Business fights Poverty

Gender Summit

2023 Post Event Summary

Online | Nairobi | London

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Coinciding with International Women's Day,

the Business Fights Poverty Gender Summit was the perfect opportunity to come together to share the latest thinking and action around gender equity.

Over the course of the two days, we put on a series of highly interactive webinars and hybrid workshops, featuring world-leading thinkers and practitioners. Together, we explored how to enhance the lives and livelihoods of women around the world, and empower them to thrive.

This is your chance to gain access to the latest insights, with voices from across the globe.

We tackled tough questions like...

Session by session resources

WEDNESDAY 8th March

Watch our panel-led workshop to discover the latest trends and lessons on how to support female entrepreneurs.

PANEL-LED DISCUSSION: ENTERPRISE

Watch our panel-led workshop to discover the latest trends and lessons on how to support female entrepreneurs. Our opening speakers will ignite your creativity, encouraging you to tackle the areas that need addressing. You'll then dive deeper into small breakout rooms with lead table discussants, exploring key questions on how to unlock the potential of female entrepreneurs. With Business Fights Poverty facilitators moderating the session, we'll come back together to share our newest thinking and actions. Don't miss out on discovering how to overcome the hurdles holding female entrepreneurs back!

Opening Speakers: Beatriz Tumoine, Global Social Impact Director, Cemex Maggie Rarieya, Global Partnerships Director, Amref Health Africa Natasha Kwakwa, Global Impact, Global Head, Standard Chartered Bank Jaylan ElShazly, Disruptive Technology acting Lead, Gender and Economic Inclusion Group, IFC Antony Karanja, Co-Founder, OYE Elsie Wandera, Operations Manager, Brands on a Mission

Lead Table Discussants: Sherifatu Mustapha, GESI and Design Coordinator, Ghana, iDE Abigail Musinga, GESI Manager, Zambia, iDE Natalie Vergara, Head Platforms, Mercy Corps Ventures Kathy Tan, Founder & CEO, Amalu Coaching, LLC & partner to Fundación Paraguaya Leanne Melnyk, Head of Impact and Partnerships, Quizrr

Moderator: Zahid Torres-Rahman, CEO, Business Fights Poverty

A Fireside Chat with two social impact pioneers as they share their insights on what it takes to be a successful female entrepreneur.

FIRESIDE CHAT: YOUTH ENTREPRENEURS

Join a Fireside Chat with two social impact pioneers as they share their insights on what it takes to be a successful female entrepreneur. Discover how to get started, build a business, and receive valuable endorsements from other organizations. Get practical advice on how to succeed as an entrepreneur and make a difference in your community. Hear stories about affordable healthcare in Kenya and the positive impact of a global initiative to tackle inequality. Don't miss out on this inspiring discussion about female entrepreneurship and social impact.

Speakers:

Natasha Kwakwa, Global Head of Impact, Standard Chartered Bank

Naom Monari, Founder, Bena Care Lt

Interviewer:

Katie Hyson, Director, Thought Leadership and COO, Business Fights Poverty

A workshop to learn how to manage Scope 3 emissions and integrate a gender lens into your decarbonisation plans.

PANEL-LED DISCUSSION: CLIMATE JUSTICE

Join our workshop to learn how to manage Scope 3 emissions and integrate a gender lens into your decarbonisation plans. Discover what other companies are trialling in this space, and share your own tips and lessons. As part of the co-creation process, your input will help shape a framework that's fit for purpose and truly useful. Don't miss this chance to be part of some truly innovative work and contribute to early thinking around the design of the framework.

Opening Speakers: Emma Cox, Global Climate Leader, PwC Justin White, Manager, Human Rights & Gender Equality, Global Sustainability, Mars Inc Jacqui Machin, Ethics & Sustainability Manager - Climate, John Lewis Partnership Katharine Teague, Head of Advocacy, AB Sugar Ian Michell, Group Technical and Procurement Director, Flamingo Horticulture Investments

Lead Table Discussants: Rachel Cracknell, Climate Change and Environment Lead, Ethical Tea Partnership Hernan Zunino, Social Impact Manager, Latin America, Twinings Peris Ochieng, Ethical Sourcing Manager for Africa, Twinings Franziska Deininger, Gender & Climate Consultant, IFC Alexandra Lockyer, Programme Manager, Work and Opportunities for Women (WOW) Hester Le Roux, Senior Business Advisor, Private Sector Engagement, Care International UK

Moderator:

Zahid Torres-Rahman, Co-Founder and CEO, Business Fights Poverty

THURSDAY 9th March

Discover how businesses can help champion female-led enterprises in this Twitter Space session.

TWITTER SPACE: ENTERPRISE

Discover how businesses can help champion female-led enterprises in this Twitter Space session. Although women-led businesses are increasing, they still only make up 25-35% of all organisations globally due to challenges such as limited access to financing and the inability to own assets. Join us as we examine how global agriculture and other sectors can offer women more opportunities, why it's harmful to exclude men from gender conversations, and how innovation can create a happier and more equal world.

Speakers: Jean Claude Niyomugabo, Co-Founder, Speke Farms  Daniele Fiandaca, Co-Founder, Token Man Tashmia Ismail-Saville, Chief Business Development Officer, Mitacs Ajaita Shah, Founder & CEO, Frontier Markets

Moderator:

Katie Hyson, Director, Thought Leadership and COO, Business Fights Poverty

A thought-provoking Fireside Chat on the critical role of women in vaccination uptake.

FIRESIDE CHAT: VACCINATION EQUITY

Join us for a thought-provoking Fireside Chat on the critical role of women in vaccination uptake. With rates of preventable diseases falling globally, women are essential in ensuring the health and wellbeing of communities. Learn how greater vaccination uptake by women can lead to greater equality and participation in the labour force. We'll discuss how socio-economic factors such as income and education can impact vaccination outcomes, and explore challenges to ensuring gender equity in vaccination. Don't miss this opportunity to explore how we can better support marginalised women to increase vaccination uptake.

Speakers: Rachel Eagan, Researcher, The Vaccine Confidence Project, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Roopa Dhatt, Executive Director, Women in Global Health

Interviewer:

Ciara O’Rourke, Global Public Policy Director – Vaccination Confidence & Equity, MSD

A workshop on developing workplace policies to address gender-based violence (GBV) across multiple markets.

WEBINAR: GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

A workshop on developing workplace policies to address gender-based violence (GBV) across multiple markets. Learn from real-life examples and explore the importance of collaborating with external networks and campaigns. With one in three women experiencing physical or sexual violence during their lifetimes, GBV is a prevalent problem that impacts both employees and businesses. Discover how the workplace can offer unique opportunities to address different forms of GBV and create a safe space for those affected by domestic violence. Don't miss out on this important discussion.

Opening Speakers: Arné Rust, Brand Director, Carling Black Label, Hansa and Lion, Anheuser-Busch InBev Pamela Zaballa, Chief Executive Officer, NO MORE Foundation Ana Inés Alvarez, Executive Director, Avon Foundation, AVON Carly Newman, Project Manager, The Kering Foundation

Moderator:

Jane Pillinger, Visiting senior research fellow at Dept. Social Policy and Criminology, The Open University

MEET SOME OF OUR amazing speakers...

Natalie Vergara

Head Platforms

Head Platforms

Mercy Corps Ventures

Jaylan ElShazly

Disruptive Technology acting Lead, Gender and Economic Inclusion Group

Disruptive Technology acting Lead, Gender and Economic Inclusion Group

IFC

Roopa Dhatt

Executive Director

Executive Director

Women in Global Health

Antony Karanja

Co-Founder

Co-Founder

OYE

Daniele Fiandaca

Co-Founder

Co-Founder

Token Man

Rachel Eagan

Researcher, The Vaccine Confidence Project

Researcher, The Vaccine Confidence Project

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

More Gender Resources

The Equality Institute is undertaking a new initiative looking at the challenges parents face in the workplace, how these challenges differ for mothers versus fathers and other people caring for children, and what employers can do to help overcome them. But we need your help. Please Share your views in this Parents in the Workplace Survey.
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Women micro-entrepreneurs in Nairobi’s informal settlements struggle to get online and access the credit they need. Hand in Hand and Visa Inc.’s groundbreaking ‘acceleration’ programme tackled digital and financial exclusion, boosting participants’ profits by an average of 95%. Lucy Kerei, Programme Manager at Hand in Hand, Eastern Africa, shares how.
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Are you ready to learn from a young female entrepreneur from Ghana and an Africa and Middle East female finance leader from Pakistan who are passionate about the way we approach green tech solutions and improve incomes for smallholder farmers? Then buckle up and tune into this podcast featuring Social Impact Pioneers Audrey S-Darko and Khadija Hashimi
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The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women’s latest research reveals the key challenges, motivations, and opportunities for women entrepreneurs. Here, the Foundation’s CEO, Helen McEachern, shares their key findings and calls on the private sector to take urgent action to support women entrepreneurs and help close the global gender gap in entrepreneurship.
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Coinciding with International Women’s Day, the Business Fights Poverty Gender Summit was the perfect opportunity to come together to share the latest thinking and action around gender equity. Together, we explored how to enhance the lives and livelihoods of women around the world, and empower them to thrive. This is your chance to gain access to the latest insights, with voices from across the globe.
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Listen in to explore the challenges and opportunities surrounding gender equality and women’s empowerment. The conversation goes beyond the standard gender equality rhetoric, peering deeper into some uncomfortable areas of why gender equality is in some cases stalling or reversing.
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