Empowering Women by Investing in Education

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Yesterday, the Foundation for Social Change and the UN Office for Partnerships kicked off the second annual Global Conference for Social Change with a Women and Girls Education Summit. The Summit featured several programs across the world for educating and empowering females.

Louise Guide, Founder and CEO of the Foundation for Social Change, explained, “The idea is about driving social progress through education for women and girls.”

Guido explained that by educating disadvantaged girls and women, organizations can empower entire communities – that when you educate women, you create a multiplier effect, whereby knowledge and skills are reinvested in families and neighborhoods.

The Foundation recently launched its own initiative, eLife, an education program for girls in Columbia. It is also partnering with Nokia to launch three new mobile applications for women in developing regions: Smart Women (for business owners), Parenting Skills, and Job Training.

Amir Dossal, Founder and Chairman of the UN Global Partnerships Forum said, “Innovation only comes when you work together. You can have great ideas but you can’t implement them unless you partner with someone.”

The conference highlighted the partnerships between nonprofit organizations and corporations to empower communities by investing in girls and women.

Investing in Girls and Women

Patricia Velasquez, Founder of the Wayuu Taya Foundation, a group that provides schools for indigenous Wayuu children in Venezuela and Colombia, explained that the group’s goal is to empower women and sustain the group’s indigenous culture.

In order to sustain its community, the organization sells hand-woven bags by the women in the culture through high-end retailers in the US. In order to get paid for the bags (which take 20 eight-hour days to complete) the women must enroll in courses in the school as well.

Velasquez explained, “The idea is that if you can empower the self esteem of a woman ever since she can walk, it is what will drive a community.”

She explained that ensuring the program is sustainable is key to its success. “Charity – giving money – doesn’t work anymore. It has to be – and it can be… sustainability. It is the true form of charity. It is what empowers people and makes them proud of who they are.”

If people are proud of themselves and of their achievements, they will invest their skills and energy in sustaining their community. She added, “It all boils down to happiness. It’s the most basic thing.”

Empowering Women Externally and Internally?

Next Nicolette van Exel, Director of Global Social Innovation Partnerships at SAP discussed why the company has partnered with the Foundation for Social Change on the eLife program. She said that the company partnered with the Foundation because it wanted to find a way to invest in girls, rather than just giving money to a cause, but as a strategic program.

First of all, she said, it was a good pilot location. Colombia, where the project has been rolled out initially is not currently a hot market for SAP, she said – and actually, that’s one thing that drew the company to the project. The company wanted to see how a program like this would work before rolling it out in areas that SAP is eying for growth, like Brazil.

Second of all, she continued, just because Colombia is not currently a hot market for SAP, it could be. “I do think it makes business sense. We are providing entrepreneurial education. We are investing in future talent, future leaders of companies in areas where we will operate.”

As a business to business technology provider, this is exactly the kind of outreach that will help the company in the long run, she added. “As a B2B technology company, our biggest impact is providing technology to people in a very scalable way.”

Next, van Exel talked about how the program is helping drive change within the organization itself – by instilling the value of empowering women within the organization’s culture.

Discussion moderator Diane Brady from Bloomberg Businessweek pointed out that despite these intentions, only 16% of SAP’s senior management is female.

“It’s an ongoing process,” responded van Exel. “But by investing in these initiatives, it’s fueling a conversation.”