Last week, here in San Francisco, I had the privilege of participating in the Global Climate Action Summit. Corporate executives, elected officials, environmentalists, investors, activists and concerned citizens all traveled to the Bay Area to meet, to join marches, to listen to keynote speeches and to sit at round table discussions. By almost every measure, the climate-focused week was a success in raising awareness of this urgent global issue. Over the span of several days, major, concrete steps were announced to address our heating planet. The actions by high-profile leaders such as California Governor Jerry Brown, Former Vice President Al Gore and Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
I am both excited and honored that our investment firm Nia Impact Capital is the first business in the United States to earn a Gender Equity Now (GEN) certification. As asset managers, we operate in an industry that has very low representation of women (fewer than 10% of fund managers in the US are women). Our hope is that we can lead by example in showing that there are many potential steps all companies can take to improve their practices. Created by a consortium of award-winning data analysts, experts in the field of gender studies, and a research team at the University of Washington, the GEN certification recognizes companies whose practices and processes fully support gender parity in t
Originally published in The Mercury News and East Bay Times. California Senate Bill 826 provides a golden opportunity to achieve gender parity in the boardroom. The bill, awaiting the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown, would require every publicly held corporation in California to appoint a minimum of one woman to its board of directors by the end of 2019. Beginning July 2021, that number would increase to two female directors on boards with five independent directors and a minimum of three female directors on boards with six or more independent directors. California would be first in the nation to pass such a law. Sponsored by the National Association of Women Business Leaders, this bill would
