[test] Channeling resilience for the journey ahead

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Subject: [test] Channeling resilience for the journey ahead

2X Global: Unlocking gender-smart capital at scale

Dear Friend,

Happy new year and happy new year! We’ve started the first month of the Gregorian new year of 2025 in the same vein that we ended 2024 – fired by a spirit of courageous optimism.

Around the world yesterday, billions celebrated the start of the Lunar New Year, ushering in the year of the Snake. With its positive associations with resilience, adaptability and intelligence, it’s a fitting guide on our collective path as we face and address the work we know lies ahead.

For us at 2X Global, the work doesn’t stop - our mission to unlock gender-smart capital at scale is borne of a deep-held conviction. We have seen the data and we know that gender lens investing continues to grow because of the profoundly powerful financial and social benefits that come with full economic inclusion of half the world’s population.

Through our work, advocacy and practical, hands-on initiatives, some of the things we are looking forward to in 2025 include:

Advancing and deepening standards of gender lens investing;
Exploring ways in which the Great Wealth Transfer to a generation of younger women can be a lever to unlock more wealth for more women the world over;
Connecting the climate finance and gender finance conversations to make climate finance more gender responsive and gender finance more climate smart and;
Driving investment in women-led entities and in women-benefiting areas that are underserved and often overlooked.

The scale of the work ahead is tremendous but so is our excitement.

We’re encouraged to have our growing and diverse network of public and private sector members and partners, who are equally excited to unlock more gender-smart capital, on this journey with us.

Keep reading for a selection of the latest GLI news and insights.

In Community,

2X Global team

P.S. - And one more thing… we’ve flown the nest! 2X Global is no longer on X. Join us on over on BlueSky for news and updates about gender lens investing. https://bsky.app/profile/2xglobal.bsky.social.

News from the field

Mainstreaming gender lens investing. The GIIN's latest research on gender and impact investing, funded by the Australian government's Investing in Women initiative, finds that gender lens investors are committed to tackling disparities in pay, equity and employment, and promoting more inclusive economies. Olivia Sterns Walton, founder of women-focused investment firm Ingeborg Investments, makes a compelling pitch for closing the $32 trillion investment gender gap, arguing "closing the gap isn’t about fairness; it’s about inefficiency and opportunity." This Devex piece examines the U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) at the five year mark, looking at how it has developed and aimed to meet its mandates. Female founders took in their smallest share of VC deals in five years, per Pitchbook which notes that as AI eats an ever-larger share of the VC funding pie, the share of deals going to female-founded startups is noticeably shrinking. ProMujer CEO (and 2X Global board member) Carmen Correa is featured on the new podcast series Women Changing Finance, sharing her insights on the impact of gender-lens investing, access to finance and the significant progress being made in Latin America. Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Value for Women has launched its Inclusive Action Hub, a new initiative aimed at increasing and enhancing opportunities for women in emerging economies, with the new Inclusive Action Awards which recognise and celebrate businesses creating opportunity for women.

Gender and Climate Investing. The United States may be set to withdraw from the Paris Agreement for the second time but U.S. climate funders are stepping up to fill some of the gap. Businessman and former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that his Bloomberg Philanthropies and other U.S. climate funders will ensure the U.S. meets its global climate obligations, including key funding and reporting requirements. CAMCO is looking for early-stage female entrepreneurs and female-led companies working in clean energy in Sub-Saharan Africa, who could possibly benefit from funding for working capital and high level technical assistance. The United Nations' top corporate sustainability official is warning business leaders they can no longer ignore the "north-south divide" when it comes to climate change. Speaking in Davos, Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and executive director of United Nations Global Compact warned of the consequences over this growing divide.

Leadership, Culture and Policy, JEDI. The gender pay gap has widened from 31% to 36% across European financial services boardrooms despite a rise in remuneration for female non-executive directors. Read why. Washington D.C.'s public schools system is the latest to be hit with a federal civil rights complaint by a group which states that it’s a parent rights organisation. The complaint targets an 'Empowerment Club' for Black and biracial girls and non-binary individuals in first through fifth grade. The group has also targeted workplace and school affinity groups in Minnesota and Boston.

Data and Tools. Women are expected to control 75% of discretionary spending worldwide within the next five years. Yet, a new study from the Boston Consulting Group shows that women do not believe that the products and services available to them readily meet their needs, including in key segments such as consumer goods, health care, and financial services. This paper explores how climate-related financial regulations might unintentionally make it harder for financial service providers to lend to vulnerable groups in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). It examines real-world examples from Bangladesh, Brazil, and Colombia to highlight these challenges."

Care Economy. Realising that thousands of women who were providing full-time, unpaid care work were missing out on vital services due to time poverty and the inability to get away from the home, Bogota’s first woman mayor introduced Care Blocks, an innovative exercise in urban planning. China has announced new guidelines to facilitate the inclusion of robots in elder care services, as the country faces changing demographics and an ageing population.

Resilience (GBVH, Financial Inclusion, Security). By 2030, the number of women aged between 45 to 55 will reach nearly 500 million, meaning that roughly 6 percent of the world’s population will be in menopause. A new issue brief out from Bayer and FP highlights the growing investment opportunity in menopause research and care. In a new, wide-ranging research paper tracing conflicts back to the 1990s, the IMF explores the complex and compounding effect of violent conflicts and gender inequality, looking at both interstate and intrastate conflicts. Explore how the Investing in Women in South Sudan programme is targeting systemic barriers to gender equity in South Sudan's agricultural sector, with support from Global Affairs Canada and implemented by the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund. Celebrating the life and legacy of Cecile Richards, the courageous long-time leader of Planned Parenthood, who died in January at age 67 due to brain cancer.

Community Calendar

11 February

Learn how you can apply the 2X Criteria to your investments at the first 2X Criteria training for the year. Register for one of two training times, tailored to differing time zones. Register for Session A at 8:00 AM GMT (works for APAC, Europe, Middle East and Africa) or Session B at 2:00 PM GMT (works for North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Western Europe and Western Africa).

11-13 February

Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) hosts its inaugural Pan Africa conference in Dakar, Senegal. Learn more.

4-28 February

Criterion Institute’s flagship event Convergence XXI: Reimagining the Future of Gender Lens Investing will celebrate and dig deep into gender lens investing in all its dynamism and complexity. Click to register.

25-27 February

The leading impact investment conference for Latin America, the Foro Latinoamericano de Inversión de Impacto (FLII), marks its 15th edition with a focus on moving from planning to implementation with the 2030 deadline for the SDGs in sight. Learn more.

11-13 February

Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) hosts its inaugural Pan Africa conference in Dakar, Senegal. Learn more.

Thank you to our partners and supporters

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Subject: [test] Channeling resilience for the journey ahead