Walmart Launches Drive to Empower Women

Every business, except perhaps those specializing in football helmets, wants to cultivate women as customers.  Walmart says it wants to go several steps beyond that and empower women as suppliers and  employees.

Walmart President and CEO Mike Duke said the strategy is to use the company’s global size and scale to help empower women across its supply chain.

“Helping more women live better is a defining issue for our business and our world,” said Duke. “We’re stepping up our efforts to help educate, source from and open markets for women around the world. We want women to view us as a retailer that is relevant to them and cares about them. We want them to be leading suppliers, managers and loyal customers.”

1. Increase sourcing from women-owned businesses. Over the next five years, the company will source $20 billion from women-owned businesses in the U.S. and double sourcing from women suppliers internationally.
2. Empower women on farms and in factories through training, market access and career opportunities. New programs will help 60,000 women working in factories that supply products to Walmart and other retailers develop the skills they need to become more active decision-makers in their jobs and for their families. The initiative will also help women farm workers participate more fully in the agriculture supply chain.
3. Empower women through job training and education. Successful retail training programs will be scaled to help 200,000 women internationally. In the U.S., Walmart will help 200,000 women from low-income households gain job skills and access higher education.
4. Increase gender diversity among major suppliers. The company will work with major professional service firms and merchandise suppliers with over $1 billion in sales to increase women and minority representation on Walmart accounts.
5. Make significant philanthropic giving toward women’s economic empowerment. The company will support these programs with more than $100 million in grants that drive progress against key goals. Funding will come from the Walmart Foundation and donations directly from Walmart’s international businesses.

The effort is more fully explained in this company-supplied video: