The Supreme Court's recent affirmative action decision will definitely impact social investors and grantmakers with a racial justice agenda — but it also won't stop us!

At Candide Group, we strive to invest in entrepreneurs and fund managers who are of and from the commutes they serve, which means naturally investing in women and people of color as part of our agenda to support people from all racial, socio-economic backgrounds, gender identities, and sexual orientations. And we have to grapple with how to do this moving forward.

Candide Group's Co-Founding Partner Morgan Simon shares her thoughts on Forbes.com about the ruling and what it means for the field (note: this is from the perspective of an impact investor, not a lawyer, so please seek your own counsel and find the approach that works for you.) Here are three key factors we are considering:

1. Race can be considered in remedying past, specific harms.

The court noted that race CAN be considered in “remediating specific instances of past discrimination” [SCOTUS opinion p.15 ]. This applies quite well to the world of finance, where redlining, denial of capital using by race or ethnicity, and the extreme underinvestment in entrepreneurs of color by most VCs, have produced specific harm that can be named and addressed.

2. Diversity has been shown to be a strong factor in evaluating a business.

Numerous studies from groups like McKinsey point to diverse organizations having stronger financial outcomes. If that's the case, it could be considered furtherance of fiduciary duty to consider the diversity of leadership in the usual course of due diligence and in compliance with legal rules.

3. Lived experience can and should be taken into consideration.

“Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.”

If individual characteristics and character (especially overcoming hardship) can be considered per Roberts' remarks, then undoubtedly, many entrepreneurs of color have shown grit and excellent problem-solving ability, which should be considered in evaluating their individual "worthiness" for investment.

We know many investors plan to persist in their racial justice agendas. For instance, our colleagues at the MacArthur Foundation noted, "Progress has always been marred by setbacks, but those committed to social and racial justice are not dissuaded from continuing the quest. And we will not be dissuaded now."

We’d love to hear from you: how is the Supreme Court decision impacting your work? Are you finding other strategies to prevent the silencing of critical dialog on racial justice?

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