Investors often gravitate toward opportunities in technology, energy and financial services as the best way to deploy their $1 billion impact funds. The result, says Laura Callanan, is that impact investors are missing the large swath of the global economy where women, youth, indigenous peoples, and others can be found: the creative economy.

Strategically deploying more capital to gender-smart vehicles and investments serving both women and men entrepreneurs requires action from all actors in the ecosystem. Here are some key pathways to action, identified during a recent GenderSmart and We-Fi Programme technical workshop on increasing investments in women entrepreneurs through funds and structured vehicles.

Women of colour are the fastest growing entrepreneurial demographic in the U.S., and key to an inclusive recovery, but they face considerable barriers to capital - including perceptions of risk from lenders. New findings from a multi-year research programme suggest they are not riskier borrowers, writes CNote’s Danielle M. Burns; it’s time to invest in them through CDFIs and counteract biased lending practices.