On October 15th, Foreign Policy Magazine hosted the HerPower Summit. This inaugural global women’s summit highlighted female change agents and explored gender equity as a catalyzing force for stronger democracies, economies, and communities. I participated on the panel “Women as Change Agents – Building More Inclusive Industries” with Chemonics CEO Susanna Mudge and Kathryn Kaufman, Managing Director for Global Women’s Initiatives at Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

This session examined the positive impact of women across traditionally male-dominated industries. Many legacy industries have significant social, health, and/or environmental impacts that are under growing pressure for legal compliance, sustainability, and business model transformation. Panelists called for institutional change and greater support for women across the value chain, the collection of more and better data on how women are key to industry transformation, and the collaboration of diverse stakeholders across all sectors to harness the power of the private sector for greater global sustainable development.