Corporate finance departments haven't historically been positioned to create social impact within their organizations. Now, however, mounting attention from shareholders, employees, and customers on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) standards is leading C-suite executives to look at every aspect of the business for new opportunities to support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

This shift is giving corporate treasurers a new role as "impact investors." And a rising generation of treasurers is embracing the opportunity to support corporate responsibility and recruitment goals.

According to the corporate finance leaders with whom CNote works, stakeholders increasingly want to know how their companies are investing in DEI, both within the enterprise and on the ground in the communities where they operate. Employees are asking that question too—often enough to make meaningful ESG investments a retention and recruitment factor.