Geeta Aiyer is an Indian

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

, business leader, and

social activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

, best known as founder and president of Boston Common Asset Management, a sustainable investment firm.

Early life and education

Aiyer was born in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1958. Aiyer moved to America in 1983 to attend

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

. She was the second Indian woman to attend to attend the school and graduated with an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

in 1985. Aiyer also has a BA with honors as well as an MA degree from

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

, India.

Career

After graduating from Harvard, Aiyer started with

Cambridge Associates Cambridge Associates LLC is a privately held investment firm based in the United States. It provides investment portfolio management and advisory services to institutional investors, including foundations and endowments, pensions, private clients ...

as a consultant. She also founded the company East India Spice, her first entrepreneurial venture. In 1988, Aiyer became an analyst and portfolio manager at the

United States Trust Company Bank of America Private Bank (formerly U.S. Trust) was founded in 1853 as the United States Trust Company of New York. It operated independently until 2000, when it was acquired by Charles Schwab, and Co. and subsequently sold to, and became a ...

of Boston. She advised executives of the

Albertsons Albertsons Companies, Inc. is an American grocery company founded and headquartered in Boise, Idaho. With 2,253 stores as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 and 270,000 employees as of fiscal year 2019, the company is the second-large ...

supermarket chain after they had lost a $108 million lawsuit over denying female employees advancement opportunities. Aiyer "demonstrated to Albertsons that unfair employment practices were a financial liability", resulting in the company making a commitment to gender equity moving forward. In 1994, Aiyer founded Walden Capital Management, using the revenues made from running her first company. Aiyer cites pursuing "dual goals of financial return and social change on behalf her clients" as a driving principal behind establishing a firm focused on

responsible investment Socially responsible investing (SRI) is any investment strategy which seeks to consider financial return alongside ethical, social or environmental goals. The areas of concern recognized by SRI practitioners are often linked to environmental, s ...

. From 1998 to 2002, Aiyer was president of Walden Asset Management. In 2003, Aiyer founded Boston Common Asset Management as an employee-owned sustainable investment firm. Aiyer has served as its president since 2003, overseeing $5 billion in assets under management. Boston Common is known for practicing

ethical investing Socially responsible investing (SRI) is any investment strategy which seeks to consider financial return alongside ethical, social or environmental goals. The areas of concern recognized by SRI practitioners are often linked to environmental, ...

, making investments in line with

environmental, social, and corporate governance Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is shorthand for an investing principle that prioritizes environmental issues, social issues, and corporate governance. Investing with ESG considerations is sometimes referred to as ''responsible inv ...

(ESG) goals. Boston Common joined a group of other impact investors to pressure the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

to change the name of their football team due to racial concerns over their name, a campaign that ran over the course of 12 years. The team complied in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd. Aiyer remarked: "There comes a tipping point when, after a company has been fighting you, they suddenly let go because it becomes obvious to them that it’s not worth continuing the fight." Aiyer is currently a member of

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

's Impact Measurement & Allocation Program's advisory board.

Activism

Aiyer founded the

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

Direct Action for Women Now (DAWN), which advocates for victims of gender based violence in India.

Awards and honors

*In 2010, Aiyer was awarded the Highest Leaf Award by the Women's Venture Fund *In 2014, India New England named her Woman of the Year *In 2017, Aiyer was the recipient of the Joan Bavaria Award at the CERES conference *In 2020, Aiyer was inducted into YW Boston's Academy of Women Achievers, honoring her dedication to "eliminating racism and empowering women" *In 2021, Aiyer was named to the

Boston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...

's 2021 Power 50: The Movement Makers for being a "pioneer in impact investing" *In 2023, Aiyer was included by

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

into the first TIME100 Climate list, recognizing the 100 most innovative leaders driving business

climate action Climate action (or climate change action) refers to a range of activities, mechanisms, policy instruments, and so forth that aim at reducing the severity of human-induced climate change and its impacts. "More climate action" is a central demand o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aiyer, Geeta Living people 1958 births Chief executives in the finance industry Delhi University alumni Financial company founders Harvard Business School alumni Indian investors Indian women activists Indian women chief executives Indian chief executives Indian women company founders Businesspeople from Chennai Women investors