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Last week it seemed as if Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, was all over the media, including a segment on NPR in which she discussed how the percentages of women in top executive positions and board rooms has remained static for the last ten years. When I heard this, I couldn’t help but be surprised. This seemed counter intuitive to me as I read through the impressive list of women who attended Saatchi S’s Women in Sustainability event, and thought back to an article I’d recently read in Fast Company outlining the basic fact that “companies with more women on boards and in leadership positions outperform, financially and otherwise, companies with fewer women.”
In general, women have proven to be excellent keepers, growers and investors of money. Even when we look to developing countries, organizations such as the World Health Organization have found that investing in women and girls reaps positive returns not only for their health and well-being, but also that of society. In fact, gender equality is a major determinant of health and is acknowledged as a means of achieving optimum health worldwide.
Aside from the fact that women working at home (most often unpaid) account for one-third of the world’s GDP, research has shown that extending credit to women increases household consumption about twice as much as credit extended to men.
These facts have not gone unnoticed. Major corporations, foundations and non-profit organizations have declared their support and understanding of the importance of investing in women time and time again. From Coca-Cola's 5by20 initiative, dedicated to empowering 5 million women entrepreneurs by 2020, to the creation of UN Women in 2010, to organizations like Africa Schools of Kenya, which is working to bring education to a small Kenyan village, these facts are making waves in the philanthropic world.
Investing in women’s education is not something that should be left to businesses and organizations, though. We all can do our part to support women’s education. The first step is to get educated. I invite you visit a site like Kiva, Africa Schools of Kenya, or simply to google “invest in women” or "women's education" and learn about the various causes and organizations that pop up. The next step is up to you.
