US and China Announce Partnership to Develop Female Leaders

By Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

In early April, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, along with Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong, announced the launch of the China-U.S. Women’s Leadership Exchange and Dialogue (Women-LEAD) with the hope of increasing dialogue between high-level Chinese and American women leaders and expanding exchanges on gender equality between organizations, think tanks, and universities.

Women-LEAD will be led by the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues and the All China Women’s Federation (ACWF). The initiative was launched just as the U.S. and China completed their second high-level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE). These exchanges have been taking place since the late 1950s, with the goal of enhancing international understanding through educational, cultural, and humanitarian activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences among those of different countries and diverse cultures. During the most recent CPE, teams from the U.S. and China identified more than 40 joint outcomes in the fields of education, science and technology, culture, and women’s issues.

Sharing Knowledge

According to the U.S. Department of State, the key goals of Women-LEAD are to promote the sharing of knowledge and expertise on developing women’s leadership across all sectors – including entrepreneurship, science and technology – and provide support for capacity-building programs for emerging women leaders. A release issued by the U.S. State Department after the CPE meeting stated that facilitating public-private partnerships for women’s empowerment programs will be a key element for achieving Women-LEAD’s objectives.

As a result of the Women-LEAD initiative, a number of “cross-cutting collaborations” are in the works. With the support of corporate leaders in both countries, the United States and China will collaborate to build the capacity of women entrepreneurs, with the likes of Mary Kay, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, and Wal-Mart contributing money to programs in China. The United States will also send a delegation of senior-level women leaders to the International Forum for Women and Sustainable Development in China hosted by ACWF in November 2011.

Bonnie Wong is the president and founder of New York City’s Asian Women in Business, the only Asian business women’s association in the country. Wong often found herself to be the only Asian woman at business conferences and once while attending a conference with 3,000 other women, she counted only three other Asian women in attendance.

So, 15 years ago, she started Asian Women in Business as a way of addressing the needs and issues affecting the business and professional development of Asian Americans. Though the organization has 500 official members, over 5,000 women have attended past events, including their annual Procurement Opportunities Conference for minority women in business.

Wong sees the Women-LEAD initiative as a promising venture, but is quick to point out that the initiative isn’t exactly cutting edge.

“In the past the government has sponsored these types of exchanges with China, so this is nothing new,” Wong said. “The good news is that despite this fact, this is still a win-win situation for both countries. The more communication we have, the better things are. This will provide women in both countries with a better understanding of how to do business, but because they aren’t reinventing the wheel, I hope they reach out to existing programs and give them a chance to be part of the dialogue.”

Program to Help Relieve Tension

The economic situation between the U.S. and China is complicated. The U.S. trade shortfall with China hit a record high of $273 billion last year and many small U.S. business owners feel as if they are in the middle of an economic struggle with China. Major American companies with investments in China refuse to be critical of some of Beijing’s business practices because of the control it has over the U.S. market.

Given the tense business environment, enabling leading Chinese and American business women to exchange ideas and initiatives and better understand each other, as opposed to fighting for economic supremacy, seems like a step in the right direction. According to Wong, business is the great equalizer and no matter who is winning the economic race, Women-LEAD will give women in both countries the opportunity to not only be better, but understand each other better.

“When you talk business with someone or do business with someone, you get to understand them in a new way. Cultural differences, political differences – it all gets put aside because business people are in business to make money and the outcome of something like Women-LEAD can only be positive. You never really know what the business climate is like in another country, so this opportunity for dialogue and the exchange of ideas will only help us better understand each other,” Wong said.