Natural investments’ Racial equity team (RE team) was established in 2021 to champion our firm’s internal efforts to foster a just, equitable, and safe workplace for all advisors and staff members. The team is currently composed of five advisors who serve a term of at least two years, and participants are compensated for being part of it.
The RE Team developed an initial work plan of strategic objectives and goals based on the firm’s engagement with equity-focused consulting firm Every Level Leadership. This work plan, revisited at the team’s monthly meetings, continues to guide the team’s efforts and direct its future initiatives.
The RE Team had an incredible year in 2024, marked by progress, collaboration, and a steadfast commitment to fostering justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) within our firm, within the financial services industry as a whole, and with our clients. Our efforts in 2024 not only solidified our internal culture but also paved the way for continued impact and to inspire our peers and colleagues across the industry to advance racial equity and systemic change through purposeful action.
RECAPPING THE RE TEAM’S 2024 WINS
This year, our RE team accomplished several significant goals.
We consulted with Liberation Labs in a thoughtful expansion of the firm’s conflict resolution policy, which evolved into a set of Behavioral and Communication Guidelines. This framework establishes norms for how we interact with one another based on our shared company values and agreements and provides tools for effective communication. It balances healthy and generative conflict with the need for psychological safety, providing direction for collaborative opportunities, including the practices of offering feedback and acknowledging the impact of our words and actions. The guidelines also provide resources for ongoing learning and clarifies how people are held accountable for their actions. We are working to build the inclusive culture we want to see in the financial services industry.
Liberation Labs also offered two firmwide workshops: “Psychological Safety in Inclusive Spaces,” and “Practical Tools for Culturally Aware Feedback.” The workshops, which were well-attended by advisors and staff, provided concrete ways for firm members to navigate our interactions with mindfulness and care. We examined how privilege, power dynamics, and identity affect how we communicate with one another—including our unconscious biases and awareness of how our identities and past experiences inform our perceptual filters in how we experience communication, particularly feedback. We role-played various ways to give and receive healthy feedback when harm occurs to increase our conflict management competency. The RE Team also revised the firm’s public statement on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI), creating a robust living document posted to our website that clarifies what these values mean to us and how we advance them within our firm, with our clients, and in the financial services industry. See the sidebar below—Natural Investments’ Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Commitment—for our statement.
Firm members provided significant input to this revision, offering suggestions and wisdom during our annual retreat. An addendum to this statement (see Timeline of our Commitment to JEDI Values below) records our efforts over time to practice these values in our ownership and operations, our investments and philanthropy, and our fight against institutional racism in society.
PAVING THE WAY
As the first financial services firm to have converted its ownership to a Perpetual Purpose Trust, we have been sharing our story in the hopes that others follow suit to foster racial and gender equity. We conducted a webinar for the Racial Justice Investing Coalition and were guests on the Next Economy Now and Financial Advisor Success podcasts. These can all be viewed on our website.
The RE Team continues to coordinate internal opportunities for training and learning on an ongoing basis. We are also excited to help our colleagues in the financial services industry deepen their commitments to racial justice internally and via their investments.
We will continue to share our ownership conversion story and find meaningful ways to build a diverse culture of belonging, and this summer we will host an intern from an underrepresented community. And as always, we will further expand our allocation to high impact investments that prioritize racial justice and communities impacted by racism.
SIDEBAR: NATURAL INVESTMENTS’ JUSTICE, EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION COMMITMENT
Our founders began their innovative work in socially responsible investment advising in 1985. For four decades, our firm has looked beyond simply turning a profit and has focused on using capital to create a just, equitable, and environmentally conscientious society by investing in people and communities of color and ecologically sound endeavors. We have long known that it is entirely natural to align our values with our financial choices and make a positive impact while generating financial returns.
As an original Certified B Corporation since 2007, a Public Benefit LLC, and a purpose trust-owned business since 2023, Natural Investments continues to model its commitment to the principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion through its ownership, operations, company culture, and investments. In active pursuit of our mission, Natural Investments continues an evolving, long-term commitment to the principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
We’re an increasingly diverse team called together by our shared commitment to our mission. We recognize that systemic racism and white supremacy permeate our industry and broader culture. We believe that discrimination and exclusion based on race, gender, socioeconomic status, disability, faith and religion, sexual orientation, and other aspects of identity must be named and actively challenged. We seek to dismantle these harmful, deeply ingrained systems and intentionally cultivate conditions for shared success and thriving throughout our spheres of influence:
- Within our firm, by surfacing and mitigating our personal biases, and working to ensure that all team members have equitable support and resources to thrive in an inclusive environment.
- Within our field, by contributing to industry-wide efforts and openly sharing our continuous journey of learning.
- With our clients, by facilitating direct investments that create a more just and equitable reality.
WHAT JUSTICE, EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION MEAN TO US
Justice: Removing barriers to financial well-being for identity groups who have been marginalized, via repair and reparations; supporting members of these groups as they seek opportunities to progress within our firm and the financial services industry.
Equity: Designating resources that create access to equitable economic opportunities for all people; treating team members, fellow investment professionals, and vendors fairly, with an understanding of the differences in our experiences and privileges.
Diversity: Recognizing and embracing individuals’ differences in identities, knowledge, and barriers faced within our team and when we connect with other investment professionals, clients, and those offering and supporting investment opportunities. We prioritize investments, organizations, and events that are committed to diversity in their leadership, management, events, and actions.
Inclusion: Calling in varied perspectives and thought leaders within our sphere of influence; building a welcoming team environment that promotes emotional safety and freedom of expression; engaging in learning opportunities that build our capacities to examine the impacts of our words and actions; and deepening our awareness of patterns of harm in order to facilitate accountability, understanding, behavioral change, and healing.
We recognize that our commitment to JEDI is an ever-evolving journey.
SIDEBAR: TIMELINE OF OUR COMMITMENT TO JEDI VALUES
We document and share our ongoing efforts in this realm at least annually. As of December 2024, we’ve taken the following actions to more deeply ingrain JEDI values across our stakeholder groups.
ONGOING
- Continue to participate in the Racial Justice Investing Coalition.
- Continue to conduct firmwide webinars—and to support advisors’ individual webinars—featuring diverse experts and authorities on topics related to just and equitable investing.
- Advisor Andy Loving remains enthusiastic and tireless in his efforts to bring more capital support to Hope Credit Union, a Black-led, majority-Black credit union that leverages deposits to make wealth-building, home mortgage, and small business loans in communities in the Mid-South that have suffered from generations of personal and systemic racism.
- Andy Loving helps clients across the firm with the process and paperwork of opening accounts
- Natural Investments’ company reserves are held at Hope Credit Union.
- Direct client capital towards organizations that offer credit, lending, and investment opportunities for people of color and low-wealth individuals and communities. We have facilitated over $170 million in new racial equity investments for our clients within the last four years. Review our 2024 Impact Report for details. We prioritize community wealth-building and community-controlled funds. Four of the 39 organizations we’ve worked with include: Seed Commons, Runway, Hope Credit Union, and Self-Help Credit Union.
2024
- Worked with Liberation Labs to establish Behavioral and Communication Guidelines for our team, including how we support and hold one another accountable in increasing our awareness and learning. Participated in professional development training about power dynamics, psychological safety, and healthy communication methods.
- Joined Freedom Economy to prepare the firm and others to defend the rights of social and racial justice investors against unwarranted attacks against those of us who are promoting equality, equity, and justice.
- Shared the story of our ownership conversion as a means to foster racial and gender equity with industry peers via an article in Impact Alpha, a webinar for the Racial Justice Investing Coalition, and as guests on the Next Economy Now and Financial Advisor Success podcasts. These can all be found on our website.
- Nicole Middleton-Holloway, Malaika Maphalala, and Michael Kramer participated in a webinar for the Racial Justice Investing Coalition on the racial equity innovation aspect of our ownership transition to a Perpetual Purpose Trust.
2023
- Transitioned Natural Investments’ ownership structure to a Perpetual Purpose Trust (PPT). Advisors and staff are now democratically elected to serve as Trust Stewards to ensure the mission and values of the firm carry on into perpetuity. This ownership transition resulted in the formal leadership of the firm changing from 17 percent to 43 percent women and 17 percent to 29 percent people of color.
- Committed to dedicating at least 50 percent of our firm’s ongoing charitable giving towards racial justice work. In 2023, 64 of our 76 contributions were to racial equity and justice organizations that center Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) individuals, organizational leaders, and communities, and focus on racial healing. A list of some of the charitable organizations we support can be found on our website.
- Continued to lead sessions addressing racial equity investment issues at conferences, including the ESG for Impact conference. Our goal beyond 2024 is to address these issues at multiple conferences.
- Nicole Middleton-Holloway hosted a webinar with scholar Dr. Travis Bristol focusing on Black equity and the implications of the recently published California Reparations Report.
2022
- Incorporated facilitators at yearly team retreats to foster opportunities for meaningful dialogue in which all feel safe to share. We’ve prioritized hiring women of color for this role.
- We achieved gender parity among advisors and continue to work on increasing the percentage of advisors of color, which as of this writing is currently 26 percent.
2021
- Created a paid Racial Equity Team within the firm to champion our internal efforts to foster a just, equitable, and safe workplace for all team members.
- Initiated monthly racial equity coaching for the white male partners, some of whom are now Trust Stewards.
- Completed the Adaway Group’s Whiteness at Work, an interactive training program in intersectional race and equity work, with 17 advisors.
- Engaged Every Level Leadership to conduct a racial equity assessment of the firm.
- Committed to including more consultants, vendors, and service providers of color in procurement (currently our editor, printer, retreat facilitator, due diligence consultant, Heart Rating analyst, and model portfolio analyst are all BIPOC).
- Nicole Middleton-Holloway participated in US SIF’s Racial Justice Task Force, which generated racial justice investing resources and also an Investor Statement of Solidarity to Address Systemic Racism and Call to Action.
- Tiffany Brown and Kate Poole led the webinar “Black Economic Self-Determination,” featuring historian and scholar Ed Whitfield, on the ongoing pursuit of Black economic liberation.
2020
- Reviewed hourly pay rates and ensured a minimum threshold for internal consultants (advisors and staff) paid directly by our firm.
- Malaika Maphalala, Tiffany Brown, and Kate Poole led the webinar “Invest in Black Economic Liberation.”
- Became a member of the Racial Justice Investing coalition, we signed the “Investor Statement of Solidarity to Address Systemic Racism and Call to Action”.
2018
- Prioritized adding advisors who are historically underrepresented in the financial services field and encouraged all our advisors to similarly prioritize this in their hiring.
2017
- Added our first partner of color and committed to creating gender parity among our advisors.