Big Four firm Ernst & Young announced last week that it has partnered with the U.N. Women’s Global Innovation Coalition for Change with the mission of helping companies identify and implement changes to increase gender equality, especially at the management level.
“[The] launch is about working with companies to ensure that women play a key role as both developers and consumers of technology and innovation," stated Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, under-secretary-general of the United Nations and executive director of U.N. Women. "From mobile banking and blockchain technology, to artificial intelligence and the internet of things, it is vital that women’s ideas, concerns and experiences equally influence the design and implementation of the innovations that shape our future societies.”
The two organizations created five principles designed to enact the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals of growing female leadership numbers, as well as building a more inclusive society as a whole. The five GICC principles are as follows:
- Make a high-level corporate commitment to adopt a gender-responsive approach to innovation.
- Design innovations that include women as end users.
- Implement innovations with consideration of the broader ecosystems that women participate in.
- Evaluate the impact of gender responsive innovations using a data-driven approach.
- Scale innovations that provide sustainable solutions to meet the needs of women and girls.
EY also developed the GICC Action Point Assessment tool with U.N. Women to help businesses track their progress of implementing the GICC principles. The tool helps companies measure their engagement rates and identify key factors to help accelerate change in order to earn a UN Women endorsement.
“EY is proud to be at the forefront of developing the gender innovation principles with UN Women to promote gender equality through innovation," said Steve Krouskos, EY global vice chair— transaction advisory services, in a statement. "Reducing inequality — especially at a time of turbo-charged technological disruption — is a business priority, and the principles provide a platform for businesses to benchmark themselves and work toward better outcomes. As a father and a business leader, I believe we all need to support ways to help build a better working world.”
For more on the principles and GICC members, head to the GICC's
