WHAT CAN BUSINESS DO FOR WOMEN AND WHAT CAN WOMEN DO FOR BUSINESS:

A Perspective from and for the Base of the Pyramid to Enhance Economic Opportunities for Women and Accelerate the Realization of the SDGs.

Tuesday 13th February 2018, 4:00-5:00 pm Istanbul time (GMT+3)

Women’s Economic Empowerment: Measuring Inclusive Business Impact

Dr Catherine Dolan, Reader in Anthropology at SOAS, University of London, Visiting Scholar at Saïd Business School
Diana Gutierrez, Global Programme Manager, Gender Equality Seal for Private Sector Global at UNDP
Anuj Mehra, Managing Director at Mahindra Rural Housing Finance Limited, India
Vava Angwenyi, Founder, Vava Coffee LTD, Kenya

Moderated by Nazila Vali, Knowledge and Partnerships Lead, Business Call to Action at UNDP

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Gender inequality and the process of empowerment are both dynamic and complex; as are the market systems in which women work. Monitoring and evaluation systems must be consistently updated and adapted in line with the changing needs of women to effectively address the market constraints they face and the positive impact of their empowerment on business growth. This requires a carefully designed measurement system that captures data on women’s economic empowerment from multiple perspectives and sources.

This last webinar will explore practices in measuring women’s economic empowerment from a business perspective. It will look at the most successful ways to develop innovative metrics sensitive to the special constraints on women as well as how to capture gender norms and gendered behavior changes at the firm and household level. It will attempt to respond to the following questions: How do we effectively capture women’s economic empowerment from a business perspective? What are some of the challenges businesses face in designing the adequate framework to measure women’s economic empowerment and how can we overcome them?

This webinar is the third and last in BCtA’s new webinar series featuring presentations and discussions with key experts who have helped to empower women at the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) market through their research, products or services development, policy or advocacy work. This is a unique chance to engage on both conceptual and practical issues around women’s economic empowerment for the BOP market.

The initiative is built on the recognition that there is a documented business case for the private sector to actively engage women as consumers, producers, suppliers, distributors of goods and services or employees. Women’s empowerment is a prerequisite, as much as it is an outcome, for achieving all the SDGs. Our webinars will demonstrate that businesses can be profitable and contribute to a company’s overall objectives while also helping to serve the interests of women at the BOP.

Webinar discussions will feed into an insight report that will provide a comprehensive knowledge base to better understand the needs of BOP women at the BOP, thus informing and improving future programme and product design.

About the Presenters

Dr Catherine Dolan, Reader in Anthropology at SOAS, University of London, Visiting Scholar at Saïd Business School.
Dr. Catherine Dolan is on the faculty of anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, and holds fellowships at the Said Business School, James Martin Institute, and Green Templeton College, all at University of Oxford. She is an anthropologist specializing in markets, gender equity and poverty reduction, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Her current research focuses on how the private sector can contribute to women’s economic empowerment through opportunities for entrepreneurship, decent work and improved access to assets. Over the past 15 years she has directed and researched interdisciplinary programs on women and economic empowerment in over 10 African countries, with a primary emphasis on eastern Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania). During this time she has worked with multinational companies (Avon, Proctor & Gamble, BATA, Unilever, Walmart, Danone and Mars), NGOs, and governments on programs designed to help women economically, and has served as a senior consultant to the World Bank, DFID, USAID, UNICEF and UN Women. She is also She is a founding member of the Oxford Food Governance Group and the Centre for New Economies of Development, a UK-based consortium that critically examines the implications of market-centered paradigms for development. Her publications and research has been widely covered in the press, including the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Guardian, the Sunday Times, the BBC, Voice of America, Harvard Business Review, and Forbes magazine.

Dr Dolan’s profile is available on the Said Business School website.

Diana Gutierrez, Global Programme Manager, Gender Equality Seal for Private Sector Global at UNDP
Diana is based out of UNDP’s Regional Hub for Latin American and the Caribbean. She holds over a decade of experience with the United Nations including UNDP in Colombia as the Inclusive Economic Development Project Manager, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as Expert in Project Formulation and Finances in the design and implementation of the Colombia’s Food Security Observatory and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), as Economic Adviser for the M&E system of alternative development programs. Diana is passionate about finding innovative solutions to address poverty and inequality, focusing on economic development, private sector engagement, gender equality, financial inclusion, shared value building, social and entrepreneurial innovation, as the means to achieve human development with equality and opportunities for all. Diana holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Poverty Reduction and Development Management from the University of Birmingham, a postgraduate diploma in International Cooperation and Development Projects Management and a BA in Finances and International Relations from Columbia University and Universidad Externado de Colombia.

Anuj Mehra, Managing Director at Mahindra Rural Housing Finance Limited, India
Anuj Mehra is the Managing Director of Mahindra Rural Housing Finance Limited (MRHFL), which is in the business of housing finance loans. With a well-rounded experience across functional areas and over 16 years of experience in the Financial Services Sector, Mr. Mehra began his journey with Mahindra Rural Housing Finance Limited as the Chief Executive Officer in 2007. Holding a B.A. Hons. (Economics) from Delhi University, Mr. Mehra completed his post-graduation from Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad in 1982. He began his career with Lakme Limited (in Sales and Marketing) for around 7 years before taking over as the All India Sales Manager of the Pharmaceutical division of Lakme Limited for a short while. He then made his entry into the Financial Services sector when he joined ITC Classic Finance Limited where, during his tenure with the company, he worked as Regional Manager, General Manager (West) and Assistant Vice-President. He has also worked at the 20th Century Finance Corporation as the Vice-President, and at the Centurion Bank Limited,where he successfully handled various challenging job responsibilities. He then joined Mahindra Gesco Developers Limited where he handled their Marketing portfolio.

Follow him on Twitter: @mehranuj

Vava Angwenyi, Founder & Chief Coffaholic ‎Vava Coffee LTD, Kenya
In 2009, Vava Angwenyi started VAVA COFFEE – a Social enterprise whose main aim is to contribute to better future prospects for local communities and the coffee industry as a whole. The company ensures sustainable livelihoods for the people and communities in which it works. Vava is a CQI trained and qualified Q grader she was part of the 2015 African Women's Entrepreneurship Program, a prestigious Department of State-sponsored program coordinated in conjunction with African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) and International Visitors Leadership Program. Vava holds a Masters degree in International Finance and Management from University of Groningen as well as Certificate in Global Asset Management from Warrington College of Business, University of Florida and a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics & Actuarial Science from University of Western Ontario, Canada. Vava’s vision is to challenge the status quo and promote positive social disruption within the Coffee industry. This vision comes from an inborn Kenyan passion for coffee and a drive to promote the sustainable production of coffee within Kenya’s and the wider East African region by tracing the production of high quality coffee beans to the independent smallholder coffee farmer, who works day in and day out, against major obstacles and with meager resources to produce some of the world’s best tasting coffees, often without an understanding or appreciation of the final fruits of their labor.

Follow her on Twitter: @VavaCoffeeKenya

Nazila Vali, Knowledge and Partnerships Lead, Business Call to Action at UNDP
Nazila leads the Knowledge and Partnerships work for the Business Call to Action. Before joining BCtA, Nazila worked on regional economic integration, agricultural value chain development, youth entrepreneurship, and SMEs development projects with the UNDP International Center for Private Sector in Development and the Private Sector AFIM Unit at the UNDP Regional Centre for Africa. Nazila also worked as an Economist and Project Coordinator with Coffey International Development, a leading UK-based consulting firm that focuses on coordinating and managing donor funded projects in developing countries globally. She supported the management of multiple M4P (Making Markets Work for the Poor) Private Sector Development Projects. Previously, Nazila worked with the UNDP Kenya Country Office on governance reforms, civic and voter education and youth and women empowerment. Nazila holds a BA in Economics and International Relations from the University of Geneva and an MSc in Development Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

Follow her on Twitter: @NazilaVa

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