During my summer internship at IIX, I got the opportunity to work on several projects that advance its mission of creating an inclusive financial system where women, the environment, and disadvantaged communities are valued and have a voice. First, IIX has developed a series of innovative gender-lens blended financial products that empower women and girls across a multi-country and multi-sector portfolio called the Women's Livelihood BondTM (WLBTM) series. My role in this project involved supporting the preparation for the upcoming issuance of the sixth bond of this series, WLB6TM, which will be an \"orange bond,\" and is set to be launched in 2023. I participated in due diligence by funders and calls with potential investors, as well as in-person due diligence of potential borrowers. One of my major contributions was conducting impact assessments for potential investees, which entailed conducting interviews with last-mile women beneficiaries of microfinance institutions in rural India and Cambodia and analyzing data to calculate various impact metrics.

In addition to the WLBTM series, I also worked on the Orange Bond InitiativeTM (OBI), which aims to build gender-empowered financial markets and mobilize $10B to empower 100M women, girls, and gender minorities by 2030. As part of the OBI, I conducted an initial external review of sustainability notes issued by one of the largest banks in the Middle East to check its alignment with the Orange Bond Principles and qualify as an Orange Bond. I also contributed to the development of the Shades of OrangeTM rating for sustainability notes and provided recommendations. Moreover, I was involved in various movement-building activities, such as organizing the \"Orange Forum\" at the \"Feminist Finance Forum 2023\" and developing the OBI website.

At IIX, I had numerous opportunities to apply my skill sets developed from both my past experiences and my current master's program. During the first year of my graduate studies, I took a few courses in impact investing to learn more about the industry, which provided me with a solid theoretical and practical foundation that allowed me to quickly comprehend real-life challenges. Working with IIX, a leader in impact investing, gave me practical exposure to gender lens investing with a focus on South Asia. My quantitative reasoning and financial modeling skills proved to be immensely helpful in understanding the innovative and complex financial model of the WLBTM series, including calculating the expected returns, costs, and spreads.

I learned the design thinking process in the Creating a Social Enterprise course, which emphasized the importance of talking to the last mile beneficiaries in order to understand their problems and develop solutions that would actually benefit them. I personally witnessed this during impact confirmation interviews as IIX highly values giving a voice to its beneficiaries and has incorporated it in all of IIX's products and processes. Not only does this empower the beneficiaries, but also provides a sense of satisfaction and motivation to the employees as they see the widespread impact of their work on the ground. On the other hand, having a direct conversation with the last mile beneficiaries is integral to preventing impact washing — one of the biggest challenges facing this industry and a hot topic during classroom discussions in multiple ESG-related classes.

During my time working at the Singapore office in person, I was able to utilize my professional and interpersonal skills, which were further developed through my participation in the Sustainable Investing Consulting Research Project course and Columbia Impact Investing Initiative last semester.

At first, understanding IIX's various products, teams, and how they align with their mission and vision was difficult. I spent several days reading about their work and discussing it with colleagues to gain a better understanding. While I am passionate about women's economic empowerment and gender equality, I have limited prior experience in the financial sector. This made working with complex, innovative financial instruments seem intimidating. However, as I got more involved, I became more familiar with IIX's offerings and began to enjoy the work.

Since IIX launched the Orange Bond InitiativeTM — the world's first cross-cutting asset class in gender lens investing, last year, there's been a lot of uncertainty around various components of the initiative. I was assigned to contribute more towards testing out the upcoming offerings, such as conducting an external review of financial instruments to qualify them as Orange Bonds and providing Shades of OrangeTM ratings. Since the offerings are in the process of development and finalization, working on them seemed to be challenging, as there was no prior example to refer to. Nevertheless, having the opportunity to think critically and provide meaningful suggestions that could enhance the products was very fulfilling. I am glad I could contribute towards the development of these products and advance its mission of building a gender-empowered financial system.

A key takeaway from my internship at IIX is the importance of connecting with the end beneficiaries to evaluate the impact of financial instruments. Although it may seem to be impossible, technology can be leveraged to achieve this and prevent impact washing. Moreover, I realized that blended finance and innovative financial instruments are an effective way to bring different stakeholders together in order to achieve the SDGs. Recognizing women as a solution to environmental and socio-economic issues, rather than victims of climate change, is critical in promoting gender equality.

Conducting impact interviews taught me to value and amplify women's voices, which empowers them and leads to positive outcomes. Different financial products have varying effects on beneficiaries, as I saw firsthand. Some women were financially empowered and successfully managed their businesses, while others, despite receiving loans, were still unable to speak freely. Although I was happy to see IIX's work and products making a positive impact, it also highlighted the need for further action on the ground.