Investing in equality

SM Supermalls, together with the UN Women and the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), last Friday kicked off its month-long celebration of Women’s Month by holding a whole day conference on International Women’s Day with the theme “Investing in Equality toward Gender-Inclusive Prosperity.”

The morning session featured government and international speakers from PCW, UN Women, the Australian and Canadian Embassies, the International Labor Organization and the Asian Development Bank to talk about what they have been doing for women’s welfare and prosperity.

Sen. Loren Legarda, the keynote speaker, talked about the various bills she has filed in the Senate toward ensuring women’s rights and advocacies.

The afternoon session featured Singapore-based keynote speaker Leanne Robers, founder of She Loves Tech, a small and medium womens’ business accelerator and inspiration speaker.

A key takeaway from the morning session was best summed up by Australian Ambassador Hae Kyong Yu who emphasized the need to “putting your money where your mouth is,” stressing the need to not only provide solid and tangible financing for women entrepreneurs and for funding programs and businesses that directly help and benefit women, but also “putting emotion...putting the effort required... and not just talking about issues...it needs heart and soul.”

Australia, according to Amb. Yu, allocated A$90 million for 2023 to 2024 to address gender equality issues.

Canadian Ambassador David Hartman wholeheartedly agreed with Amb. Yu, citing Canada’s support since 1991 through its work and collaboration with the PCW, and assistance of nearly P2 billion in various programs on reproductive health, and funding for micro, small and medium enterprises – solid proof of “putting our money where our mouth is.”

International Labor Organization Philippine country director Khalid Hassan, for his part, pointed out that one positive aspect for Filipino women is that the Philippines ranks a high No.2 in women in managerial positions.

In support of strong women

Steven Tan, president of SM Supermalls, who helped spearhead the International Women’s Day celebration and conference, expressed the need to honor women, citing as an example his own mother, and SM Investments Corp. vice chairwoman Tessie Sy-Coson as among the “strong and powerful women” who surround him.

His mother, Tan said, imparted to him his values; his female teachers prodded him to become better; and his boss Tessie Sy-Coson, saw his potential.

In turn, Tan said, SM Supermalls is doing its share in providing safe spaces for women in SM malls, making sure that women feel safe and comfortable. Likewise, he pointed out, there is no glass ceiling in the organization, no prejudice on gender. In fact, he noted, about 60 percent of SM employees are women and about 60 percent of managerial positions are held by women.

She Loves Tech

The afternoon session of She Loves Tech co-founder Leanne Robers crystallizes the concept of investing in women, and offers the necessary bridge to securing funding, specifically for women entrepreneurs who are developing technology primarily intended to help address women’s issues.

She Loves Tech, which has been in existence for 10 years, is the world’s largest start up competition and acceleration platform for women and technology. It aims to build a global ecosystem to provide visibility and provide funding opportunities for women in technology.

In an interview, Leanne revealed that She Loves Tech has already raised some $400 million in funding to support female-led starts up that are working on technology to help women or address women issues.

Leanne noted that for women in technology, their approach, as opposed to their male counterparts, is starting with a problem, normally a personal problem, to which they create a technology to address the problem, and as such, the technology is merely a means to an end.

“Technology is not the end, it is what you are solving for,” she points out.

Additionally, Leanne emphasized, “90 percent of what women make goes back to the family.”

She Loves Tech, Leanne explained, has five pillars that include a global start up competition for women, an acceleration program to help women to learn the right tools to grow their venture, fundraising, thought leadership conferences, and lastly, consultancy work with other organizations.