Three Initial Actions to Advance Equity and Justice
By Eric Letsinger, CEO of Quantified Ventures
At Quantified Ventures, we stand firmly with those whose voices are being marginalized as we strive for racial equity. The resounding calls for justice from citizens across the country compel us to reimagine our way forward.
We can’t recall ever being so inspired to both listen and act; while at the same time feeling so disheartened by lack of progress. We will listen hard, as we have much to learn. We will take action.
Quantified Ventures is committed to using our resources, skills, and expertise in outcomes-based finance to drive meaningful impact. We will apply our greatest assets - our people and our action-orientation - to the causes of racial equity and social justice.
Three specific actions represent our initial steps for Quantified Ventures to further enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion within our company and through our work.
1) Improve Access to Capital for Social and Racial Equity and Justice
We will double down on our pro bono investment work with the leadership at Activest to create financing opportunities for cities and states willing to undertake key reforms to promote racial and social equity, including changes to policing and criminal justice practices that disproportionately impact Black communities. By connecting the enactment of more equitable practices and policies with a city’s issuance of municipal bonds, our aim is to begin to connect racial equality outcomes directly to a city’s borrowing costs, a material expense for municipalities.
Now is the time for impact investors to work with cities and states to advance reforms that drive social justice and racial equity. Quantified Ventures has successfully advanced similar models in other fields including urban resilience, flooding, and water quality and we are compelled to aim our outcomes-based financing engine more directly at social justice outcomes. This represents part of our collective commitment to working with leaders in municipal finance to correct inequitable practices in fields like community development, policing, infrastructure, and education. If you are interested in furthering this work please contact me. This effort will take a village.
2) Invest Resources in Diversity Equity, and Inclusion at Quantified Ventures
We are hiring a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) expert to help us generate and select high-impact actions that will move the needle on DEI within our field, in our company, and in our work. Despite efforts to the contrary, our company leadership currently lacks the diversity we seek. We are currently establishing baseline company diversity and inclusion metrics to enable measurement of progress. We are asking our Advisory Board to hold us accountable to our DEI objectives across our business development, client, and investment initiatives. And we are soliciting staff recommendations and suggestions for improvement. Everything is on the table.
3) Improve Our Engagement with Client Communities on Equity and Inclusion
We will further assess and revise our practices for engagement with clients to ensure that impacted communities have a voice in our work. In our pursuit of project efficiencies, we can sometimes overlook the importance of this step. We intend to hold ourselves to better account for bringing an equity and justice lens to our business development and client initiatives.
While I don’t know our exact path forward as a company beyond these initial steps, I’m confident in the ability of the people of Quantified Ventures to produce meaningful outcomes. Since our inception, we’ve labored tirelessly to lean in to big challenges and leverage our collective ability to work creatively, diligently, compassionately, and impatiently towards our North Star…big impact for people and the planet.
While we will need to prioritize our efforts, bold action is part of our company mission and DNA. It’s part of why I love what we do and why I love working with the humans of Quantified Ventures. I welcome your ideas, support, resources, and collaboration to move forward actionable ideas that advance racial equity, diversity initiatives, and social justice.
With great hope for better times ahead,
Eric