More managers and companies are self-reporting their ESG performance, but a common reporting framework has yet to emerge, according to a panel of women experts who gathered at the Coffee House in Manhattan on Monday.

“Impact reporting is going to be huge,” said Jessica Milano, director of ESG Research with Calvert Research and Management. “You will see more firms striving to show their client base the difference that these investments are having and driving positive change on the issues that investors care about.”

Milano spoke at a Tearing Down the Pink Wall conference on socially responsible investing, along with Elyse Cherry, CEO and co-founder of BlueHub Capital, and Laura LaRosa, executive director with Glenmede.

“For this market to develop and flourish, we need a common baseline for what information is reported or standardization,” Milano told a group made up of largely women financial journalists. 

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) released a set of industry-specific sustainability accounting standards in November covering financially material issues.

Milano told Financial Advisor magazine after the panel that Calvert’s ESG research starts from the bottom up. “We look at what are the most material issues that companies are exposed to sector by sector,” she said.

Proxy voting is another key differentiator among companies that are serious about ESG.

“What is their proxy voting strategy for ESG policy?” is one question Milano suggested that advisors and their clients ask.

LaRosa advised voting the proxies that come in from a corporation to push an agenda, such as disclosing pay between men and women employees.

“We have this on all of our sustainability products,” she said. “We vote in line with what we are trying to achieve.”

Like LaRosa, Cherry supports proxy voting, but combines it with the advancement of a blue economy.

“A blue economy uses entrepreneurship and ingenuity to create an inclusive future,” Cherry told Financial Advisor. “ESG is about moving away from the old, cemented approaches. Proxy voting, a bigger focus on entrepreneurship or attempting to expand the universe of people who work or lead your company are all leading us in that direction.”

The panel also discussed secrets for navigating a male-dominated financial services industry.

Cherry advised women to never slink away from a challenge.

“Take up some space,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to state your views. If you get whacked, just come right back. Resiliency is respected.”

For women of childbearing age in the workplace, LaRosa suggested proposing family-friendly benefits to the director of human resources if an employer doesn’t already have them in place. “Be an advocate for yourself and other women,” she said.

Milano recommended being true to yourself, knowing your worth, doing your homework before challenging a co-worker, working well with others and allowing hard work to speak for itself.

“You will show your value more through putting time in than trying to do outside, male-dominated activities that make you feel uncomfortable, like playing golf,” she said.