Voices from the Field: Laura Francis, Sea Forward Ocean Health Fund

In this special edition of our Voices from the Field series, we speak with two incredible partners about how the Heading for Change Investment Toolkit and Guide have helped them integrate gender considerations into their investing strategies. They also share insights on why resources like toolkits, guidance, and greater transparency are vital for investors seeking to drive meaningful impact at the intersection of climate and gender.

Laura Francis is the Director at Sea Forward Ocean Health Fund.

How have you been thinking of the climate and gender finance nexus in your work, and what opportunities do you see for investors exploring this nexus?

Women and children are often on the frontlines of climate change and can face disproportionate impacts. Simultaneously women are also leaders in developing climate solutions, from science to policy to non-profit leadership and entrepreneurship. So finding opportunities to invest at the nexus of gender and climate, especially as it connects to the ocean is an area of deep interest for Sea Forward. The HFC team has been incredibly helpful in co-creating and sharing tools to help us explore this nexus and find ways to better incorporate this gender/climate lens into our due diligence process at Sea Forward. By sharing their in-depth scorecard and working together on the diligence of our co-investment in Circulate Ocean Latin America, we learned so much that will help us become more effective in investing in this space. 

How has the Heading for Change Investment Toolkit helped integrate gender into your fund’s strategy and thematic focus on advancing ocean health and into your overall investment process (pipeline building, portfolio engagement etc)?

The Heading for Change Investment Toolkit is incredibly valuable in providing a framework to evaluate investments that deliver both climate resilience and gender equity and identify funds that already have women in leadership roles as well as those that have a pathway for women to rise into leadership positions. This really resonated with me in addition to incorporating gender and equity inclusion at all levels.

How do you see your investment strategy advancing its integrated climate and gender approach further? 

It will be very useful to us to incorporate elements of the  Heading for Change Investment Toolkit and underpinning framework as we evaluate new ocean health investments. We can overlay this with our other investment criteria and impact strategy. Using integrated KPIs that track both climate outcomes (e.g., GHG reductions, climate resilience) and gender outcomes (e.g., leadership, pay equity, access to services) folded in with ocean health metrics such as biodiversity, habitat and ecosystem integrity, sustainable use, and social and community impact, we can create a stronger investment thesis around new investments.

How can resources like toolkits, guidance, and greater transparency matter for investors aiming to drive meaningful impact at the intersection of climate and gender?

Practical and structured resources that help investors evaluate projects that are both climate positive (such as reducing emissions) and empower women (by creating a pathway to leadership, or have other co-benefits such as improving women’s health and economic outcomes) are incredibly valuable and game-changing in the impact space. I really appreciate HfC’s thoughtful approach in how they integrate gender and climate lenses into their due diligence, portfolio management and impact assessment process.

Our inaugural Sea Forward Insights Report, launched this year, builds on this thinking from an ocean perspective, offering a look into the outcomes, stories, and partnerships that helped shape a healthier, more regenerative ocean future in 2024. The report reinforces the importance of measurable, science-based frameworks — like the Ocean Impact Navigator KPI framework — to help investors track both environmental and social progress across blue economy projects. Our partnership with Catacap also builds on this momentum, making impact investing in ocean climate more accessible to more people.

About the Sea Forward Ocean Health Fund:
The Sea Forward Ocean Health Fund at ImpactAssets provides impact investors and philanthropists with a regenerative “everblue” charitable structure to contribute tax-deductible dollars into a collaborative, multi-donor advised fund.