Conference Presentation, Panel
What Would You Do to Make the World Better for Women and Girls? A Conversation and Call to Action
Milken InstituteDiana Taylor, Michael Milken, Willow Bay, Susan McCaw, Shiza Shahid, Malala Yousafzai, Suna Saeed, Patricia Arquette, Helena Morrissey, Holly Gordon, Frida Pinto, Barbara Bush, Princess Rima Bent Bandar Al Saud, Paul Kagame, Faloruncho Alikija, Deborah Birx, Howard Taylor, Cherie Blair, Precious Molloy Motsepe
- Correlation between women's status and societal health: Lower status of women and girls in a society correlates with higher poverty rates, undereducation, elevated mortality rates for mothers/infants, and increased regional conflict (specifically noted in Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Kenya).
- Progress in global education: The percentage of girls worldwide completing elementary school rose from under 60% in 1980 to over 85% today.
- Board representation trends: Recent progress in boardrooms and executive teams is noted in Europe and the United States, though Milken Institute and the 30% Club emphasize that "leaning in" by women is insufficient without companies "leading in."
- Salesforce pay equity action: Salesforce announced a complete audit of its payroll and committed to granting raises to women earning less than men for the same work as part of its "Women's Surge" initiative.
- Salesforce leadership demographics: The company aims to address the fact that 85% of its leadership is male, with a specific goal to ensure women make up at least 30% of attendees at all company meetings, from small reviews to large management gatherings.
- US Wage Gap Statistics:
- White women make 78 cents on the dollar compared to white men.
- African American women make 68 cents on the dollar.
- Latina women make 55 cents on the dollar (dropping to 44 cents in Los Angeles in 2015).
- LGBT women also face significant pay penalties.
- Long-term cost of wage inequality: The wage gap is estimated to cost the typical woman $400,000 over a lifetime, ballooning to $2 million for women with advanced degrees.
- Projected timeline for equity: At the current rate of closure, the US gender wage gap is not projected to close until 2058 or never, affecting a generation of women and children.
- Motherhood penalty vs. Fatherhood bonus:
- Mothers are perceived as 99.7% less competent after having a child, face a 4% salary decrease per child, and are 19% less likely to be promoted.
- Fathers receive a 6% raise per child and are 200% more likely to be in management positions.
- Turnover impact of transparency: Data analytics companies utilizing wage transparency report a 10% turnover rate compared to the industry average of 30–50%.
- UK Board Gender Balance: The percentage of women on FTSE boards in the UK doubled from approximately 12% to 24% in four years since the 30% Club began; there are currently no all-male FTSE boards.
- Factors for accelerating change (UK model):
- Setting measurable goals with timeframes (e.g., 30% representation).
- Establishing a political consensus that the status quo is unacceptable.
- Leadership by those currently in power (primarily men) to drive cultural shifts.
- Collaborative, collective effort rather than isolated action.
- Girl Rising impact: The Girl Rising film has reached over 200 million people in 158 countries, screened over 17,000 times at community events, and secured millions of dollars in commitments for girls' education.
- Girl Rising India expansion: The organization is launching a national campaign in India targeting 750 million people, involving Bollywood partners and local language dubbing to challenge social norms.
- Global Health Corps fellows: The program selects fellows from 11,000 applicants; 63% of the current class are young women, with 90% continuing to work in global health post-program.
- 10KSA Health Campaign: A campaign in Saudi Arabia aims to mobilize 10,000 women on October 24th to form a human ribbon for health awareness, focusing on holistic education including physical, mental, and environmental well-being.
- Rwanda's gender parity achievements: Rwanda is the first country with a parliament majority female (over 50% of the population is female).
- Rwanda economic correlation: The country achieved 7–8% annual economic growth over the last 12 years, attributed directly to the equal participation of women in rebuilding and decision-making.
- Rwanda legal reforms: New laws now allow women to own and inherit property and ensure women are present at all levels of the justice system.
- HIV/AIDS infection rates: 7,000 new HIV infections occur among young women weekly globally; in parts of KwaZulu-Natal, 24.7% of girls aged 20 and 49.7% of pregnant women aged 23–24 are infected.
- PEPFAR DREAMS Initiative: Launched to protect "Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-Free, Mentored, and Safe Women," partnering with the Nike Foundation and Gates Foundation to address the unrelenting infection rates in young women.
- Nike Foundation "Girl Effect": The organization posits that adolescent girls living in extreme poverty represent a massive opportunity rather than a problem, utilizing the "5 plus 1" framework (health, education, safe space, security, voice, rights) to address demand-side barriers.
- Investment return on women: Investing in women results in 90 cents of every dollar being reinvested into the community, compared to 30–40 cents when investing in men.
- Cherie Blair Foundation tools: The foundation utilizes a "Businesswoman app" reaching 100,000 women in Nigeria, Indonesia, and Tanzania, resulting in 80% reporting new business opportunities and 90% reporting new ideas.
- Motsepe Foundation focus: The foundation supports 358 girls in university through science, technology, engineering, medicine, and math fields, and assists women-owned businesses to address the feminization of poverty in Africa.
- Call for male allyship: Multiple speakers emphasized that achieving gender parity requires men to actively challenge misogyny, support women's economic independence, and shift traditional definitions of masculinity.