Global Women's Economic Empowerment
The Global Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiative is designed to empower women across our global supply chain. For more than a year, the development of the Global Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiative has involved support and insight from leading governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), philanthropic groups and academics to maximize positive impact and program effectiveness.
Like our recent work in sustainability, hunger and healthier foods, this initiative is another step forward in the company’s commitment to improving the lives of our suppliers, associates and customers. With the support of a five year $100M commitment from Walmart and the Walmart Foundation, the Global Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiative will focus on sustained improvement in five core areas: - Increased sourcing from women-owned businesses
Over the next five years, the company will source $20B from women-owned businesses in the U.S. and will double sourcing from women suppliers internationally. In addition, we will implement programs to enhance economic opportunity for 20,000 women entrepreneurs across our retail markets. In emerging markets, we will partner with NGOs and international institutions to educate, train and certify 5,000 women-owned businesses.
- Empower Women on farms and in factories
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 in China, India and Latin America participate more fully in the agriculture supply chain.
- Empower Women through training and education
Successful retail training programs in India and Brazil will be scaled to help 200,000 women internationally. In the U.S., we will help 200,000 women from low-income households gain job skills, access higher education and achieve greater economic security.
- Increase gender diversity among major suppliers
The company will work with major professional service firms and merchandise suppliers with over $1B in sales to increase women and minority representation on Walmart accounts. We will begin with global suppliers and then pursue a country by country strategy. Ultimately, the goal is to lead broader change across the company’s global footprint.
- Make significant philanthropic giving toward women’s economic empowerment
The company will support these programs with more than $100M in grants that drive progress against key goals. Funding will come from the Walmart Foundation and donations directly from Walmart’s international businesses.
This pledge marks a significant step toward increased economic empowerment for women. The Walmart Foundation is proud to support established partners such as CARE, Save the Children, Count Me In, ProMujer, Technoserve and others as we work together to improve the quality of life for women worldwide. We are currently accepting proposals from domestic (U.S.) 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations interested in empowering women through workforce development and/or higher education opportunities at both the state and national levels. For funding details and application resources on state and national giving programs, please follow the links below. Although we are not currently accepting unsolicited proposals for international women’s initiatives, please continue to monitor this space for future funding opportunities.
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