Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance

by Edgar Villanueva

The opposite of investment, divestment campaigns put pressure on investors to get rid of stocks, bonds, or investment funds that are supporting that unhealthy, unethical, or downright evil activity. Divestment activists have successfully demanded that municipalities, universities and colleges, religious organizations, retirement funds, and other institutions stop funding the bad stuff. As we saw with the South African divestment campaign, it can really work. By the mid-1980s, 22 countries, 90 cities, and 155 campuses had pulled their funding from companies that did business in South Africa, which contributed to the end of the apartheid government.2 But why should philanthropy and ethical investment have to rely on whistleblowers and independent activists to keep the bulk of their assets from causing harm? Not only should those assets be transparent, they should be 100 percent aligned with the mission of the foundation. This is known as mission-related investing.

Misson-related investing