THE ROADMAP TO PURSUE GENDER EQUALITY IN THE WORKPLACE

Outreach Initiatives and Partnerships

Outreach initiatives and partnerships can create a multiplier effect that accelerates gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The private sector can drive gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment through outreach initiatives and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. Organizations can support external stakeholders that are working directly to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in communities, countries, and internationally. Also, organizations can establish a gender-responsive lens to their outreach initiatives, partnerships, or CSR programs to ensure that these agreements do not negatively impact any gender or social group.

Outreach initiatives that address or are responsive to gender equality can provide the following benefits:¹

Build a sustainable social licence to operate and enhance reputation
Mitigate risks and strengthen investor confidence
Support larger commitments towards sustainable development and human rights goals
Strengthen families, community, and local development outcomes in the areas they serve

Similarly, partnerships can provide the following benefits to their parties:

Create a multiplier effect that accelerates progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment
Create synergy (e.g. less duplication of efforts, lower cost, more impact) among gender-responsive initiatives to reflect community priorities, as well as the diversity within these groups
Improve private sector understanding of the challenges that local women and girls face to guarantee that community investments are used effectively and are equitably distributed
Support the implementation of corporate gender equality efforts when internal resources are not sufficient to achieve the best results (e.g. know-how, cost savings, human capital, enhanced innovation)

Success Factors for Outreach Initiatives and Partnerships

Address the needs and priorities of the communities in which you operate by considering a broad range of social, economic, cultural, and political challenges when designing outreach initiatives.²
Avoid confusing gender equality with a corporate social responsibility program but utilize corporate social responsibility to advance gender equality in society. An organization’s internal approach to workplace gender equality must be a business priority and be embedded into organizational objectives.³
Establish a clear mission and ensure partnership due diligence. Incorporate gender-responsive considerations when assessing potential partnerships and strive to understand the motivation and value for each party. Use this knowledge to mobilize the distinctive skills, expertise, and resources from each partner.⁴

Good Practices in the Private Sector

BASF’s outreach initiatives emphasize scientific education and provide children with the opportunity to engage in hands-on learning. The Kids’ Lab offers workshops that expose children to chemistry and interactive scientific experiments, helping to change the stigma around girls and women studying or becoming professionals in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM). Since 2013, over 5,500 students and Indigenous communities in Canada have participated in BASF’s Kids’ Lab workshops during National Chemistry Week.

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP partnered with Women General Counsel Canada (WGCC) to develop successful leadership training programs called “Stepping Up” and “Stepping Beyond.” The “Stepping Up” program is dedicated to increasing the number of women general counsel in Canadian public and private companies, not-for-profit institutions, government entities, and Canadian subsidiaries of multinationals. The “Stepping Beyond” program assists women general counsel who want to expand or step beyond their role as general counsel. This industry partnership has resulted in annual increases to the number of women in general counsel roles in Canada.

CAE is working to advance gender equality in a traditionally male-dominated industry by examining and improving the STEM pipeline and pilot careers for women. CAE launched the CAE Women in Flight scholarship program which provides aspiring women pilots with full scholarships to one of CAE’s cadet pilot training programs and a job with participating airlines following successful completion of the program. Currently, women comprise less than 5 percent of pilots worldwide and CAE’s program is helping to increase the number of women pilots and create more role models to inspire future women pilots.

Recommendations for Outreach Initiatives and Partnerships

Assess your organization’s community outreach/CSR activities and partnerships to determine if gender equality is an explicit theme and if any gender suffers negative impacts from them. Consider recruiting an independent expert if you lack specific expertise.
Integrate gender as a priority in the design of outreach/CSR strategies. Collect data to reflect gender-related differences and target specific challenges faced by intersectional women.
Look for opportunities to link your outreach initiatives to economic development and social empowerment activities for women. Examples include scholarships and apprenticeships and supporting programs that assist women in male-dominated industries, as entrepreneurs or as leaders.
Consider the talent gap in your industry to fund or partner with external stakeholders working to enhance skills for women and girls as well as men and boys. For example, technical skills for women in male-dominated industries, or training for men in female-dominate industries.
Collaborate with expert organizations, government, or community leaders committed to gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment to assist your internal pursuit of gender equality.
Formalize and establish good governance in partnership agreements. Set accountability measures, and measure and evaluate the impact of your partnerships on an ongoing basis.
Integrate gender considerations into social impact assessment, baseline communities’ assessment, and social risk assessment.

Good Practices in the Private Sector

IKEA is taking a proactive approach to support women and reduce gender disparities. The project DISHA, enables underprivileged women in India to learn employable skills and find work opportunities, so that they, their families, and future generations can have better lives. IKEA Retail India plans to recruit 150 women via DISHA for various co-worker positions at IKEA Hyderabad, with the aim of all future store locations in India participating in this initiative.

Scotiabank is empowering women in their communities through The Scotiabank Women Initiative, a comprehensive program supporting women-led, women-owned businesses in Canada through three key pillars: access to capital, mentorship, and education. The program is designed to challenge stereotypes, raise awareness of unconscious bias, address systemic areas in financial services that impact the growth potential of women-led businesses, and help women take their businesses to the next level through a range of tailored offerings. The Initiative has committed to deploy $3 billion in capital to women-led businesses over three years and engage more than 1,500 women through UnMentorship Boot Camps™ and group mentorship sessions that explore business issues relevant to women and “un-teach” traditional ideas about how to succeed.

Starbucks’ Foundation is furthering gender equality through 11 different global outreach initiatives, including a partnership with Days for Girls International in Rwanda. This project aims to build the leadership and income-earning potential of women farmers by improving access to community health education training, entrepreneurial opportunities, and washable menstrual supplies. In addition, the project has introduced a training and mentorship program for women to become health educators in their communities. By 2025, Starbucks hopes to empower 250,000 women in origin countries.

Assess Your Organization’s Outreach Initiatives and Partnerships

To what extent is gender equality and women’s empowerment part of your corporate social responsibility (CSR), outreach, or community initiatives?
Does your organization fund or partner with organizations working to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment?
Has your organization assessed how its corporate social responsibility (CSR), outreach, or community initiatives may impact each gender differently?
Has your organization assessed how its partnerships may impact each gender differently?
Does your organization collaborate with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments, suppliers, or community leaders to support its gender equality efforts?

Resources for Outreach Initiatives and Partnerships

Name	Source	Type	Target Area	Goals	Target Unit	Summary
Using CSR and Philanthropy to Close the Gender Gap in Tech	Reboot Representation	RReport	Gender-Responsive Outreach	Improve the gender diversity of the pipeline through more gender-sensitive corporate responsibility investments.	HR, D&I, CSR, Community Outreach	Read summary here
Why Gender Matters: A Resource Guide for Integrating Gender Considerations into Communities Work at Rio Tinto	Rio Tinto	RReport	Gender-Responsive Outreach	Incorporate gender and diversity considerations within community engagement programs specific to the mining industry.	CSR, Community Outreach	Read summary here
Unlocking Opportunities for Women and Business: Women and Community Engagement	IFC	RReport	Gender-Responsive Outreach	Incorporate gender equality within community engagement initiatives and implement monitoring systems.	CSR, Community Outreach	Read summary here
Strengthening Women's Rights Organizations Through International Assistance	MATCH International Women's Fund, Nobel Women's Initiative, Global Affairs Canada	RReport	Partnership Success	Obtain key learnings and recommendations that can help support women’s organizations and improve any existing relationships with those organizations.	CSR, Community Outreach	Read summary here
Partnering and Partnership: Lessons Learned	Devonshire Initiative	RReport	Partnership Success	Ensure that cross-sector partnerships are strong in communication, due diligence, and evaluation.	D&I, CSR, Community Outreach	Read summary here
Partnering for Parity: Strengthening Collaborations for Gender Equality	McKinsey & Company	AArticle	Partnership Success	Recognize the pitfalls of cross-sector partnerships and address them to ensure long-term success.	CSR, Community Outreach	Read summary here
Build Sustainable Financing and Partnerships for Girls and Women	Women Deliver	WWebpage	Partnership Development	Finance and support women and girls’ empowerment through funding and partnership projects.	CSR, Community Outreach	Read summary here
International Labour Organization and Public-Private Partnerships	International Labour Organization	WWebpage	Partnership Development	Learn about current cross-sector partnerships that focus on various topics, such as child labour, supply chain, and microfinance.	CSR, Community Outreach	Read summary here
List of Organizations that Support Gender Equality and Women and Girls’ Empowerment	Various organizations	LList	Partnership Development	Learn about some organizations that are working in gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment.	D&I, CSR, Community Outreach	Read summary here

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