Dear Friend,

We are saddened to share the news that the one and only Suzanne Biegel passed away on September 20 in London after navigating metastatic lung cancer for two years. On behalf of our whole team at 2X Global, our Board and global community, we send our deepest condolences to Suzanne’s family– especially her husband Daniel–in this difficult time.

A force of nature and eternal catalyst at large, Suzanne fearlessly built the gender finance field over the last 20 years. She supported and catalysed so many of the initiatives, projects and work that make up the field of gender lens investing today. Suzanne was Co-Founder of GenderSmart, which merged with 2X Collaborative this year, to become 2X Global. She was also a key partner in the Gender Finance Collaborative, to support the Development Finance Institutions in their initial 2X Challenge, which then launched the journey of the 2X Collaborative. Suzanne was a world-renowned and respected pioneer in the field of gender finance. Her innate ability to connect diverse stakeholders in a unified vision of building a more gender-smart financial ecosystem has blazed a trail for where our community finds itself today and for where we are going. 

Both climate and gender have been at the heart of Suzanne’s portfolio since she began investing 22 years ago. In this past year, Suzanne furthered her vision for gender-smart climate finance by building Heading for Change, a donor-advised fund that makes investments and grants to advance climate and biodiversity solutions and gender equity. 

Suzanne was a friend and mentor to many. She was generous with her advice and catalytic support. She faced her diagnosis and illness with resilience  and continued to use her voice and pen to advocate for a more equitable, just and inclusive financial system.

We are forever indebted to her. Even as we mourn her passing, we celebrate Suzanne’s incredible life and legacy. For those who also wish to honour her, Suzanne and Daniel invite you to consider making a donation to Heading for Change. To do that, please go to https://www.headingforchange.org/news/suzanne-biegel-obit.

In Community,

2X Global team