Lens to Human Resources (Hiring, Retention, Reward)
Module 4: Understanding Gender Equity (pay equity, career paths, double burden)
Module 5: Strengthening Gender Equitable and Inclusive Value Chains
Module 6: Adopting Inclusive Gender Policies
Module 7: Ensuring Gender Empowering Governance and Leadership
Module 8: Considering Intersectionalities of Gender
Module 9: Implementing Quotas
Module 10: Using Inclusive Language
After completing the modules, entrepreneurs are able to establish equitable workplaces, create incentives for gender inclusion within their organization, and showcase the business case and the impact case of GLI to other stakeholders, including investors.
Note about the piece: I had the honor of participating in the launch event of the Regional Report on Investment with a Gender Focus in LAC hosted by UN Women. With the other panelists, including Maria Noel Vaeza from UN Women Rebecca Fries and Erica Berthelsen from Value For Women Ltd., and Daniela Peralvo Lupera and IMPAQTO, we investigated how investment can improve gender equity in Latin America and the Caribbean.