Joy Anderson

Founder and President of Criterion Institute

Dr. Joy Anderson is a prominent leader at the intersection of finance and social change and has been instrumental in shaping the fields of gender lens investing and innovative finance. She is founder and president of Criterion Institute, the leading think tank on using finance as a tool for social change, which demonstrates new possibilities through its ground-breaking research, innovative trainings, convenings and institutional engagement. Joy has appeared on Bloomberg and CNN, and her thought leadership has been published in ImpactAlpha and Conscious Company, among other outlets. In 2021, she authored a seminal report, “Disrupting Fields: Addressing Power Dynamics in the Fields of Climate Finance and Gender Lens Investing.” The framework outlined in the paper is intended to facilitate analysis of power in context and to increase the willingness of field builders (and those who support them) to disrupt systems of power more boldly in order to advance goals of justice and equity. Joy was co-founder of Good Capital with Tim Freundlich and Kevin Jones and in 2011, in recognition of her leadership, she was ranked 51st in Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business. Joy currently serves on the GenderSmart Advisory Council and recently held roles on the Strategic Advisory Group for UNICEF's next Gender Policy and Action Plan and the External Advisory Committee for the Government of Canada's Partnership for Gender Equality. She holds a Ph. D in American History from New York University.