Fund Manager’s guide to gender-smart investing
Part of the CDC’s Gender Toolkit, this is an example of a gender-focused framework where a JEDI lens can be integrated.
Financial Services Skills Commission’s Inclusion Measurement Guide
This inclusion measurement guide is split across 4 levels based on the maturity of the inclusion measurement already in place in organisations. There are three types of measurement tools included in the guide: questions to be included in engagement surveys or inclusion surveys to measure inclusion; examples of data tracking which can be built into existing structures; and free text questions which can be included alongside any of the questions.
Measurement Framework for Equality and Human Rights
This measurement framework from the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission uses five different components of evidence collection and analysis – protected characteristics; socio-economic group; geographical analysis; people at higher risk of harm, abuse, discrimination or disadvantage; and intersectionality - over six domains (Education, Work, Living standards, Health, Justice and personal security, and Participation).
The Questions LPs Can Ask for Due Diligence on Diversity and Inclusion in VC
From Diversity VC: A list of questions which Limited Partners can use to ask GPs at venture funds during the due diligence process to better understand their approach to diversity and inclusion. The first set of questions is taken from the ILPA guidance, the second has been compiled by Diversity VC in discussions with GPs and LPs in Europe and the US.
Inclusive Impact: A Comprehensive Review of Diversity in the Social Investment Sector
From The Diversity Forum: In 2018 Inclusive Boards was commissioned by the Diversity Forum, funded by the Connect Fund to extend and contribute to existing research on diversity in the social investment sector. The primary aim of this research was to use different data collection methods to better understand why there are ceilings for women in management positions and ethnic minorities in back office functions. They also examined other diversity strands whilst taking into account intersectionality factors.
Diversity Beyond Gender: The State of the Nation for Diverse Entrepreneurs
By Erika Brodnock from Extended Ventures: This vital piece of research, which was carried out by Extend Ventures with the support of Impact X Capital Partners and Tech Nation, looks at how the colour of a founder’s skin can adversely affect their access to capital in Britain.
DEI Data Group: DEI Data Standard
In August 2020, the DEI Data Group commissioned a framework to monitor equity considerations in grantmaking, with a view to including the data in published grants information. This framework is not a judgement of organisations, it simply spells out the different categories that enable funders to collect data in a systematic manner to understand whether the reach of the funding and their funding practices are equitable. It will be used to inform funding strategies and specific funding strands/programmes, not individual funding decisions - except where it is explicitly a part of the fund criteria. The primary use will be for funders to monitor their grant programmes, but it is also anticipated that there will be wider use of a shared framework for sector analysis.
Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance: Racial Diversity and Investment
Whilst gender diversity has been a growing priority for several years, investors have not approached racial diversity with similar enthusiasm and urgency. The topic of racial diversity in the investment industry was recently raised in an open letter in the UK from a group called Black Women in Asset Management, challenging the industry to move beyond statements on solidarity and anti-racism. The extensive Black Lives Matter protests, catalysed by the killing of George Floyd, have highlighted our interdependence in the midst of a global health crisis and the urgent need for action. It is time to ask what institutional investors can do to address the increasingly evident racial iniquities and their inconsistency with commitments to responsibility in business and investment.
Ethnic Origin and Disability Data Collection in Europe: Measuring Inequality – Combating Discrimination
From The Open Society Foundation: This report seeks to bridge the gap between theory and practice in relation to the collection of disability and ethnic origin data in the EU. The report notes that there is a widely held belief that the law prohibits any collection of sensitive data pertaining to disability and ethnic origin; however, equality data can be collected in compliance with the exemptions enumerated in Article 8 of Directive 95/46/EC.
Are you even trying to stop racism if you don’t collect data on race?
Most of the world’s wealthiest countries don’t collect any data on the racial or ethnic identity of their people. In many cases, it’s illegal. France doesn’t keep official statistics of how many Black residents it has, for example. Neither does Germany. Twenty of the 38 OECD countries collect no racial or ethnic identity data. These include some of the world’s wealthiest nations, like Japan, Germany, France, and Italy.
"France and Germany urged to rethink reluctance to gather ethnicity data"
Article from The Guardian reporting on how the racial discrimination debate had lead some leaders to push for updated surveys in France and Germany to help tackle injustices.
Diversity and Inclusion in the Financial Sector: Working Together to Drive Change
This Discussion Paper (DP) is issued by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as well as the Bank of England (the Bank) in its capacity of supervising financial market infrastructure firms (FMI). They have published this DP to engage financial firms and other stakeholders in a discussion on how they can accelerate the pace of meaningful change and what role they can most usefully play to support this change. The DP reiterates why diversity and inclusion is important for our objectives, explores how to build on existing requirements to support and monitor progress in the UK financial sector. The regulators are working together to clarify their regulatory approach to diversity and inclusion in pursuit of our statutory objectives and having due regard to our Public Sector Equality Duty. This discussion will support their engagement with stakeholders and policy development, helping to determine which interventions could have the greatest impact.
The Diversity Forum
From The Diversity Forum: The Diversity Forum is a collective on a mission to drive inclusive social investment in the UK, through the convening of sector-wide groups, commissioning research, and knowledge sharing. Their report, published in January 2019, found that only 2.8% of directors in the social investment sector were women of ethnic minority backgrounds, and almost one in five directors in the sector had attended Oxford and Cambridge universities. There is urgency to change this to ensure that we represent the people we seek to serve, as well as to uncover new opportunities.
A Framework for Inclusive Investing: Driving Stock Market Participation to Close the Wealth Gap for Women of Color
From Commonwealth: A new, unified analytical framework for understanding the barriers holistically and articulating how the nation’s public, private, and social sectors can use this framework to pursue promising actions to help narrow the nation’s wealth gaps