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We’ve had an eventful Spring marked with major announcements and the release of several sustainable investing resources. We are particularly excited to announce that sign-ups for the Endowment Impact Benchmark (EIB) second pilot are open. Endowments and foundations interested in participating are encouraged to complete this participation form. We have limited spots available and a deadline of July 31st to confirm participation.
We are pleased to welcome Chavon Sutton and Annie Chor Joyce to our Board and Steering Committee, respectively. Their expertise makes them an invaluable addition to the team. We also announced Hampton University and the University of Southern California as winners of the 2024 Student Corporate Engagement Challenge in the graduate and undergraduate categories, respectively.
This quarter, we released the Net Zero Endowments Roadmap, offering comprehensive guidance and best practices for achieving net zero commitments. Additionally, we've published IEN’s 2023 Annual Report detailing the year's activities and achievements.
If you haven’t already, remember to register to attend our 10th anniversary and honor IEN’s co-founder, Tony Cortese, at a Gala dinner at the Museum of Science on November 14! Thank you for your continued support and commitment to sustainable investing.
Warm regards,
The IEN Team
  
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| Resource Spotlight: 2023 Impact Report, EIB, Net Zero Roadmap |
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IEN 2023 Impact Report
IEN’s 2023 Annual Report showcases our commitment to assisting endowments in learning and implementing effective sustainable investing strategies. Key highlights include the commitment of endowments to sustainable investing, the successful completion of the inaugural pilot of the Endowment Impact Benchmark, events throughout the year, educational materials developed and more. View IEN’s 2023 Impact Report
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Endowment Impact Benchmark (EIB) First Pilot Report
Last fall, five leading endowments with assets under management ranging from $50 million to over $20 billion participated in the first pilot of the EIB: Arizona State University Foundation, California State University Foundation, Lewis & Clark College, University of California, and the University of Toronto. The pilot participants found the process to be valuable and effective, particularly the customized feedback they received, and the ability to benchmark their progress against that of peer institutions. View Full Report
Limited spots are available for endowments and foundations to participate in the second cohort in 2024. To indicate your interest in participating in the EIB, fill out this form, and reach out to Georges Dyer ([email protected]) and Aicha Ly ([email protected]) to learn more
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Net Zero Roadmap
This quarter, we unveiled the Net Zero Endowments Roadmap, providing a digestible, high-level overview of net zero commitments for endowments. The guide offers common steps in the process and links to detailed resources, aiming to demonstrate pathways through which progress towards a net zero commitment can be achieved, measured, and monitored for success and impact. View Roadmap
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| Celebrate 10 Years of Sustainability Leadership with Us! |
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We’re delighted to mark our 10th anniversary and honor IEN’s co-founder, Tony Cortese, with a Gala dinner at the Museum of Science on November 14!
We invite you to RSVP to join our community this fall as we gather and celebrate the 10 wins we've achieved over these past years, including the launch of Endowment Impact Benchmark. Find out more about our anniversary celebration
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| Updates from the Network |
| New IEN Members |
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| IEN Team News |
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 Chavon Sutton, Senior Investment Director in Sustainable and Impact Investing Research, Cambridge Associates
We are excited to have Chavon Sutton as the newest member of the Board of Directors of the Crane Institute of Sustainability. Chavon brings extensive experience and strong leadership in advancing investment in small, diverse, and women-owned managers, as well as her role in developing impactful investment strategies, making her a valuable addition to our board. More about Chavon
 Annie Chor Joyce, Managing Director and Head, ESG, Amundi US
We are excited to announce Annie Chor Joyce as a new member of the IEN Steering Committee. Annie currently oversees Amundi’s ESG strategy for the US market and contributes to the global dissemination of US ESG expertise; She also serves on the Investment Committee of the Phi Beta Kappa Society Foundation. More about Annie
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 Kyra Au, Sustainable Investing Intern
Kyra is a senior at Brandeis University, double majoring in Business and Environmental Studies. She is passionate about social impact and is interested in helping businesses and communities work together to achieve their sustainable social and environmental goals. More about Kyra Au
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| Recent Webinars |
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IEN Members can access the following recent webinars through our member-only archive:
- IEN JEDI Initiative Q2 2024 Call | Community Conversation: Transparency and Disclosure | May 23, 2024
- IEN 2024 Climate Solutions Series: Invest in an Inclusive Clean Energy Future | Sunwealth | May 22, 2024
- 2024 Student Corporate Engagement Challenge | SIILK Initiative | May 14, 2024
- Investment Governance Initiative Call Q2 2024 | May 7, 2024
- IEN 2024 Climate Solutions Series: Can Public Companies Lead the Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy? with Terra Alpha | April 24, 2024
- Information Session: Endowment Impact Benchmark | April 2, 2024
- IEN 2024 Climate Solutions Series: Infrastructure Investing with I Squared | March 28, 2024
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| Upcoming Events |
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Please join us for our upcoming IEN events:
Other Events
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4th Annual Sustainability Week US: Uniting Businesses to Shape Climate Solutions | Economist Impact, June 12 - 13, 2024, New York
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GreenFin24 | June 17 - 19, 2024, Javits Center in NYC
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RRC Webinar: Sustainable Investing Insights | DCIIA, June 25, 2 pm ET
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Impact Capitalism Summit | Big Path Capital, July 15 - 17, 2024, Nantucket, MA
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UNCF Unite 2024 | July 28 - Aug 1, Signia by Hilton, Atlanta, GA
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| IEN's Focus Areas |
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| Endowment Impact Benchmark (EIB) |
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Last month, IEN co-hosted a workshop with Amundi Asset Management to discuss impact investing and climate leadership. The event featured a panel discussions on the Endowment Impact Benchmark (EIB) led by Georges Dyer (Executive Director, IEN), Sarah Gelfand (Managing Director, BlueMark), and on net zero portfolio commitments. Other presenters included representatives from the University of Toronto Asset Management Company and the Harvard Management Company.
Limited spots are available for endowments and foundations to participate in the second cohort in 2024. To indicate your interest in participating in the EIB, fill out this form, and reach out to Georges Dyer ([email protected]) and Bella Alvarez ([email protected]) to learn more.
Funders of the EIB
We are grateful for the support of the Tipping Point Fund, Sorenson Impact Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and ClimateWorks for making the EIB work possible, and pleased to be partnering with BlueMark to carry out the verification and rating services.
Supporting Sponsor
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| Sustainable Retirements: ESG Options for Retirement Plans |
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Members participating in IEN’s Sustainable Retirements Initiative remain active in the space, even as challenges to the DOL rule continue at the judicial level.
IEN Senior Advisor Chris Walker recently participated in a panel alongside Marina Severinovsky, Mary Cerulli, and Brian Mizoguchi in a FinPublica webinar on the integration of ESG factors into retirement plans for the benefit of plan participants and the appetite and landscape for such inclusions. You can review the recording on our website under “Webinars & Presentations.”
IEN Member Wespath also announced the expansion of its Social Values Choice suite of funds for institutional investors and a new option for DC plan participants to invest in this suite through the LifeStage Investment Management. We are pleased to see the expansion of sustainable options available to plan participants through the work of Wespath and others.
Join the retirement listserv for updates on the Sustainable Retirements Initiative, and contact Chris Walker ([email protected]) and Bella Alvarez ([email protected]) for more information.
Supporting Sponsors
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| Net Zero Endowments |
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This spring, Kathleen Simpson (CEO of The Russell Family Foundation) and Richard Freund (Associate Director, Capital Markets at CDP) were welcomed as new members of the Net Zero Leadership Committee. Additionally, conversations about climate solutions have expanded through IEN’s 2024 Climate Solutions Investing Series - covering topics such as the role of technological advancements, the impact of community-based climate solution projects, trends in climate solution investments in relation to recent legislations, and more to come. We invite Network members to view details and register for our next conversation.
Beyond the expansion of programming and climate leadership, as well as the recent publication of IEN’s Net Zero Endowments Roadmap, the initiative is moving forward in thought leadership by diving into the development of new resources that will build upon IEN’s Leading with Justice paper. These resources will explore the intersectionality of issues relating to climate solutions and net zero, providing actionable guidance through examples and frameworks in the field. This project will advance with the support of IEN’s developing Climate Justice Task Force - connecting leaders from IEN’s Net Zero Endowments & JEDI Initiatives, as well as other IEN members leading climate justice efforts.
To learn more about the Climate Justice Task Force, or have questions about the Net Zero Endowments Initiative, please reach out to Aicha Ly at [email protected]
Lead sponsor
Supporting Sponsors
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| JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) |
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This quarter, the JEDI Initiative held a discussion on disclosure and transparency. Participants of the call importance of integrating Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) standards in driving sustainable investing progress through the Endowment Impact. We are also excited about our upcoming Juneteenth webinar, which will focus on promoting racial equity in sustainable finance. The webinar will feature Dr. Gillian Marcelle, CEO of Resilience Capital Ventures; Enith Williams, Managing Director of Reparations Finance Lab; Pedro Henriques Da Silva, Director of Shifting Trillions at Sierra Club Foundation; and IEN JEDI Co-Chair Dorien Nuñez and is part of a series of educational webinars presented by the Belonging Collaborative - a group of six membership networks: the American Sustainable Business Network, The ImPact, Impact Capital Managers, Confluence Philanthropy, Toniic, and the Intentional Endowments Network.
The IEN JEDI and Net Zero initiatives are working together on an updated version of the Leading with Justice paper.
For further information about the JEDI Initiative, please contact Paris Prince at [email protected] with any questions.
Lead Sponsors
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| SIILK (Sustainable & Impact Investing Learning & Knowledge) Network |
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We were proud to announce Hampton University and the University of Southern California as winners of the 2024 IEN Student Corporate Engagement Challenge in the Graduate and Undergraduate category, respectively.
"We’re delighted to have won the competition — it feels that all of our stock sheets, our graphs, and early-morning meetings have come to fruition,” said Sparsh Sharma and Jerrod Rabenbauer, members of the winning undergraduate team from the University of Southern California.”
This year’s participating teams came from The University of Southern California, Virginia Wesleyan University, Central Washington University, Smith College, Hampton University, Shenandoah University, The University of Michigan, and the University of Minnesota. Our recent blog post provides more information about the Challenge and this year’s winners, as well as a copy of the 2024 Finalists' presentations.
IEN's SIILK Network is also a proud partner of the Student Shareholder Engagement Network (SSEN), a group of undergraduate and graduate students who are committed to engaging as shareholders with companies in their university’s endowment portfolio.
Reach out to Bella Alvarez at [email protected] to learn more about the SIILK Initiative.
Supporting Sponsor:
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| Investment Governance |
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IEN’s Investment Governance Call on May 7 featured perspectives from The Investment Integration Project’s William Burckart and Melissa Eng on the (Re)Calibrating Feedback Loops: Guidance for Asset Owners and Institutional Investors Assessing the Influence of System-Level Investing report. IEN expresses its continued appreciation for TIIP's support and field building and invites IEN Members to view the call’s recording on our past webinar page.
We look forward to joining this working group again on September 10 for a conversation with Acansa’s Mary Cahill. To learn more about this Initiative, please reach out to Georges Dyer ([email protected]).
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| Shareholder Engagement |
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As we wrap up our support of Warren Wilson College’s engagements for the 2024 proxy season, we are continuing to explore ways to support more endowments in being active owners - voting their proxies through external managers and filing or co-filling resolutions.
To learn more about IEN’s Shareholder Engagement Initiative, reach out to Bella Alvarez at [email protected].
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