Dialogue between endowment decision makers and stakeholders offers the opportunity for the exchange of expert and tacit knowledge, knowledge production and to build a network of relationships. This could take many forms, such as year-long learning projects consisting of town halls, debates, lecture series, articles in campus publications, etc. To maximize the impact of such dialogues, participants should be encouraged to engage in deep conversations about their most critical and powerful questions. See more tools for facilitating dialogue here.

Case Studies

GWU Board of Trustees Report by the Environmental, Social, and Governance Responsibility Task Force (2020)

(Video) University of New Hampshire's Endowment Journey | IEN Celebrating the Leaders Series (2019)

A Cooperative Path Toward Divestment l by Carl Vance, CIO, Lewis and Clark College & IEN Member, NACUBO's Business Officer Magazine, March 2018

UNC Greensboro Conversations on Sustainable and Socially Responsible Investing| Conversation series (2017-2018) 

Stanford's Investment Responsibility Stakeholder Relations (IRSR) l This site is home to Investment Responsibility Stakeholder Relations (IRSR) and the Advisory Panel on Investment Responsibility and Licensing (APIRL). Stanford hired the IRSR director, Alison Colwell, in January 2016. 

MIT Climate Change Conversation| Over the course of 2014-2015, the MIT community engaged in a series of activities (lectures, panels, a debate on divestment, etc.) to inform the institution's response to the climate crisis (2015). 

Video: Bringing the Whole Campus Into the Conversation: Intentionally Designed Endowments Student Forum, February 2015. 

Video: Engaging Stakeholders – trustees, administrators, students