Action: Three women achievers join our Ownership team
This International Women’s Day asks us to “Balance For Better,” and we celebrate gender balance at Boston Common by recognizing our newest Principals at Boston Common Asset Management: Constantina Bichta, Lei Ge, and Lisa Hayles—alongside Liz Su, an existing member who added to her ownership stake. With these appointments, we continue our commitment to recognizing, supporting and rewarding women achievers, and broadening ownership to a growing number of employees. Women comprise over half of our employee-owners, 60% of our Board of Directors, and Senior Management, and 55% of our integrated investment team and total staff.[1] Diverse, women-led, and majority-employee-owned, we bring experience, intentionality, integrity, and judgment to our work, seeking financial returns and social change.
“I am delighted to welcome these colleagues as new partners and look forward to their continued contribution to the success of the firm,” said Geeta Aiyer, Founder and President of Boston Common.
Alliance: Partner Groups Bolster “Equality Ecosystem”
We work in collaboration with leading organizations to advance our Gender Equality initiative. Recently, two leading groups, the World Benchmarking Alliance and Equileap—have released important, transformative work toward a more equal workforce (more below). Metrics and data bolster the “Equality Ecosystem,” and help corporations and investors make informed decisions, thus catalyzing change.
Gender Balance
At Boston Common, we are proud to be part of this effort, both in our workforce balance and in our portfolios. Each of Boston Common’s investment strategies prioritizes gender equity as part of our Comprehensive ESG assessment.
Our vision for a truly sustainable planet and inclusive growth calls for equality for women and all minorities. There is much work to be done toward this goal, of course. Today, we celebrate how far we have come and look forward to the long road ahead. We are up to the challenge!
Happy International Women’s Day!
From the Boston Common Team
About Partner Organizations
The World Benchmarking Alliance: We are members of the Alliance, which just released its first scoping report on an exciting new Gender Equality & Empowerment Benchmark (GEEB). The benchmark will:
- Measure companies’ progress on SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and recognize key overlaps with other SDGs.
- Integrate a holistic approach that covers the full value chain
- Identify a Call to Action for companies to drive change
Equileap: Last week, Equileap, an international organization focused on accelerating progress towards gender equality in the workplace, released a special report, Gender Equality in the US. The report was commissioned by the Tara Health Foundation and supported by The Educational Foundation of America and The Grove Foundation, and it assesses S&P 100 companies on workplace equality. They rank companies across a wide range of criteria including:
- Gender Balance at all workforce levels
- Equal pay
- Parental leave
- Non-discriminatory hiring and promotion
- Supply chain safety
- Equal access to health care for all employees
Our Principals:
Read more about our Principals
About Boston Common Asset Management:
Boston Common is a global sustainable investment firm dedicated to the pursuit of financial return and social change. As investors, we integrate in-depth financial and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) research to build diversified portfolios of high-quality, socially responsible companies. As shareowners, we urge our portfolio companies to improve transparency, accountability, and attention to ESG issues. We are proud to have built a strong investment record and believe we have meaningfully improved corporate practices globally through our engagement. Boston Common is a women-led, majority employee-owned firm.
