Systems Change Training - July, 2025

Over the last 21 years, Criterion Institute has been a sustained experiment in systems change in and through market systems, and systems of finance and investment. In this time, we have built up considerable knowledge of the intricacies of systems, the relationships between variables in a system, and the role of finance to address systemic inequities.  

Like any experiment, there have been trials and errors along the way. Each experience has brought its own lesson. Every conversation, every invitation, every program has been a source of insight for knowledge building and optimization. In this training workshop, Criterion will give participants a peek behind the curtains and expand on the frameworks we’ve developed for innovating in and around systems of finance.  

The training is led by the Founder and President of Criterion Institute, Dr. Joy Anderson, a prominent leader at the intersection of finance and social change who has been instrumental in shaping the fields of gender lens investing and innovative finance. Joy has worked with financial institutions, government agencies, faith-based organizations, philanthropists, and movement partners to design and implement strategies for shifting financial systems to advance gender equality and social justice. Joy has appeared on Bloomberg and CNN, and her thought leadership has been published in ImpactAlpha and Conscious Company, among other outlets.

We are aware of our own power. We have a specific business model that supports our ability to make this change. Not all individuals or organizations can make the choices we make, but nonetheless there are lessons to learn from our “how.”

We will be sharing case studies and strategies on what we have learned over the past two decades and how our learning can be applied to a range of other systems change efforts within gender lens investing, impact investing, and innovative finance.

The training will draw on our recent publications and collective learning, including Disrupting Fields, a reflection on power dynamics in field building using the development of gender lens investing and climate finance as case studies and documentation on our six areas of activity, which drive our theory of change and the day-to-day organization of our work. Participating organizations will learn more about how to transform systems and address power in context.

Host or Publisher CRITERION INSTITUTE