by Jackie VanderBrug, Head of Sustainability Strategy at Putnam Investments
The headlines suggest we’re on the edge. Markets wobble. Technology flirts between hype and backlash. Heat waves and floods test our sense of control. Yet the greater uncertainty isn’t in the markets or the weather — it’s in us. Will we build toward belonging or retreat into division? Look closer, and you can see a quieter shift taking shape — one that suggests we might yet turn this turbulence into collective opportunity.
I’ve had the privilege to collaborate with two women who have helped spark that shift: Mary Ellen Iskenderian at Women’s World Banking and Suzanne Biegel at Heading for Change. Mary Ellen has built a global network dedicated to giving low-income women access to financial tools — and by doing so, making them powerful economic actors. Suzanne, in her last months, asked me to steward the next phase of her gender-smart climate work: she didn’t want a memorial; she wanted momentum.
What unites them is the belief that investing in, by and with women isn’t a sideline, it’s a frontier; that inclusion isn’t a concession, it’s an advantage. And that managing capital wisely, deploying it at scale, and connecting innovation with purpose are the way forward. This belief is translating into investable opportunities today and revealing what could lie ahead: new markets, new technologies, and new systems where women are not just included — they are leading.
Read Jackie’s full article here – https://greenmoney.com/turbulence-or-transformation-capital-inclusive-innovation
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