BSR Insight | Walmart CEO: ‘Holding Women Back Holds Economies Back’
About the Author(s)
Racheal Meiers (née Yeager), Director, HERproject
Publication Date
September 20, 2011
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Last week, Walmart made a US$20 billion commitment to increase sourcing from female-owned U.S. businesses and to double the amount it sources from female-owned businesses globally by 2016. Through a broader initiative, the company will also offer women on farms and in factories training, market access, and career opportunities; provide low-income women with job-skills training and access to higher education; increase the gender diversity among its major suppliers; and grant US$100 million to organizations supporting women’s economic empowerment.
Walmart President and CEO Mike Duke explained why he thinks this is an important step:
“Holding women back holds families back; it holds economies back. … This [commitment] is absolutely the right thing to do, there’s no question about that. But it’s also absolutely the right thing to do for our business.”
–Mike Duke, President and CEO, Walmart Stores, Inc. (September 14, 2011)
For more on this topic, read BSR’s recent work on women and sustainability.
About the Author(s)
Topics
Economic Development, Economic, Social & Cultural Rights, Strategy & Integration, Women & Sustainability
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