Sunday Spotlight: A new blog series shining a spotlight on the relationships and partnerships that have allowed Prosperity Candle to grow and prosper.
This year, we’ve really been digging into our “Shift the Gift” campaign, where we engage with organizations and corporations interested in aligning their gift giving with their values (we’re determined to shift a percentage of the $17-19 billion promotional product industry towards sustainable gifts that build transformational business opportunities for the women we’re working with!).
So it seems quite fitting to give a shout out to one of the first companies who joined us in gifting with impact, far before we had created a catchy slogan and solidified a business strategy. This week’s Sunday Spotlight is on PAX World, one of the leading investment management companies dedicated to delivering competitive long-term performance to investors through sustainable investing.
PAX World indeed has a distinguished history of innovation (beyond being one of the first to design custom candles with Prosperity Candle!) having launched the first socially responsible mutual fund in America in 1971. They are also credited with being among the first investment managers to integrate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) or sustainability factors into investment analysis and decision making.
Not only have they long integrated diversity analysis and other gender criteria into the company research they conduct for their mutual funds, but they also offer a specific fund, the Pax World Global Women’s Equality Fund (PXWEX), which is the only mutual fund in America whose focus is on investing in companies that are global leaders in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.
And if that wasn’t enough, they also were one of the founding signatories of the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles, a set of principles for business offering guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community.
CEO Joe Keefe sums it up best: “Eliminating gender inequality and empowering women are finally being recognized, on a global basis, for what they are — urgent moral and economic imperatives. This is as true for businesses and investors as it is for broader economies. Gender equality is fast becoming an investment concept . . . We have a choice in the way we invest. We can take advantage of opportunities or we can ignore them. We can be part of the solution, or part of the problem. When it comes to advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment, it’s time for investors to become part of the solution.” (Read Keefe’s full comments in a paper on Gender Equality as an Investment Concept and check out PAX’s complete statement on gender equality here)
PAX World’s commitment to gender equality and transparency is really quite unparalleled in the financial services industry, and therefore made them a natural customer for our custom candles, as they are a perfect mission-aligned gift to give to clients and as event takeaways. PAX is able to clearly showcase their branding/messaging alongside their commitment to women’s empowerment, with each candle directly strengthening the livelihoods of the women we work with.
We are proud that PAX World is choosing to be part of the solution in the gift giving space – putting their marketing dollars where their investment dollars are already going.
Learn more about PAX World’s innovative investment strategies here.
If you are interested in joining PAX World in becoming part of the solution by shifting your corporate gifting strategy, contact us today.
