Texas Women’s Foundation is 100 Percent Invested in Women

The Texas Women’s Foundation (TWF) recently announced that 100 percent of its $36 million dollars in financial assets are now invested in a “gendered impact” portfolio.

The gender impact strategy seeks a strong return on investment while having the investment itself—and not just the return that accrues to Texas Women’s Foundation—benefit women and girls. This approach makes TWF the first and only women’s fund or foundation to move all of its financial assets—which include endowments, operating investments and donor-advised funds—into gendered impact.

texas women's foundation
The Texas Women’s Foundation recently announced the gender-alignment of 100% of its assets. (Image Credit: TWF)

“We hope that we can inspire others to become part of what is now a global movement around impact investing,” says Roslyn Dawson Thompson, Texas Women’s Foundation president and CEO. “Specifically for women’s funds and foundations, we can demonstrate how, by mission-aligning 100% of our assets with our philanthropy, we can powerfully accelerate the change we seek in the world.”

As a result of TWF’s bold move, Lisa Simmons, President of the Harold Simmons Foundation, and her sister, Serena Simmons Connelly, foundation Director of Philanthropy, have opened a $10.5 million donor-advised fund with TWF. “Lisa and I were eager to be part of Texas Women’s Foundation’s groundbreaking gendered impact strategy,” says Simmons Connelly. “We are excited to see how much more can be achieved by putting financial capital and philanthropic capital to work toward gender equality and greater opportunities for women and girls.”

Gender impact investing can mean many things, including investing in companies that are owned or led by women, backing enterprises whose products or services improve women’s lives, and investing in companies that commit to gender equity in their operations and culture, and that evaluate their suppliers’ and partners’ performance on gender issues. Like “green investing,” it is sometimes easier to determine what to stay away from, rather than what to invest in, particularly in the case of complex multinationals.

“Our journey to be the first women’s foundation aligning 100% of our assets with our mission has been many years in the making,” said Dawson Thompson, and noted that the  “tremendous commitment by our Investment Advisory Committee and Board to the ‘all-in’ strategy” helped make the many steps of the endeavor possible, “from selecting the asset management team, to deep engagement in the gendered portfolio design for strong financial performance and significant social impact.

TWF’s gendered portfolio is managed by Morgan Stanley’s Graystone Consulting and is fully diversified across asset classes. Every fund within the portfolio is evaluated according to financial benchmarks, as well as gendered impact. One measure of an investment’s gendered impact is its focus on one or more of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that specifically and disproportionately affect women and girls.

The Dallas-based Texas Women’s Foundation (formerly Dallas Women’s Foundation) was founded in 1985 and is one of the world’s largest women’s foundations. It makes more than $6.3 million in annual investments in Texas’s women and girls through research, advocacy, grants and programs. The Fund bills itself as “the leading driver of meaningful social and economic change for women, girls and families in Texas.” It has grown rapidly in recent years, awarding $27.6 million in grants since 2013, including over seven million dollars in strategic grants supporting Texas women’s economic security and leadership.

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Philanthropy Women covers funding for gender equity in all sectors of society. We want to significantly shift public discourse, particularly in philanthropy, toward increased action for gender equality. You can support our work and access unlimited and premium content with one of our subscriptions.

Author: Tim Lehnert

Tim Lehnert is a writer and editor who lives in Cranston, Rhode Island. His articles and essays have appeared in the Boston Globe, the Providence Journal, Rhode Island Monthly, the Boston Herald, the Christian Science Monitor, and elsewhere. He is the author of the book Rhode Island 101, and has published short fiction for kids and adults in a number of literary journals and magazines. He received an M.A. in Political Science from McGill University, and an M.A. in English from California State University, Northridge.

One thought on “Texas Women’s Foundation is 100 Percent Invested in Women”

  1. I wonder if my non profit can get funded by your organization since we are located in DFW. We are not particularly into gender equality but I am (the founder) a great Advocate. Just looking for funding for my new program that promotes/improves security in schools to ensure girls get quality education in secured environments.

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