About
The Midwest Investors Diversity Initiative (MIDI) is a coalition of institutional investors dedicated to increasing racial, ethnic, and gender diversity on corporate boards of companies headquartered in Midwestern states given the correlation between diversity and long-term outperformance.
With over $1 trillion in assets under management and advisement, the coalition uses corporate engagements and shareholder rights to protect shareholder value and maximize returns.
“We know that diversity is good for business. We also know that change is hard, especially inside our nation’s boardrooms. Many corporate leaders agree that diversity benefits their operations and board performance. Our focus is to help them navigate this change.”
- Treasurer Michael Frerichs
Members
- Ariel Investments
- City of Chicago’s Treasurer’s Office
- Illinois State Board of Investment
- Illinois State Treasurer’s Office (lead)
- Legal & General Investment Management America
- Minnesota State Board of Investment
- Ohio Public Employees Retirement System
- School Employees Retirement System of Ohio
- SEIU Master Trust
- Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation
- Segal Marco Advisors (co-lead)
- Seventh Generation Interfaith
- Trinity Health
- UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust
- Wespath Benefits and Investments
- YWCA Metropolitan Chicago
What We Do
MIDI offers guidance and tools to help companies take steps to diversify their boards, working with company nominating and governance committees to:
- Adopt a policy for the search and inclusion of minority and female board candidates
- Require minority and female candidates to interview for every open board seat
- Instruct third party search firms to include such candidates in the initial pool
- Expand the candidate pool to include candidates from non-traditional sources
- Disclose the gender and race/ethnicity of individual board directors annually via a board matrix
Since 2016, when the group was formed, MIDI has engaged 78 companies on the issue of board diversity. Among the companies engaged, 114 women and persons of color have received board appointments (86 women and 60 persons of color, including 32 women of color); 58 companies now publicly disclose board diversity data; and 66 companies have adopted a policy to include diverse candidates in the search process.
MIDI collaborates with and complements the work of the Thirty Percent Coalition, with the majority of its participants being active members. Founded in 2011, the Thirty Percent Coalition is a national organization advocating for diversity on corporate boards, promoting women and people of color. Representing more than $7 trillion in assets under management and one of its kind in the U.S., membership includes public companies, private equity, institutional investors, state treasurers, professional services firms and advocacy groups working together for the first time.
Resources and Additional Information
Press Releases
Contact Us
Should you have any questions or inquiries, please contact the Illinois State Treasurer's Office at MWVD@illinoistreasurer.gov.