H&M GROUP

 

The H&M Group launched its first ever STEAM Programme in February 2022, in partnership with not-for-profit charity Stemettes. The programme, which included a STEAM conference, aspires to empower women and non-binary people around the world in the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) fields with a vision to improve the representation of women in STEAM and drive positive global change. It was first launched in the UK and Ireland. and to date, 91 young women have been engaged via the conference. 100% of the attendees surveyed state that their knowledge of STEAM had increased after the panel event. Additionally, 87% of the attendees reported an increase in confidence in STEAM.

 

Following the success of the first initiative, in October 2022, the programme was rolled out in South Africa in partnership with Scifest Africa.  Kickstarted by a conference in Cape Town, 40 female and nonbinary learners between 13 – 16 years  from underrepresented backgrounds were engaged to pursue education and careers within STEAM. Afterwards , Delegates who attended the event reported a greater understanding of TEAM subjects  and stated that they found them to be valuable to the development of society.

 

H&M Group is committed to levelling up the STEAM  playing field and this is the first of many planned STEAM initiatives that aim to inspire underrepresented youth to reach for roles in STEAM.

 

  

YAMAHA MUSIC

 

Yamaha Music launched its social media initiative called ‘Women Who Make Waves’ to empower every woman who faces challenges in the industry and to drive awareness on diversity and inclusion within it.  The platform is designed for female educators and artists to present and share their stories globally to empower women and young girls around the world through Yamaha’s digital communication channels.

The campaign has run in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Saudi Arabia, China, India, Taiwan, South Korea, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Ukraine, Australia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan to date and a total number of 34 educators/artists, from almost 20 countries, have so far joined the project. 

 

WPP

 

WPP launched ‘Unite For Her’ on the 25^thNovember 2022 - International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

 

Unite for Heris a rallying cry for creative industries and marketing professionals to make the world a better, safer space for all women through a series of pledges and briefs. The initiative calls upon brands and agencies to find a way to get sexual harassment, abuse and violence towards women in the metaverse, added to the online safety bill as a criminal offence with a custodial sentence. The series of pin-point briefs address the many widespread factors that contribute to male violence against women, for agencies and clients to tackle.

 

The initiative is being implemented in the UK and has received coverage in IPA, MediaCat and Campaign.

 

 

GLOBANT

Globant has devised a series of programmes and initiatives that empower women and girls in technology and innovation that have been rolled out across their global footprint. Highlighted below are some of the initiatives:

 

 

Women that build: Since 2019, Globant has implemented its ‘Women that Build’ campaign to promote women's inclusion and career growth in the STEAM industry and provide opportunities for all. Through a systemic approach, it considers intersectionality and coherence with a sustainable and dynamic action plan to respond to known and emerging challenges.

The initiative has been implemented in North America, South America, Europe and Asia to date.

Additionally, ‘The Women that Build’ Awards are hosted every year and provide one of the largest, all-encompassing recognitions for women and non-binary people globally in the STEAM industries. This year’s edition garnered 110,000 votes across 47 countries. 

 

She Leads: Designed for women and non-binary people in Globant who want to keep acquiring skills for their career development through mentoring sessions, storytelling workshops, and women's circles. This year, the programme was expanded globally and had 400+ women in leadership participate. 

 

Inspire Garage: This platform seeks to engage talent by encouraging the development of potential, generating spaces to inspire young people towards STEAM education. In 2022 the platform engaged more than 1,500 participants, half of which were women and aged 16+.

 

Code your Future: Originated in 2019 as Globant's scholarship program for people to study technology, today, this program consists of various training opportunities for talent passionate about technology to join the industry. Through partnerships, scholarships, mentorships and professional development opportunities, it has already impacted over 6,400 people globally. More than 3,500 scholarships have been awarded so far, of which over 2,000 were for women and 25% of graduates went on to work at Globant.

 

 

KANTAR

Kantar and Microsoft hosted a live virtual webinar on 1 March 2023, on Zero Discrimination Day, in the run up to the International Women’s Day on 8 March 2023. 

The global virtual live webinar was open to over 30,000 Kantar and Microsoft employees and was broadcast across 100 countries globally (with the option of playback on demand). 

 

The event was focussed on technological innovation for women in line with the theme of International Women’s Day 2023, ‘DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality. The webinar focussed on transforming the STEM industry to drive inclusion for women - with examples of inclusions for LGBT+ women, women of colour and women with disabilities and more. During the event, Kantar's research findings and Microsoft's developments for intersectional inclusion were also shared. 

 

In addition to this, Kantar's Global Pride and Microsoft's GLEAM UK (employee resource groups) have collaborated to inspire and inform global colleagues on how the powerful evolution of technology is improving lives and innovating to be more inclusive, for all. 

 

 

MINDSHARE/GROUPM

 

This research from Mindshare and GroupM unpacks the role of the private sector in protecting the right to bodily autonomy, with a deep focus on the sentiments around privacy, data, and platforms in being a threat to reproductive rights. With data now being leveraged as a potential threat to bodily autonomy rights, this report examines the role of the media ecosystem with platforms, data ethics, and tech on reproductive rights.

 

Half of the U.S. has now lost what the United Nations deems a fundamental human right: bodily autonomy. Mindshare and GroupM debuted industry-first research examining the sentiments of those most impacted by the eroding rights to privacy; and the growing expectation of advertisers to be part of the solution. 

 

The report that was launched in the US at Advertising Week 2022 and received press in Ad Age, Ebony Magazine, and more. It also engaged over 500 people, including executive decision makers at global Fortune 500 companies.

  

 

 

MASTERCARD

 

 

Tap On Phone: The ‘Tap On Phone’ initiative is part of a project which enables Fijian women to accept contactless payments on their phones. Through this endeavour, hundreds of Fijian women-led micro and small businesses will be able to accept digital payments easily and securely on mobile devices, with a new digital payment platform launched by Mastercard, YGAP, an international development organisation, and Fintech Pacific, in partnership with the Australian Government’s Business Partnerships Platform (BPP). The project which commenced recently will be targeting over 400 SMEs over a 3 year period with an ongoing pilot where several women-led businesses are currently undergoing training. 

  

 

Harding Miller Education Foundation Scholarships: Another initiative led by Mastercard is Girls4Tech 2.0 which was originally developed as a proprietary program targeted at girls in secondary school between years 9 and 10 in regional and rural Australia. The program introduces girls to what it might be like to work in the technology industry. The HMEF scholars generally come from a low socioeconomic background, attending schools that may not have the resources to prioritise STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) subjects. By providing them with exposure to a company like Mastercard, the project aims at inspiring young girls to undertake further tertiary study with a future career in STEM. Mastercard currently funds 19 scholars across secondary schools based in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA and NT with an allocated funding of up to AUD 20,000 spread across 4 years from grades 9-12. Since its inception in 2015, the Harding Miller Education Foundation has supported over 1000 girls from 350 Australian public schools. 

  

 

FIRST BANK NIGERIA

First Bank partners with Junior Achievement Nigeria (JA), a non-profit organisation to implement the Future First Programmme which focuses on empowering senior secondary school students with practical business experience under three pillars of financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. 

The JA Company Program teaches senior secondary school students how to start and run their own business, develop a product or service, and market their brand with the support of a volunteer.

Last year, FirstBank sponsored the 2022 National Company of the Year competition themed “Fueling Change Makers” where 12 outstanding student companies participated. Some of the inventions showcased during the competition included a biodegradable sanitary pad for women developed by the ‘Green Apex’ student company from International School, University of Lagos. The ‘All Girls De Perficient’ student company from St. John's of God Secondary School, Enugu, developed a Verso bot (a robot) for signal detection and the ’Octagram’ student company from Redeemer’s Int’l Secondary School, Rivers State, showcased a gas detector which alerts users about leakages and honey candy that aids digestion, heals sore throat and reduces cholesterol. 

 

 

VODAFONE FOUNDATION

 

For the observance of International Women’s Day 2023, Vodafone will launch an app and website called ‘Bright Sky’ in the U.S. The platform will provide support and information for anyone concerned about domestic abuse.

 

The app showcases how innovative technology can be used to support survivors of domestic abuse in a safe and discreet way by providing information and advice to them, their friends, family or colleagues on how to spot signs of domestic abuse and source the local support needed.

 

Spotting the signs of abuse and knowing how to help can be daunting. Bright Sky was created to provide discreet support to those who need it. By using simple and innovative technology, survivors, friends, colleagues and professionals are empowered through education and practical information to better understand what could be happening and the support that is available to them. With just a couple of clicks, users can find specialist help via a nationwide support directory. In the U.S., on average nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner. The launch of the app will now give over 165 million women access to the support they may need.

 

The app has already been launched in markets in Europe, UK, Africa and New Zealand.

 

Bright Sky is one part of a larger portfolio of apps created by Vodafone Foundation that has connected over 1.8 million people affected by domestic violence and abuse to advice, support and education. 

 

In 2022, the Foundation launched the ‘It’s Not Nothing’ campaign, to raise awareness of the signs of coercive control and direct people to the Bright Sky app and website as a source of help and support. The campaign went live in 11 countries and reached 17.1 million women, leading to a 244% increase in Bright Sky app downloads/website visits. 

 

In 2021, the Foundation commissioned research ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, that found that a third of workers experienced domestic abuse during the previous 12 months, with more than half of those saying that abuse had increased during the COVID-19 pandemic - Vodafone Foundation launched a global summit ‘Connecting to End Domestic Violence’ in partnership with NoMORE Foundation and the Commonwealth which brought together leaders from the government, civil society and the private sector to discuss the critical next steps to accelerate the global response. Speakers included Patricia Scotland, Secretary General of the Commonwealth and former UK Prime Minister Rt Hon Theresa May MP. 

 

The Foundation was elected winner of British Romanian Chamber of Commerce Effect award in Romania as well as of EUCPN 2022 in Czech Republic.