REEFS: Racial Equity Economics Finance Sustainability

The Racial Equity, Economics, Finance, and Sustainability (REEFS) program is designed to encourage stakeholders in finance to think holistically about integrating racial equity across their investment portfolios, to advance opportunities for greater Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) representation in the field, and to support frameworks and approaches that support wealth-building in these communities. This multi-faceted approach seeks to acknowledge and address the persistent structural race-based discrimination in the US, which underpins the significant gaps in access to career and financial opportunities.

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REEFS Research Pillars

Enhancing Investor Decision

Applying TPA to Racial Equity
Applying the Invest-Engage framework to understand DEI shareholder activism

Expanding the BIPOC Pipeline

Broadening BIPOC participation in finance
Engaging the finance community to remove barriers to entry

Achieving Financial Health

Developing financial health programs for BIPOC farmers
Partnering to improve financial health outcomes

History OF REEFS

Since its launch in 2014, Croatan Institute has made tackling structural racism in finance central to our mission. In response to the persistent racial segregation and lack of diversity we observed within the sustainable business and investing community (and financial services more broadly), we organized an internal “brain trust” composed of some of the Institute’s advisory board members Sharlene Brown (now Director of REEFS) and Henry McKoy, as well as senior fellows like Josh Humphreys, and our late colleague Fern Jones, to begin grappling with these challenges. In 2018, after years of engagement with professionals of color working on equity issues, the Racial Equity, Economics, Finance, and Sustainability (REEFS) program and its Steering Committee was formalized.

At the 2018 Croatan Forum, the first REEFS Roundtable was held, bringing together more than 40 stakeholders to advance opportunities for black and brown communities.