9 Impact Investing Books We Love

For almost two decades now, Nia Impact Capital and our Founder and CIO Kirstin Hull have been committed to expanding the field of impact investing by empowering investors and growing the amount of assets managed by women and people of color. Sharing our knowledge of what we do behind the scenes, what works, and what is possible, is essential to achieving that goal.

Growing the conscious investment movement is an important initiative because globally the percentage of female fund managers has consistently hovered at just about 12%. The number has not increased over the past two decades since researchers have been tracking the data.¹ Also, of the $83 trillion of managed assets, majority women owned asset management firms manage just .7% (less than 1%), and when combined with People of Color owned firms that number reaches just 1.4%.² The story is similar on the investor side with women making up just over half the population yet investing 40% less than men3 and controlling just one-third of total US household financial assets4. Meanwhile, men are both more likely to invest their own capital (which they have more of on average due to the historic gender wealth gap5) and control the household investment assets.

We at Nia are proud to serve as a resource for those pursuing impact investing, and as a case study of a diverse owned asset management firm putting principles into action. We’re excited to highlight the following books featuring our various aspects of investment thesis. From concentrating our investment universe on solutions-focused companies that profit from purpose, to utilizing a gender lens and an eye for racial equity in our due diligence process, to leveraging our investor voice for change, holding large corporations accountable to strong human capital management practices, we are delighted to be featured within these best selling books.

This list is also a snapshot of many incredible resources available for those seeking to begin - or deepen - their impact investing efforts. Together with these authors, we celebrate a growing interest in aligning assets for a sustainable planet and society.

The XX Edge (Authors: Patience Marime-Ball and Ruth Shaber)

There's a simple yet often overlooked investment strategy to earning higher returns – include women as financial decision-makers within your organization or team. That's The XX Edge. In their book, seasoned executives and gender lens investors Patience Marime-Ball and Ruth Shaber envision a new paradigm of gender-focused investing where more women are placed in decision-making roles and able to optimize their skills across all capital markets – leading to higher returns for individual investors and greater economic growth.

An interview between co-author Ruth Shaber and Kristin appears in Chapter Two - covering Kristin’s journey to impact investing and Nia’s plans for future growth - in addition to a case study about Nia’s success leading with a gender lens in conscious investing.

Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance (Author: Edgar Villanueva)

Decolonizing Wealth offers a provocative analysis of the dysfunctional colonial dynamics at play in philanthropy and finance. Award-winning philanthropy executive Edgar Villanueva draws on traditions from the Native way to prescribe the medicine for restoring balance and healing our divides. Calling out what is wrong with our current philanthropy and investing systems and offering suggestions to move toward greater wholeness and equity in our financial institutions, we applaud Edgar for making these bold and necessary recommendations. Nia is proud to be highlighted as a way to invest for a new inclusive and regenerative economy.

The Financial Activist Playbook: 8 Strategies for Everyday People to Reclaim Wealth and Collective Well-Being (Author: Jasmine Rashid)

Jasmine Rashid offers the first and only comprehensive resource designed to empower everyday people with insider knowledge on moving money for a more equitable economy. She tackles money myths, including that we don’t need to choose between creating meaningful wealth for ourselves and our families today, or supporting social movements creating a better tomorrow. In her words, we don’t all need to become certified financial “experts” to be economically empowered and make a real difference in our communities. She emphasises the power we all have when it comes to changing the financial system.

The Financial Activist Playbook offers eight accessible, actionable, “choose-your-own-adventure” strategies for readers. Jasmine Rashid illuminates a treasure trove of stories demonstrating how people power can flow assets out of extractive industries, and into the economy of care and abundance we deserve. We are honored to have Nia Global Solutions be included as a key strategy in Chapter 10.

Moving Money for Impact: A Guide to Gender Lens Investing (Author: Tuti Scott)

This ground breaking guide is for philanthropists and investors of all genders who seek to make money moves that matter through gender-lens investing. Impact investing is simply incomplete without a gender justice analysis - and author Tuti Scott shares what’s been missing from the conversation for too long, offering key action steps. Nia Impact Capital is offered as an example for those wanting to align assets with gender equity and financial returns.

Activate Your Money: Invest to Grow Your Wealth and Build a Better World (Author: Janine Firpo)

Janine Firpo offers a comprehensive guide for women to align their assets with both their financial goals as well as their social and environmental visions for the world. Activate Your Money: Invest to Grow Your Wealth and Build a Better World goes beyond basic financial literacy to provide the details each of us needs to become a confident investor. Combining stories of women’s personal finance journeys along with practical and actionable investment strategies, this book provides the knowledge needed to take control of your money and make great returns by investing in the communities, people, and companies that match your values. Janine’s book is now being used as curriculum for Invest for Better circles, and Nia is honored to be highlighted in the public equities chapter.

Global Handbook of Impact Investing: Solving Global Problems Via Smarter Capital Markets Towards A More Sustainable Society (Authors: Elsa De Morais Sarmento & R. Paul Herman)

The Global Handbook of Impact Investing is an insightful guide to the growing worldwide movement of impact investing. This handbook is a how-to guide for institutional investors, including family offices, foundations, endowments, governments, and international organizations, as well as academics, students, and everyday investors globally. Its wide-ranging contributions from around the world make a powerful case for positive impact and profit to fund substantive, lasting solutions that solve critical problems across the world.

Nia Founder & CEO Kristin Hull wrote the chapter Investing with a Gender Lens: Uncovering Alpha Previously Overlooked, which shares theory, definitions, practical applications, and ways to get started moving capital for gender equity and increased returns. This chapter has since been used in University investment class curriculum.

Inclusion, Inc: How to Design Intersectional Equity into the Workplace (Author: Sara Sanford)

Inclusion, Inc moves beyond having tough conversations to deliver an innovative and proven approach to organizational diversity. Eschewing the “mindset-first” approach, author and Gender Smart and Gender Equity Now (GEN) founder Sara Sanford focuses on countering the systemic barriers that abet inequity by adjusting “cultural levers” to facilitate organization-wide change.

Nia Impact Capital is honored to be included in this guide and to be the first Gender Smart certified company in the U.S.

Going First: Invitation to Find the Courage to Lead Purposefully and Inspire Action (Author: Nell Derick Debevoise)

Going First is a call to action for CEOs, executives, investors, and aspiring leaders, who want to have more impact, build their businesses, and leave a legacy. The book provides frameworks, tools, and inspiring examples of ways to connect our work to a larger sense of purpose. It dispels the myths and misconceptions about this approach to work as a force for good, using academic research and practical experience.

Building a Sustainable Family Office: An Insider’s Guide to What Works and What Doesn’t (Author: Scott Saslow)

Written for both the new and experienced family office principal, Building a Sustainable Family Office will inform and inspire with an “insider’s view” of the opportunities and challenges of building a family office that lasts. Nia Founder Kristin Hull was interviewed for the impact investment sections, highlighting involving women in investing decisions.

Do you have other favorites that are must-reads for investors, companies, and asset managers? Reach out - we’d love to hear about them!

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