Equality in Action: Highlights from Our Task Force Members
The Equality Impact Investing (EII) Task Force continues to be a catalyst for systemic change, with members leading initiatives that exemplify the adoption of our key EII strategies. Here's an overview of recent developments:
EII-aligned member funds: racial equity, local empowerment, financial inclusion, technology
Access unveiled its 2025–2028 strategy, envisioning an investment ecosystem that serves all charities and social enterprises. The strategy emphasises access to finance, support and markets, aiming to create stronger communities.
Pathway Fund has made significant strides, including appointing Asher Craig as CEO and launching initiatives like the Racial Equity Scorecard and the First-Time Fund Manager Incubator. Their Cost-of-Living Support Programme has deployed various financial products to over 30 Black and Ethnic Minoritised-led organizations. The Government’s newly published Dormant Assets Scheme Strategy includes £12 million in scale-up funding, earmarked, for Pathway Fund, as outlined by the Community Enterprise Growth Plan (CEGP).
National Lottery Community Fund has adopted an equity-based approach in its 2023–2030 strategy, aiming to direct more funding towards communities experiencing poverty, disadvantage, and discrimination.
Fair4All Finance closed its £5 million Community Finance Resilience Fund, supporting nearly 50 community finance organizations. Their investments have significantly aided lone parents, who received 37% of loans under their Scale Up programme. The Dormant Assets Scheme Strategy has allocated £132.5m to financial inclusion through Fair4All Finance.
Growth Impact Fund, a collaboration between Big Issue Invest and UnLtd, has invested over £1.8 million to support 65,000 individuals facing systemic inequities. Recent investments include £250,000 in The Black Farmer, promoting diversity in the UK farming industry.
Social Tech Trust's "Tech to Unite Us" programme supports ventures demonstrating how technology can address inequality, based on the Equality Transformative Tool developed with EIIP. By providing grants and support, they aim to scale social impact through innovative tech solutions.
Key Fund is progressing towards more inclusive investment, is offering its first Shariah-compliant deal and diversifying its Investment Committee to better reflect the communities it serves.
Barking & Dagenham Giving has launched the 2025 GROW Fund aiming to reach up to 30 local businesses by mobilising grant funding, targeted mentoring and coaching, and impactful social investment. To achieve this, they’ve forged partnerships with multiple grantmakers and social investors, setting the stage for greater economic resilience and growth across East London’s most deprived areas and communities.
Rosa’s 2025 Rise Fund offers grants to Black and racially minoritised-led organizations, aiming to strengthen their capacity and impact.
Members embedding EII in practice:
Barking & Dagenham Giving exemplified equitable investment by following the recommendations of our “Equalising Deal Terms” project with Bates Wells, transparently sharing legal advice with investees during loan agreements, thereby fostering trust and partnership.
City Bridge Foundation revised its investment policies to strengthen its commitment to equitable investment. Collaborating with Bates Wells to adopt elements of "Equalising Deal Terms", they introduced more equitable investment agreements. Read more about this process in this excellent blog.
Bates Wells, our partner and our collaborator on the Equalising Deal Term Principles (EDT Principles) Sung-Hyui Park highlights the extensive interest in the Principles in a recent podcast with Olivia Sibony of Impact Amplified. In addition to sharing the principles at conferences hosted by NYU Law Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and Civil Society Media, a number of universities have also began incorporating EDT into their coursework.
Better Society Capital has developed two trainings: Uncovering User Voice on embedding lived experience in investment decision-making and Navigating Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Beyond with Spark & Co. They participated in Diversity Forum’s Data Project and a critical friend review aligned with global DEI benchmarks.
Disability Rights UK is applying the learnings from its engagement with EIIP to identify social investment opportunities which align to its work and those of its members. Their focus is on supporting organisations at the intersections of marginalisation within the Disabled community. They recently secured 10-year funding from City Bridge Trust to strengthen their work in London.
Policy and Research Initiatives
As part of the newly published Dormant Accounts Scheme Strategy, Access has launched a consultation on the Community Enterprise Growth Plan, with webinars planned for 18 & 23 June, and a 15 July deadline for submissions.
Impact Investing Institute published Unlocking the Potential of Community Based Finance guidance on fostering impact through community engagement in place-based investing, noting the links between forms of place-based investing in addressing inequalities and power imbalance.
Social Enterprise UK, in partnership with the Connect Fund and LSE, released the Socio-economic diversity in social investment report. It uses elite education as a proxy to investigate aspects of diversity not yet well analysed in the social investment sector: socio-economic inclusion, and the role of power and privilege among those who work for social investors.
Equality Trust released the "Billionaire Britain 2025" report, revealing that the top 50 richest UK families now hold more wealth than the poorest half of the population. Their research on ethnic wealth inequalities highlights significant disparities, with Black households holding median wealth of £34,000 compared to £314,000 for White British households, emphasizing the need for targeted policy interventions. These stark disparities underscores the need for systemic reform to address wealth inequality.
Rosa published the Underfunded, under resourced and under the radar: the state of the women and girls social sector report highlighting the challenges faced by women's and girls' organizations, including competitive funding environments and rising demand.
Connect Fund released its final Learning and Evaluation Report (2017–2024), highlighting the importance of sustained investment in equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) infrastructure. The findings have informed Access’ Community Enterprise Growth Plan on proposed use of new £87.5m Dormant Assets funding.
These initiatives reflect a collective commitment to embedding equality into the fabric of social investment, demonstrating that impactful change is both possible and underway.