Empower Co. helps companies assess and better integrate their gender impacts.

Empowering Women within Global Supply Chains


Businesses are increasingly being held accountable for their impacts across global supply chains. Empower Co. partners with leading brands to evaluate their impacts through a gender lens, illuminating the unique challenges facing women in their supply chains. Our consulting services provide in-depth feasibility studies to identify opportunities for enhancing women’s power and well-being, both at work and within their communities.

Through our research, we assess the complex issues affecting women and offer tailored recommendations for initiatives that will drive meaningful impact. Whether expanding existing efforts or creating new programs, we develop comprehensive action plans, including phased approaches with timelines, and connections to trusted local partners for seamless implementation.

For companies looking to deepen their commitment to gender equity, we also offer management services to ensure successful execution of these initiatives, with quantifiable results measured with globally recognized standards such as the W+ Standard. Our approach helps brands not only uplift the women in their supply chains, but also align with global best practices for sustainability and social responsibility.

Framing a Company's Gender Footprint

Morgan Stanley’s framework offers a way to evaluate a company’s gender footprint, analogous to a carbon model. Scope 1 gender issues inside the company are relatively easy to track, but Scopes 2 and 3 have the potential to impact many more women globally.

  • Gender issues often disclosed and/or required by regulation: Women represented on boards, policies on parental leave and flexible working, disclosure on gender pay gap.

  • Gender issues established from company disclosure or specialist providers: Women-owned businesses in supply chain, forced or child labor in supply chain, gender-based controversies.

  • Not typically considered, but impacts a much larger number of women globally: Impact on water security or sanitation, loss of farming land, carbon emissions.

Climate change and gender equity are both high-priority areas of sustainable investment for companies and investors, according to the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing’s latest report — but few understand how closely interrelated the two issues are.

To reach the scale required for fast climate results, we can’t exclude the knowledge, skills, and networks of women by neglecting their contributions to tackling climate change, nor can we ignore the threats climate change poses to global gains in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.

By addressing gender and climate jointly, we can amplify the positive impacts of both.

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