Evelyn Murphy

Founder and President of The WAGE Project, Inc. (WAGE)

Evelyn Murphy is founder and President of The WAGE Project, Inc. (WAGE), a nationwide, grassroots, action-organization dedicated to eliminating the gender wage gap. Prior to turning over $tart $mart and Work $mart-- salary negotiation workshops teaching women how to get paid what we are worth—to the American Association of University Women, WAGE facilitated these workshops in 49 states on 400 campuses and to working women. Now, she co-chairs of the Mayor Walsh’s Boston Women’s Workforce Council, working with employers to eliminate their gender wage gaps.

She served as MA Secretary of Environmental Affairs and later, Secretary of Economic Affairs. In 1986, she was elected Lt. Governor of Massachusetts, becoming the first woman in the state’s 200 year history to hold any constitutional office.

Dr. Murphy is Director of Citizens Energy Corporation. She has been a corporate director of six publicly traded, mutual and privately held corporations. In her civic role, she is a founding Director of The Commonwealth Institute; Trustee, the MA Treasurer’s Economic Empowerment Trust Fund; Advisory Board Member of both the Center for Women and Work, UMass Lowell and the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, UMass Boston.

She earned a BA in mathematics from Duke University; MA in economics from Columbia University; a PhD in economics from Duke University. She is the author of Getting Even: Why Women Don’t Get Paid Like Men and What To Do About It, recipient of eleven honorary degrees, and the Distinguished Alumnae Award of Duke University Graduate School, and over one hundred awards from federal, state and community organizations, including in 2017 the Pinnacle Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce

It has been an eventful week. First the observation of Martin Luther King Jr Day whose work on racial equity is as relevant now as ever and the peaceful transfer of power at the Capitol Hill this Wednesday. It’s just been a couple of days since the Biden-Harris administration took over yet, we can already see traction on climate policy at the overall office. 

In this week’s news, we invite you to sign-on an investor policy recommendation letter to President Biden encouraging the adoption of these recommendations by the Biden-Harris transition team. Read the letter and sign on here. 

We delighted to inform you that we hosted a webinar last Saturday in collaboration with The Boarding School on how young people with a seat at the table can add unique perspectives to their university’s investment practices and oversight. You can see the recording of the event here. We equally had an engaging webinar on how participating asset owners and managers can leverage CDP’s disclosure database to support sustainability and climate-related investment goals. For those that couldn’t make it, you can access the recording here. 

Also, remember to register for our upcoming webinar on the importance of incorporating biodiversity risk into your portfolio and how you can make informed investment decisions around biodiversity. Register here.

Overview

The Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiative was formed through a collaboration between IEN and the HBCU Green Fund, with the aim of enhancing endowment investment decision-making in higher education by incorporating Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion factors. The initiative is composed of senior leaders from various sectors, including higher education, the investment industry, foundations, and non-profit partners who seek to leverage their networks and expertise for cross-sector collaboration to champion diversity in endowment investment decision-making.

This initiative aims to start the education and advocacy process to integrate Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion factors into the investment process of endowments by:

1. Promoting Diversity: We ensure deliberate exclusion or implicit bias based on race, ethnicity, or gender does not occur within university investment offices. Our focus is on enhancing diversity and inclusivity within these offices.

2. Performance Evaluation: We assess the diversity, equity, and inclusion aspects of companies and funds in terms of their boards, management, and staff. Through engagement with these entities, we work towards improving these areas.

3. Diverse-Led Investment Managers: Our goal is to identify and support investment managers from minority backgrounds, thereby fostering diversity and inclusion within the industry.

4. Impactful Investments: We prioritize investments that generate positive outcomes for women, low-income communities, and communities of color, aiming to address economic disparities and promote social equity.

5. Talent Pipeline: We are dedicated to supporting the finance and investment education of diverse students, creating a pipeline of talented individuals who will contribute to the industry's diversity and future success.

Resources

• Investing in Racial Equity: A Primer for University & College Endowments

• DEI Toolkit - NAIC Research & Reports

• Examining the Returns 2023 - Further Evidence of Diverse-Owned Private Equity Firm Outperformance

• Investor Racial Equity Pledge

• Emerging Manager Monthly's Diverse Manager List

• AASHE No Sustainability without Justice Anthology

• Leading with Justice: Net Zero Investing & Conversations on Climate Justice

• Racial Equity Investing

• Gender Lens Investing

• Community Investing

• Social Equity Investing

• Past Racial Equity Webinars 

• Climate Action Pursuit

• Creating Racial Equity Standards for Investing Webinar

• The Ins and Outs of Designing a Racial Equity Portfolio Webinar

• Allocating to Diverse-Owned Asset Managers Webinar

• Webinar: All Investments Affect Racial (In)Justice  

• Webinar: Incorporating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Factors in the Investment Process 

• Find more resources on DEI and reducing inequalities throughout the investment process on this page: Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities  

• Path to Inclusive Capitalism: Asset Owners Guide 

Get Involved

Join the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion listserv or post to this group by sending an email to [email protected]. 

Initiative Sponsors

This group focuses on supporting colleges and universities in utilizing their power as shareholders to engage portfolio companies across issues related to social justice and the climate crisis. There are several forms of shareholder engagement that endowments can pursue to address material investment risks, improve corporate sustainability performance and support policies that move us toward an equitable, low-carbon, and regenerative economy.

They include proxy voting, engaging in dialogue with mutual funds or companies held in the portfolio, filing or co-filing shareholder resolutions, and signing on to public investor letters or statements. We primarily support endowments in the following ways:

• Proxy Voting Education: Vote Your Proxies in Line With Your ESG Values
  
  
• Supporting Endowments With Direct Engagement: Supporting institutions in learning about, implementing individually, and collaborating across institutions to engage in dialogue, sign-on to investment statements, and file and co-file resolutions.

Get Involved

To join this Initiative contact Nicole Torrico, Managing Director at [email protected]

Organizational Partners

We partner with the following organizations to advance racial equity and a net zero economy through engagement.

• As You Sow
• Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility
• Majority Action
• Thirty Percent Coalition
• Ceres- and PRI-led Climate Action 100+
• The Shareholder Commons

Corporate Engagement Challenge

IEN's Student Corporate Engagement Challenge invites students to not only produce an investment recommendation in a publicly-traded company, but also to include in their recommendation a shareholder engagement strategy for improving the company’s business performance and impact on society. 

As a part of the Challenge, student teams are encouraged to provide a report, and ideally presented their investment recommendation and engagement strategy, to endowment stakeholders at their university.

One of the hoped outcomes of the Challenge is increased awareness of corporate engagement across the institution, including implementation of engagement strategies proposed by students.

Take Action

• 2023 Investor Sign-On Statements and Proxy Resolutions and Voting Guides
• Vote Your Proxies in Line With Your ESG Values

Join a Quarterly Call

See our calendar of upcoming events to register for our next quarterly Shareholder Engagement Initiative call!

Shareholder Engagement Resources 

• What is Shareholder Engagement? l Intentional Endowments Network
• Warren Wilson College: 2023 Shareholder Engagement Impact Report (2023)
• Briefing Paper: Warren Wilson College, Impacting How Companies Do Business  l Intentional Endowments Network (2022)
• Active Ownership in the Endowment: Warren Wilson College Case Study l Intentional Endowments Network (2020)
• Equity in the Boardroom: How Asset Manager Voting Shaped Corporate Action on Racial Justice in 2020 l Majority Action
• ESG Shareholder Engagement and Downside Risk | Review of Finance, Forthcoming (2023)

The Sustainable & Impact Investing Learning & Knowledge (SIILK) Initiative was formed at the convergence of several conversations within and beyond the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) around the growing interest in student-managed investment funds (SMIFs) pursuing sustainable investing strategies, as well as the development of sustainable investing focused curriculum.

SIILK has three main goals: (1) scale the uptake of sustainable investing education, including courses and experiential education opportunities like SMIFs, (2) support SMIFs as they work to build stronger bridges between their SMIF and their institution’s broader endowment, and (3) increase the diversity and number of students that are entering the sustainable investing field.

The SIILK Initiative connects stakeholders including students, faculty, administrators, trustees, and financial professionals on campuses across the country. 

If you are interested in contributing to this conversation and/or joining the SIILK Initiative, please email [email protected].

Current Activities & Ways to Get Involved

SIILK Listserv: Share news, resources, events, project ideas, etc. Use the following link to join the group, which will also grant access to the Group’s Google Drive and Calendar containing regular call information. Learn more here.

Regular Initiative Calls: Join to share updates on developments at participating schools, and advance progress on specific projects of the group. Register for upcoming calls here.

Student Corporate Engagement Challenge: students pitch an investment in a publicly-traded company, and include in that recommendation shareholder engagement strategy focused on addressing inequality and the climate crisis, as they are systemic risks that threaten a healthy society, and in turn, healthy portfolio returns. Learn more here.

Join a Stakeholder / Investment Strategy Specific Group: Outside of and related to SIILK, there are several student and faculty lead groups and consortiums to connect with. Learn more below.

Investment Strategy / Stakeholder Specific Groups

The Corporate Engagement Challenge

IEN’s Student Corporate Engagement Challenge is a first-of-its-kind student investment challenge in which students pitch an investment in a publicly-traded company, and include in that recommendation a shareholder engagement strategy focused on addressing inequality and the climate crisis, as they are systemic risks that threaten a healthy society, and in turn, healthy portfolio returns. Learn more about the Challenge here.

Resources

🔐 Database: Sustainable and Impact Investing Focused Student-Managed Funds (member only resource) 

🔐 Database: Sustainable and Impact Investing Focused Curriculum (member only resource) 

Webinars: Student Managed Fund Stories 

Report: Educating the Next Generation of Sustainable Investment Leaders: A Report on the State of the Field of Student-Managed Investment Funds

Toolkit: How to Start and Run a Student-Managed Sustainable Investing Fund 

View the full SIILK resource library here.

Join the Initiative

The SIILK Initiative connects stakeholders including students, faculty, administrators, trustees, and financial professionals on campuses across the country that are involved with student-managed investment funds (SMIFs) and sustainable investing curriculum development. 

If you are interested in contributing to this conversation and/or joining the SIILK Initiative, please email [email protected].

The Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) supports members in addressing financial risk and uncovering investment opportunities across topics at the intersections of social inequality and the climate crisis.

The following themes and topics are folded into all general programming, including events and webinars and the resource library. Additionally, through IEN Initiatives, we periodically do ‘deep dives’ into certain themes and topics.

Topics in focus in 2026 include Responsible AI and the Fiduciary Duty Case for Climate Justice.

Ongoing key themes include:

• Investment Governance
• Fiduciary Duty
• Financial Performance
• Climate Change, the Energy Transition, and Net Zero Portfolios
• Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
• Shareholder Engagement & Active Ownership

In Focus in 2026

Ongoing Key Themes

In this new year, while we look forward to working together, we acknowledge the attack on American democratic institutions this week and appreciate the responses of higher education and business leaders to hold those responsible accountable.

We are excited to inform you the 2021 Climate Action Pursuit is now open for registration! Make sure you secure your spot here. We are also thrilled to announce the request for proposal submissions have been extended to January 12, 2021. Help elevate the pursuit agenda by submitting a session proposal here.

We equally extend our gratitude to Prime Buchholz and Global Endowment Management for sponsoring IEN’s 2021 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Initiative.

Date: February 03, 2021 at 10am 

“Biodiversity” encompasses all forms of life on Earth, including the smallest microorganisms to the largest mammals and plants. Earth’s ecosystems rely on the delicate balance of biodiversity to provide the services necessary for our planet’s survival. By no coincidence, in less than 50 years we have upset this balance resulting in an overall decline of 60% in population sizes of vertebrate species and the alteration of over two-thirds of both land and marine environments.

A knowledge gap exists within the investment community about how to manage the risks and opportunities associated with biodiversity conservation. This leaves investors, including those that already integrate ESG issues into their investment decisions, vulnerable to a magnitude of risks.

In this 60-minute webinar, panelists will explain the importance of incorporating biodiversity risk into your portfolio and how you can make informed investment decisions around this topic. Following the presentation, participants will be provided ample time to ask questions.

This webinar is led by Karner Blue Capital.

Recording:

Resources:

Learn more about FAIRR's current engagements:

Sustainable Aquaculture: Managing ESG risks in Feed Supply Chains

• This engagement will focus on eight salmon aquaculture producers to develop and disclose a science-based strategy for managing ESG risks in their feed supply chains, including uptake of the use of alternative feed ingredients, to protect marine biodiversity and secure future industry growth.
• The target companies are: Bakkafrost, Grief Seafood, Mowi, Multiexport Foods, SalMar, Salmones Camanchaca, Leroy Seafood and Tassal Group.

Working Conditions: Unpacking Labour Risks in Global Meat Supply Chains

• This engagement will focus on seven of the largest global protein producers to address labour risks in their supply chain. Specifically, existing structural human capital risks to support the long-term sustainability of the meat industry.
• The target companies are: Tyson Foods, WH Group, BRF, JBS USA, Sanderson Farms, Cranswick and Marfrig.

Panelists:

Vicki Benjamin, CEO Karner Blue Capital

Maria Lettini, Director of Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return (FAIRR) Initiative and IEN Steering Committee Member, 

Thomas Yoon, Head of Research at Karner Blue Capital     

Faazi Adam, Research & Engagement Manager  at FAIRR  

The University of Richmond, located in Richmond, Virginia provides a collaborative learning and research environment unlike any other in higher education, offering students an extraordinary combination of the liberal arts with law, business, leadership studies, and continuing education. The mission of the University is to educate its 4,002 students in an academically challenging, intellectually vibrant, and collaborative community dedicated to the holistic development of students and the production of scholarly and creative work.  

Spider Management Company (Spider) manages the investments for the University of Richmond’s endowment, as well as a select group of other endowments and foundations alongside the University of Richmond through a unique OCIO model.  Spider’s goal is to preserve the endowment’s value perpetuity while generating investment returns for current spending needs. 

Spider’s values center on working in a passionate, professional, collaborative environment that promotes ethical behaviors, excellence, and continuous growth and improvement.

We hope you’ll enjoy this week’s news as it is the network’s last news round-up for the year - our office will be closed from December 23rd through January 4th for the holiday season. 

In this week’s news, we are pleased to announce our member’s newly launched firm Pivotal Advisors. We are thankful to all that participated in our last thought-provoking webinar on how all investments across asset classes affect racial justice. You can see a recording of the webinar here. Additionally, we’d like to remind you to submit a session proposal to contribute your expertise to the Climate Action Pursuit as the deadline for consideration for the February milestone is the end-of-day Monday, January 4, 2021. Stay tuned for early access to Climate Action Pursuit registration soon!

As a network, we are delighted to inform you of the smooth development of the Climate Action Pursuit programming and would like to ask you to submit a session proposal here to contribute your expertise to the Pursuit. You’re also welcome to sponsor this brand new concept of climate action Journey toward justice and resilience.

Lastly, remember to register for the December 15 webinar to learn how all investments across asset classes affect racial justice.

Hoping you wonderfully practiced Thanksgiving, we’ll like to inform you we are extending IEN’s Annual Member Survey deadline till Friday December 18, to allow members who haven't responded to help us set an agenda that will better serve the network by taking the survey here. Thank you to the 30 members who’ve shared their perspectives so far!

Also, we’d like to remind you of an important webinar on how all investments across asset classes affect racial justice. The session on December 15 will be led by Andrea Armeni, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Transform Finance. Learn more and register for the event here

This post by Keith Beverly, of GRID 202 Partners, is part of a series in which IEN members and network partners share their thinking about intentional endowment investing to address racial injustice and other diversity, equity, and inclusion themes. Follow along to read members' insights on how to invest in public stocks through Racial Equity Lens. 

As a network, we are pleased to announce that our 2021 Climate Action Pursuit is launching Feb 24-26, 2021 - sign up to be first to know when registration is live. Join Second Nature and IEN on a four milestones ambitious pursuit of climate action, justice, and resilience by signing up today! 

We’d equally like to thank everyone who participated in our last webinar on fiduciary duty when integrating sustainable investment options into retirement plans. For those that couldn’t make it and are interested in the subject, you can access the recorded event here.

Additionally, we'll be taking a week off from the roundup next week as our staff will take time to celebrate Thanksgiving.

We had a great webinar talk on best practices in impact measurement on endowment portfolios and would like to thank all those that could attend. Take a look at one of the key resources shared, this primer from Global Endowment Management.

This week, join us for an informative and interactive webinar composed of top experts on the state of fiduciary duty for defined contribution plans in the United States to help clarify how plan sponsors and trustees can consider sustainable investing strategies in retirement plans. Learn more and register here.