Read the full interview and join us on May 16th for a joint webinar with Second Nature to dive deeper on this topic.

The Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit, hosted by The Intentional Endowments Network and Second Nature, is the premier annual gathering of higher education leaders committed to addressing inequality and the climate crisis across endowment investing, campus operations, academics, and research.

Take advantage of our lowest rates by registering today to join your peers!

We're in the process of developing our 2024 Agenda. In the meantime, check out a sampling of our 2023 session recordings.

Do you have ideas for people or topics that need to be a part of the 2024 Summit? Respond to our Call for Content to share your thoughts on how the interaction and dialogue at the Summit can best meet your needs, and to recommend topics and contributors we should include in the program.

• EM Leaders
• ENGIE North America
• Karyn Polak
• Long Beach City College Foundation
• Resilience Capital Ventures

Felicia Davis, Co-founder, HBCU Green Fund was recognized as the First Recipient of the Intentional Endowment Network (IEN) Leadership Award for her accomplishments and contributions as a climate justice trailblazer and her excellence in inspiring others to work collaboratively and creatively for an equitable, just, low-carbon society.

IEN Members can access the following recent webinars through our member-only archive:

• Webinar: How the Inflation Reduction Act Supercharges Climate Investing
• Webinar: The Case for Diverse and Woman Owned Alternative GP Staking and Seeding | March 30, 2023
• Net Zero Initiative Call Q1 | March 29, 2023
• JEDI Initiative Call Q1 | March 21, 2023
• Investment Governance Initiative Call Q1 | March 15, 2023
• Sustainable Retirements Initiative Call Q1 | March 9, 2023

Please join us for our upcoming IEN events:

• IEN and Second Nature Webinar: Protect Higher Ed’s Freedom to Consider Sustainability Factors in Portfolios | May 16, 2 pm ET
• Sustainable Retirements Initiative Q2 Call | June 8, 2023, 12pm ET
• JEDI Initiative Quarterly Call Q2 | June 13, 2023, 1 pm ET
• Net Zero Endowments Initiative Call | June 22, 2023, 1:30 ET
• Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit l February 11-13, 2024, Long Beach, CA

Other Events

• 2023 Spring Convening | Impact Capital Managers, May 3-4, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (For fund allocators or advisor only)
• Economist Impact - 3rd Annual Sustainability Week US | May 30 - June 1, Washington, D.C. and virtual
• GreenFin 2023 | GreenBiz, Jun 26 -28, 2023, New Omni Seaport, Boston, MA (Apply IEN’s 10% discount code GF23IEN when you register)

We are thrilled to announce Wespath Benefits and Investments as the latest signatory of the Sustainable Retirement Plans Pledge.Wespath joins over 10 signatories who, by signing, have set the intention to review current retirement plan fund offerings and assess the sustainable investing options currently available.

Plan participants continue to search for sustainable investments, according to research from Natixis that indicated 73% of participants would begin or increase their plan contributions if they were offered options in companies with good ESG options.

We’ve also seen current and former government officials come out in support of ESG, from a former treasury official defending the DOL’s 401(k) ESG rule to the Sustainable Investment Caucus’ endorsement of legislation to support sustainable retirement plans.

IEN’s Sustainable Retirement Initiative continues to be a convening place for institutions and asset managers looking to understand the views of their peers on this issue. To learn more about this initiative, contact Chris Walker at [email protected].

Lead Sponsors

Supporting Sponsors

We're thrilled to announce that student teams from Presidio Graduate School and Central Washington University were named the winners of the Student Corporate Engagement Challenge in the Graduate and Undergraduate category, respectively.

The Challenge asks students to pitch an investment in a publicly-traded company, and include in that recommendation a shareholder engagement strategy focused on addressing an environmental, social, or governance issue where the company could improve in ways that would both enhance the value of the investment and drive positive impacts for society.

If interested in participating in next year's Challenge as a student team, partner, or sponsor, please complete this form to indicate your interest.

Supporting Sponsor:

Continuing on the growth from first quarter, IEN’s Net Zero Endowments Initiative has recently welcomed Terra Alpha Investments as a new sponsor and Julianna Brunini (Associate Director of Research & Research Analyst) as their representative for the Net Zero Steering Committee.

We invite IEN Members to register for the next Net Zero Initiative Call – which will be on June 22nd from 1:30-3:00 pm EST. Stay tuned for more upcoming IEN events and learn more about IEN’s net zero endowments initiative, net zero commitments from endowments, and net zero resources here!

Lead sponsors

Supporting Sponsors

It was a pleasure to welcome Julian Thompson, Director of Strategy at UNCF Institute for Capacity Building, Enith Williams, Managing Director at Reparations Finance Lab, Solange Charas, Founder & CEO at HC Moneyball, and Lisa Hinds, Managing Director, Client Engagement & Sustainability at Xponance, to our first quarterly JEDI call of 2023. We hope to see many of you at UNCF's UNITE Summit July 17-20 in Atlanta, GA to continue to support and engage HBCUs and Predominantly Black Institutions.

As a member of the Racial Equity Investing Collaborative, we are looking forward to this week's Racial Equity Investing Leadership Summit, and thank our generous contributors: Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Ford Foundation, Stewart Investors & Trillium Asset Management.

Our Director of JEDI, Paris Prince, was also recently featured on the DiverCity podcast alongside IEN Senior Fellow Dorien Nunez! Listen in to hear their conversations around equity in the financial services industry and practical suggestions for integrating justice into DEI efforts.

Additionally, we invite IEN Members to register for the next JEDI Initiative Call on June 13, and to keep an eye out for more information on speakers and an agenda.

Lead Sponsors

The investment governance continues to engage network members through quarterly calls. Our last call featured Tiffany Reeves, Partner at Faegre Drinker; George Suttles, Executive Director at the Commonfund Institute; and Kate Murray, Director of Impact Strategy & Measurement at TAS Impact.

The group discussed fiduciary duty relevance to the backlash around the new DOL Rule, allowing fiduciaries to consider ESG factors in their investment process. Members also explored the limitations of the UPMIFA and learned about creating impact through systems thinking, including ways to incorporate impact measurement frameworks into governance processes.

Contact Harrison Ungar at [email protected] to get involved with IEN’s Investment Governance Initiative.

Our Shareholder Engagement Initiative continues to focus on highlighting and developing educational opportunities to support endowments in voting proxies in line with ESG mandates through the As You Vote proxy voting service.

To get a better sense of what’s on the ballot this engagement season, be sure to review Proxy Preview, the most comprehensive data on hundreds of shareholder resolutions - including environmental, corporate political spending, human rights, diversity, sustainable governance issues, and much more.

We’re also proud to have signed on to the Freedom to Invest Initiative. Freedom to Invest aims to protect the freedom to invest responsibly in light of a political backlash against sustainable investment and business practices. Learn more and sign-on here.

If you’re interested in getting involved with IEN’s Shareholder Engagement Initiative to drive change through active ownership, contact Nicole Torrico at [email protected]

From IEN’s Blog:

• Celebrating Black Impact Investing Professionals - Black History Month Edition
• Honoring Felicia Davis, the Inaugural Recipient of the Intentional Endowments Network Leadership Award!
• IEN Women's History Month Spotlight: Dianne Dillon-Ridgley

Endowment Sustainable Investing Reports:

• In Challenging Year, Higher Education Endowments See Declines in Returns and Values but Boost Overall Spending, NACUBO-TIAA Study Finds | NACUBO
• How to Invest in Sustainable and Regenerative Food and Agriculture | CapShift
• 2023 Proxy Preview | Proxy Preview
• Want More Asset Manager Diversity? Reevaluate Due Diligence Processes Using Metrics That Matter | Adasina Social Capital

Investor Blueprint for Racial and Economic Equity | Corporate Racial Equity Alliance

• The report encourages investors to focus on the need for racial and economic equity within their institutions. In two parts, its authors explain the “why” of centering equity and the “how”, with a framework focused on 10 equity outcomes.

Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Strategies are Critical for the Future of Universities | Loughborough University

• A new report from the UK Universities Climate Network details 13 institutions’ guidance for improving resilience against potential climate threats. It includes suggestions for all levels of a university, from students to senior leaders.

How to Invest in Sustainable and Regenerative Food and Agriculture | CapShift

• This investment primer provides a framework to help individuals assess their impact goals, a review of investable food and agriculture solutions, and best practices in incorporating food and agriculture focused investments.

Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit Goes Carbon Neutral | Climate Vault

US SIF Names Maria Lettini CEO | US SIF

• US SIF named Maria Lettini, long-time member of IEN’s Steering Committee and former Executive Director of FAIRR, as its new CEO beginning May 2023. Read more coverage of the network here.

Read coverage of recent announcements by endowments and other asset owners about their progress:

31 Faith Organizations Divest from Fossil Fuels | National Catholic Reporter

• A mix of Catholic institutions and Jewish institutions have announced their divestment from fossil fuels ahead of Earth Day. The 31 institutions highlighted the impacts fossil fuels have on people and the plant in their announcement.

Pacific Announces Plans to Divest From Fossil Fuels | The University of the Pacific

• The Board of Regents at the University of the Pacific has committed to begin divesting its $570 million endowment from fossil fuels and plans to focus on clean energy investments.

University Publishes Endowment Investments Climate Report | The University of Manchester

• The University of Manchester updated its endowment investment portfolio with climate risks integration and highlighted the university’s carbon intensity reduction in its equity portfolio – a 55% decrease from 2019 to July 2022.

Victoria University Agrees to Divest From Fossil Fuel Companies by 2030 | The Varsity

• Victoria University’s Board of Regents approved a motion to divest on April 13, following an 18-day occupation by campus activist group Climate Justice UofT. It is the first federated college of the University of Toronto to divest, following U of T’s announcement in 2021.