Gender Summit 2022
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At Business Fights Poverty, we believe that equity builds resilience - for vulnerable people and communities, as well as for businesses and their value chains. The pandemic and climate change have exposed how deep inequities, including by gender, shape the impacts and the opportunities.

At this year’s virtual Gender Summit, we explored through engaging and interactive sessions, the role that business can play in driving gender equity.

Timed with International Women’s Day on 8 March, and tying in with its theme of “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”, the Gender Summit explored issues of climate justice and economic opportunity from a gender perspective.

Access our digital pass for recordings and summaries on the latest thinking from the world’s leading practitioners and experts, and to take back practical insights and new relationships into your organisation so that you can scale up your impact.

Across our 2021 Summits...
97%
of participants surveyed said they would recommend them to a colleague.
98%
of participants surveyed said they learnt something valuable for their work.
97%
of participants surveyed rated them as "good" or "excellent"
Some of our amazing speakers and panelists

Nimco Ali OBE

CEO, The Five Foundation

Lisa Manley

VP Sustainability, Mars Inc

Ayesha Barenblat

CEO, Remake

Sana Kapadia

Head of Content and JEDI Project Director, GenderSmart

AGENDA
TUE 8 MARCH
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WELCOME AND FIRESIDE CHAT

1.00 - 1.30 PM GMT
8.00 - 8.30 AM ET

How does gender equity drive resilience for women and for business?

Gender equity is a driver of resilience, both for women and also for the businesses that work with them across their value chains.

In this fireside chat we:

  • Were inspired by our keynote guests and the impactful initiatives they are working on.

  • Received advice on how we can make the case for gender equity in our business.

  • Heard about the personal journeys they have taken, with lessons for our own.

Fireside Chat with:

Daniel Seymour, Director, Strategic Partnerships, UN Women

Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact
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FULL RECORDING AND SUMMARY
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WEBINAR

1.30 - 2.30 GMT
8.30 - 9.30 AM EDT

What can we learn from women leaders in the fight for climate justice?

This session explored the central theme of International Women's Day - the important role that women leaders are playing in driving a more sustainable future.


We:

  • Learned about the latest thinking on how business can drive gender equity and support women's leadership across their value chains.

  • Heard inspiring examples of how women leaders are taking action in the front line of climate impact to ensure climate justice for all.

  • Connected with like minded people and explore new opportunities for collaboration.

Speakers:

Cristina Alonso Alija, Head of Corporate Health, Safety and Environment, Bayer

Geetanjali Solanki, Country Lead, India, CottonConnect

Kimberly Lewis, Head of Active Ownership, Schroders

Lisa Manley, VP Sustainability, Mars Inc

Zahid Torres-Rahman, CEO, Business Fights Poverty (Moderator)
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WEBINAR

2.45 - 3.45 PM GMT
9.45 - 10.45 AM ET

How can we drive gender equity through responsible sourcing?

Hosted with UN Foundation

Responsible Sourcing holds the promise to improve the lives of millions of women workers globally. Corporate leaders have offered researchers some surprising answers for what is needed. A focus on gender equity and women’s health in supply chains can be a curb cut for Responsible Sourcing.

We:

  • Learned what ESG leaders offer as roadmap for action on responsible sourcing and gender equality.

  • Gained a deeper understanding of gender equity as a driver of worker wellbeing and business resilience in global supply chains.

  • Identified gaps for attention and advocacy in our company or corporate partnerships.

Speakers:

Steve Rochlin, CEO, IMPACT ROI

Respondents:

Ayesha Barenblat, CEO, Remake

David Wofford, Senior Director, Private Sector Strategy & Engagement, Universal Access Project, United Nations Foundation

Mansi Kabra, Senior Manager, Marketing and Transformation, Good Business Lab

Katie Hyson, Business Fights Poverty (Moderator)
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PEER CIRCLES | ONLINE

4.00 - 5.00 PM GMT
11.00 AM - 12.00 PM ET

A. How can we promote gender equity today for a sustainable tomorrow?

Our popular and high-energy Peer Circles enable all of our participants to interact with our lead discussants and each other.  We shared, with the help of leading practitioners and experts, latest thinking of the challenges and opportunities for supporting women leaders on the front lines of climate action.

We:

  • Learned and shared ideas with our peers in a safe-space setting.

  • Received practical insights and ideas for action that we can take back into our own organisations.

  • Met new people who care passionately about the same issues.

Discussants:

Deb Gallagher, Professor, Duke University

Inka Ivette Schomer, Senior Gender and Infrastructure Advisor/Consultant, World Bank

Jane Pillinger, Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Department of Social Policy and Criminology, Open University

Joanna Romero, SME and Gender Finance Specialist, IFC

Jona Repishti, Senior Program Manager, ICRW Advisors

Leonora Barclay, Communications Manager, Avon

Lindsey Block, Head of Partnerships and Capacity Building, Primark

Marcel Korth, Principal: Living with Dignity / Gender-Based Violence, Anglo American

Melissa Gustafson, VP of Talent Management, Newmont

Monica Cuba Iriarte, Head of Communication, Practical Action, Bolivia

B. How can we protect and support women in conflict zones?

In Ukraine, as in other conflicts, there are very different impacts on women and men. While men are more likely to be killed, because of their participation in fighting, women face increased risks of gender-based violence in conflict and post-conflict contexts, exacerbating pre-existing discrimination. War and its aftermath have a disproportionate impact on women. At the same time, engagement of women in peace processes is key to long-term peace.

We:

  • Learned and shared ideas with peers in safe-space setting.
  • Received practical insights and ideas for action that we can take back into our own organisations.
  • Met new people who care passionately about the same issues.

Discussants:

Ayan Said, Founder, Voicing Voices

Daniel Seymour, Director, Strategist Partnerships, UN Women

Dr. Gabriela Alvarez Minte, Regional Gender Advisor,  Eastern Europe and Central Asia, UNFPA

Morten Rasmussen, Executive Vice President for People, Sustainability and Brand, Novozymes

Suzy Madigan, Senior Humanitarian Advisor, Care International UK

Dr. Tatiana A. Thieme, Associate Professor, University College London (UCL)
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WED 9 MARCH
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WELCOME AND FIRESIDE CHAT

1.00 - 1.30 PM GMT
8.00 - 8.30 AM ET

How can business prevent and tackle GBV in their workplaces and supply chains?

Businesses are stepping up to tackle GBV. This session will bring together business and expert voices to explore recent examples, lessons and challenges.

In this fireside chat we:

  • Heard examples of what action companies are taking within their core business and beyond.

  • Heard about some of the key challenges, with advice on how to overcome them.

  • Heard about the personal journeys they have taken.

Fireside Chat with:

Abey Mokgwatsane, Managing Executive of Brand, Vodacom, South Africa

Jane Pillinger, Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Department of Social Policy and Criminology, Open University
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    WEBINAR

    1.30 - 2.30 GMT
    8.30 - 9.30 AM EDT

    How can businesses help prevent and tackle GBV in the workplace?

    Hosted with Avon

    When incidents of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) spiked during the pandemic, many businesses stepped up. Yet organisations still have a role to play in the ongoing effort to end violence and abuse. This session explored the latest thinking on how business can take action to prevent and tackle GBV.

    We:

    • Heard from leading GBV experts and advocates on the actions that business can take.

    • Heard about the key challenges with advice for how to overcome them.

    • Received advice on how to develop and implement strategies in organisation.

    Speakers:

    Jane Pillinger, Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Department of Social Policy and Criminology, Open University

    Natalie Deacon, Executive Director, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, Avon, and President, Avon Foundation for Women

    Nimco Ali OBE, CEO, The Five Foundation

    Pamela Zaballa, CEO, The NO MORE Foundation

    Zahid Torres-Rahman, Business Fights Poverty (Moderator)
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    *** INTERVAL ***

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    WEBINAR

    2.45 - 3.45 PM GMT
    9.45 - 10.45 AM ET

    How can business help strengthen the care economy?

    Hosted with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

    Investing in the care economy is critical to progress on gender equality and to ensuring an inclusive recovery from COVID-19. This session focused on the role of business in supporting the care economy beyond the direct provision of work-based childcare. This included business action to support growth, innovation and investment in the wider care sector, as well as help shift social norms and policy to support the care economy.

    We:

    • Learned from the latest global research on strategies for strengthening the care economy, including through social enterprise models that ensure accessible, quality childcare and beyond.

    • Heard from businesses who have prioritised action to support the care economy.

    • Received advice on actions your business or organisation can take in collaboration with others.

    Speakers:

    Daan Besamusca, Open Society Foundation

    Hamza Butt, IDRC

    Lindsey Block, Primark

    Mohammed Rashed, Co-Founder and CEO, Folia Water

    Salua García Fakih, COO & Co-Founder, Symplifica

    Sana Kapadia, GenderSmart

    Alice Allan, Business Fights Poverty (Moderator)
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    Recordings and summaries will be available by the 18th of March
    Thanks to our learning partner Pearson we can offer you a free Digital Pass to access the resources of the event
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    Learning Partner
    Learning Resources
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    COMMUNITY ARTICLES

    Gender Equity: The Foundation for a Resilient Future

    By Zahid Torres-Rahman, Business Fights Poverty

    Join us for free at our virtual Gender Summit 2022, on 8 and 9 March, to explore the issues of gender equity and resilience, and the importance of women’s leadership in driving change. The event coincides with International Women's Day and its theme of "gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow". Access practical insights, the latest thinking and inspiring examples from experts and practitioners, and connect with like-minded people to explore opportunities for collaboration. | READ ARTICLE

    It’s time to collect more and better gender-disaggregated supply chain data

    By Halima Ahmed, Senior Gender and Diversity Advisor, Ethical Trade Initiative

    Data is essential in today’s world. In the context of global supply chains, data is the cornerstone of effective human rights due diligence and risk assessment. Without the necessary data, businesses will fall short in addressing and preventing risks to workers and mitigating harm that may be caused as a result of their business operations. | READ ARTICLE

    Women as drivers of climate resilience

    By Lisa Manley, Vice-President, Sustainability, Mars

    Mars has long-standing commitments to act on climate change and empower women. Now, the company is connecting these two areas of focus. In this article, Lisa Manley explains why women are at the core of climate resilience and how companies can support them. | READ ARTICLE

    Scaling Up Impact With Carbon Finance

    By Rebecca Fay, Chief Marketing Officer for ClimateCare and Natural Capital Partners

    Gyapa is one of the largest and longest running cookstove projects in the world. Ann Koontz, CEO at Relief International, shares her reflections and advice on how this carbon reduction project has progressed over 10+ years and how her partnership with ClimateCare has given vital access to carbon finance enabling her to scale the project’s impact. | READ ARTICLE

    Engaging community voices: reflections from Archana Soreng

    Interview with Archana Soreng, Indian youth climate activist and UN adviser, by Caroline Ashley, Forum for the Future’s Global Programmes Director

    Climate and gender activist Archana Soreng reflects on the contrast between the indigenous world view she grew up with, which sees people as part of nature, dependent on it and with an obligation to protect it, and a developed world view of nature as a commodity, to be harvested at a profit. | READ ARTICLE

    The chocolate entrepreneurs of Peru

    By Susannah Henty, Fairtrade Foundation

    Sustainability is justifiably the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day and the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published on 28/2/22, confirms what Fairtrade farmers have long been aware of: the climate crisis is here, it is real, and it is threatening. But by developing ‘value-add’ products, rather than solely raw commodities could offer a solution to people’s livelihoods. | READ ARTICLE

    Inclusive future of work for women with disabilities

    By Nancy Marangu, Communication & Public Policy Analyst

    The inequalities experienced in the world of work for women with disabilities (WWDs) are significant and need to be addressed. Employability data for WWDs are hard to obtain locally, and where data is available the labour market participation rate of WWDs is lower than that of the general population. | READ ARTICLE

    With their own businesses and as workers, Egypt’s women can be winners

    By Charles Arthur and Navjot Kaur, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)

    The Rabeha programme, run jointly by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and UN Women, aims to significantly boost women’s economic empowerment in Egypt by mid-2024. | READ ARTICLE

    Why Working with men is key to fighting inequality

    By Jane Sabuni, Country Director at Hand in Hand Eastern Africa Tanzania

    Jane Sabuni, Country Director at Hand in Hand Eastern Africa Tanzania, explains how working with men helps to challenge gender bias in rural Tanzania – with support from Cartier Philanthropy. | READ ARTICLE

    The Kenyan woman changing young farmers’ futures

    By Elizabeth Oywaya, Communications Officer, Heifer Kenya

    Victorine Owino transformed the savings and credit cooperative she manages into a thriving business hub in southwest Kenya, connecting local poultry farmers to training, financing and high quality supplies. Her journey from volunteer to manager is a testament to the transformative potential of women in leadership roles. And she’s now opening doors for others’ success.| READ ARTICLE

    Bridging the gender digital divide for Guatemalan Indigenous women

    By Kendra Poole, Communications Specialist, DAI, and Stephanie Creed, Associate Director of Communications and Engagement, DAI

    New Sun Road and USAID-Microsoft, a joint initiative striving to close the gender digital divide and increase digital opportunities for Indigenous women in the Alta Verapaz region of rural Guatemala. | READ ARTICLE

    Systems Theory Through a Gender Lens

    By Jason Eaves, Lead Strategist and Founder, Discovered Markets

    The potential to incorporate a systems approach into a fund structure represents new thinking on how to evaluate opportunities, support businesses, increase impact, measure impact, and shape entire markets to reduce the gender gap. | READ ARTICLE

    Empowering underserved women around the globe

    By Susann Tischendorf and Katharina Münster, Inclusive Business Action Network

    Inclusive Businesses are uniquely equipped to improve gender equality. As commercially profitable, yet impact-driven companies, they follow the market and their social vision. Both paths lead towards women empowerment. | READ ARTICLE

    A transformative journey: Kasha’s mission to provide equal health access to all women

    By Patrick Russell, Director of Partnerships, Kasha

    Leading East African FemTech company, Kasha, share nine key lessons learnt from scaling their business with support from TRANSFORM. TRANSFORM is a joint initiative between Unilever, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and EY that provides grant funding and business consultancy to impact enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.| READ ARTICLE

    Bridging the gender digital divide and improving girls’ self-esteem - An opportunity to partner with UNICEF

    By Sagri Singh, Senior Advisor, Gender Equality, UNICEF and Stacie June Shelton, MPH Global Head of Education & Advocacy, Dove Self-Esteem Project

    Over the past 3 years UNICEF and Dove have partnered to adapt and integrate Dove’s evidence-based self-esteem and body confidence curriculum (DSEP) within UNICEF’s ongoing collaboration with ministries of education and the private sector across 3 countries. Read on to learn more. | READ ARTICLE

    Regenerative agriculture and women farmers

    By Anna Olivia Spenner Hernández, Business Fights Poverty

    Engage with our featured content to discover the value of regenerative agriculture, and how companies, NGOs and farmers are utilising this approach to create profit, gender-inclusivity and climate resilience. | READ ARTICLE

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    PODCASTS

    Jiselle and Cesar, On Gender Transformative Approaches

    Cesar and Jiselle share some of their 30 plus years of experience working on women’s empowerment. Together they have recently been working on ‘gender transformative approaches.’ Cesar and Jiselle deep dive into what this means and the practicalities of implementing gender transformative approaches – for businesses everywhere, across value chains. | LISTEN TO PODCAST

    Ayan Said, Voicing Voices

    Ayan provides practical tools and tips to help us all, and particularly business decision makers to create the spaces for better communication. | LISTEN TO PODCAST

    Snigdha Ali and Maria May, The Gates Foundation

    Snigdha Ali and Maria May explain why being unbanked is a serious inequality issue and how digital financing can create economic empowerment, particularly for women in emerging markets.| LISTEN TO PODCAST

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    REPORTS & TOOLKITS

    ACTION TOOLKIT: Women and the Net Zero Economy

    Climate change and inequality are the twin challenges of our time. This toolkit shows how companies can transition to a net zero economy at the same time as economically empowering the many vulnerable women working upstream in global value chains. It builds on recent work by the UK Government’s Work and Opportunities for Women (WOW) programme implemented by PwC and its alliance partners, as well as the Climate Justice Framework jointly developed by Business Fights Poverty and the Harvard Kennedy School Corporate Responsibility Initiative. Read on to understand the business case for integrated action on women’s economic empowerment and climate change; identify opportunities for action in the supply chain; and take the first steps towards a gender-just net zero strategy.

    Enhancing the Livelihoods of 'Hidden Women' in Global Smallholder Value Chains

    Women smallholder farmers often face complex social and economic barriers that prevent them from exercising agency and securing decent livelihoods. This Discussion Summary Paper draws from an online discussion co-hosted by Business Fights Poverty, Unilever and Oxfam, on how companies and their partners can recognise, value, and enhance the contributions of the hidden women on whom our global food supply systems depend. Read it to learn about the key levers of change, case studies and lessons learned, and how to collaborate for transformational change.

    Gender-Based Violence and COVID-19

    In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and ‘stay at home’ regulations, domestic violence and online bullying and harassment are expected to rise. What can companies do to support employees internally? What can they do to harness their core business strategies including marketing and innovation as well as philanthropy to respond to the increase in violence?

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    About Us
    We are a global community of people, companies and organisations passionate about building an equitable and resilient future.

    We believe in the power of business to help improve the lives, livelihoods and learning opportunities of the most vulnerable people and communities.

    We know that driving system-level change for a better future requires people to unite across traditional divides and come together in fresh and creative ways.

    We curate purposeful collaboration to help companies and their partners access the insights and relationships they need to unlock new opportunities for business and social impact.

    Join us. We are Business Fights Poverty.


    Business Fights Poverty is proud to be a Founding UK B Corp.

    © 2022 Business Fights Poverty. The Business Fights Poverty logo and tree device are registered trademarks. View Terms and Conditions.
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