Gender Strategy Toolkit for Enabling Qapital

The SIPA student team designed and piloted a Gender Strategy Toolkit and accompanying Gender Metrics Dashboard to support Enabling Qapital (EQ), a Swiss impact asset manager, and its investee financial institutions (FIs) in promoting gender equity in both organizational operations and credit-specific services. Grounded in extensive desk research and stakeholder consultations across Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, the project adopted a four-phase approach: literature review, tool development, field testing, and training delivery. Azerbaijan was selected for pilot implementation, where feedback from a national level commercial bank informed refinement of the tools.

The toolkit includes policy templates, implementation guides, a conceptual glossary, and a dashboard based on international benchmarks (e.g., 2X Challenge, IFC, UN WEPs), tailored to local contexts. The metrics span the employee lifecycle and lending practices, allowing institutions to benchmark progress using a maturity model from “Gender-aware Adopter” to “Gender Equality Trailblazer.” Additional deliverables included a client reporting deck for ESG officers and two global training webinars attended by 50+ investees. Pre- and post-training assessments confirmed improved comprehension of gender equity concepts and strategies.

Overall, this capstone project aimed to advance gender-lens investing across EQ’s global financial portfolio. The project positions EQ as a leader in gender mainstreaming, equipping FIs with actionable tools to integrate gender across functions while aligning with business performance goals. By translating global standards into practical, context-sensitive resources, this initiative lays the groundwork for inclusive finance ecosystems that deliver social impact and financial value.