IMPACT MONDAY – Moving the needle on the Gender Investing Gap

About the Session

The Esade Center for Social Impact (ECSI) just published its new report, Gender strategies in investing: How do European investment firms move from awareness to action?, authored by ECSI’s senior researcher, Leonora Buckland, director, Lisa Hehenberger, and researcher, Jessica Harneyford. Supported by the Open Value Foundation, the report delves into the gender journey of European private market investment firms, including AlbionVC, AlphaMundi Group Ltd, EQT, Global Social Impact Investments, NESsT, We Are Jane, and others.

Following a rigorous qualitative case study approach, ECSI provides a behind-the-scenes look at the motivations, challenges, and triumphs of integrating gender considerations into investment practices. The report maps out a spectrum of investment strategies from traditional to impact investment and how different gender strategies can be implemented, offering invaluable insights into the multifaceted landscape of Gender Lens Investing (GLI) adoption and its potential to drive systemic change. The authors find that there is a virtuous circle connecting diversity at fund management level to more investments in female entrepreneurs and helping investees become more gender equal.

Access the report and webinar recording here.

Lisa Hehenberger:

Dr. Lisa Hehenberger is an Associate Professor in Strategy and General Management at ESADE Business School and Director of its Center for Social Impact. A leading expert in social entrepreneurship, venture philanthropy, and impact investing, she has advised organizations like WWF and Repsol Foundation on impact strategies and served as Research and Policy Director at the European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA). She is Chief Impact Advisor at Oryx Impact, a board member at GSMA Foundation, and sits on various advisory and impact committees, including Rubio Impact Ventures and Suma Capital. She has contributed to global initiatives, such as the OECD’s social impact projects and the G8’s Social Impact Investment Task Force. Her research focuses on market building in social entrepreneurship, with publications in top academic and practitioner journals.

Leonora Buckland:

Dr. Leonora Buckland is a senior researcher and guest lecturer at ESADE University, Barcelona. She has worked in social enterprise, venture philanthropy and impact investment for over fifteen years and has consulted with many charitable foundations and impact funds. She is a leading European academic-practitioner in the field of impact measurement and management as well as gender lens investing (GLI). She has co-authored several GLI studies on the topic, both exploring GLI at a regional level (in Europe and Latin America) as well as trying to develop practical case studies on how gender strategies have been implemented in investment firms. In 2025, she will lead a EU-funded project to explore unconscious gender bias in the investment process in Europe. Whilst based in London, UK she lived in Barcelona for many years and is a board member of Ship2B Foundation.

Event Information:

📅 WHEN? Monday 20th of January from 4 pm to 5 pm.

🎟️ PRICE? FREE OF CHARGE

📍 WHERE? ONLINE via ZOOM >> Register by sending a message at communications@impacthouse.be

The session will be in English

IMPACT MONDAY – Moving the needle on the Gender Investing Gap

About the Session

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