The Role of Business in Empowering Women

The Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) and the United Nations Office for Partnerships, in partnership with the Center for Women in Business, hosted “The Role of Business in Empowering Women” at the United Nations Headquarters on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2012. (Photo Slideshow)  A simultaneous tweet chat took place with hundreds of participants watching online and discussing the event using #CSRwomen.

Video

The full event is available for viewing in the videos below.

Part 1: featuring remarks by Ms. Lakshmi Puri, UN Women; Jane Wurwand, Dermalogica; Pam Flaherty, Citi Foundation; Lauren Bush Lauren, FEED projects; and more

Part 2: featuring Olivia Lazare, Cartier; Sheryl WuDunn, author of Half the Sky; Charlotte Oades, Coca-Cola Company; Renee Kuriyan, Intel; Sarah Thorn, Walmart; and more 

The Forum spotlighted ways the business sector has empowered women globally and the innovative solutions that strategic companies and organizations are creating to bridge the gap between women and their business opportunities.

Photos

Tip: Click the slideshow to begin viewing. To see captions, expand the slideshow window to full size and click "show info" in the upper right corner. 

Topics

• Financial inclusion for women
• Equipping women with skills needed to succeed as an entrepreneur and facilitating entrepreneurial opportunities
• Making supply chains an opportunity to provide pathways for women to participate in commerce while mitigating negative impacts on women and their communities
• To identify areas where business can further equip women for success particularly in the above listed areas
• To identify the barriers to progress in these areas of development and discuss potential mitigation strategies particularly identifying areas where collaboration between sectors could aid those mitigation strategies

Speakers include:

• Lauren Bush Lauren, Founder, FEED
• Nadereh Chamlou, Senior Advisor to the Chief Economist of Middle East and North Africa, World Bank
• David Chavern, Chief Operating Office, US Chamber of Commerce
• Pam Flaherty, CEO, Citi Foundation
• Conor French, COO, Indego Africa
• Renee Kuriyan, Director of Social Impact, Corporate Responsibility Office, Intel Corporation
• Olivia Lazare, Project Leader Cartier Women's Initiative Awards
• Al Martinez Fonts, Executive Vice President, United States Chamber of Commerce
• Charlotte Oades, Global Director, Women's Economic Empowerment, The Coca-Cola Company
• Lakshmi Puri, Director, Intergovernmental Support and Strategic Partnerships Bureau and Deputy Executive Director, UN Women
• Roland Rich, Executive Director, UN Office of Partnerships
• Andree Simon, President, Women for Women International
• Becky Straw, Chief Adventurist, Adventure Project
• Sarah Thorn, Director of International Trade, Wal-Mart
• Sheryl WuDunn, Author “Half the Sky”
• Jane Wurwand, Founder and Owner, Dermalogica
• Denise Yunkun, Director of Alliance and Acquisition, FedEx

View highlights from the 2011 International Women’s Day Forum.

In partnership with:

Media sponsor: