Gender Lens Corporate Archives

Marriott Bonvoy And YouTube Pledge Big To 2022 Gay Games

The 2022 Gay Games in Hong Kong have acquired essential support from both Marriott Bonvoy and YouTube, the new main sponsors.

Marriott Bonvoy and YouTube have pledged Platinum Level support, becoming the main partners and sponsors for the 2022 Gay Games in Hong Kong. (Image credit: Gay Games Hong Kong 2022)

(June, 2021) Gay Games 11 Hong Kong 2022 today announced iconic global brands as their first sponsoring partners. Marriott Bonvoy and YouTube have proudly pledged their Platinum Level support for the Games, the largest inclusive sporting and cultural event of its kind.

“We are proud to be one of the main sponsors for the Gay Games 11,” said Bart Buiring, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Marriott International, Asia Pacific. “With Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio of more than 800 properties and 24 exciting brands across Asia Pacific, our doors are always open to welcome all. This sponsorship is just one way we showcase our long-standing commitment to celebrate diversity and inclusion, inspiring travelers to be their true authentic selves whoever and wherever they are.”

New P.E.A.R.L. Pledge Program to Empower Black Women

Pearl Milling Company has launched a multi-year program, P.E.A.R.L. Pledge, to empower black women and girls across the U.S.

P.E.A.R.L. Pledge will award $1M in grants to nonprofit organizations this year to kick-off the launch of the program. (Image credit: Pearl Milling Company)

Pearl Milling Company, maker of the 132-year-old pancake mix and syrup products previously found under the Aunt Jemima name, announced its community funding initiative as part of the brand’s commitment to support the Black community. P.E.A.R.L. Pledge is a multi-year program focused on championing the empowerment and success of Black women and girls across the country. In its inaugural year, the brand will award $1 million in grants to nonprofit organizations helping to fulfill this mission.

Naomi Osaka’s Play Academy Branches Out to LA and Haiti

Play Academy with Naomi Osaka is expanding to Los Angeles and Haiti to continue to change the lives of girls through play and sport.

Play Academy with Naomi Osaka was launched in 2020 to create real change in the lives of girls. (Image credit: Nike)

Announced in August of 2020, Play Academy with Naomi Osaka was created in partnership with Laureus Sport for Good with the goal to help change young girls’ lives through play and sport. Building on its work in Japan, Play Academy is expanding to Los Angeles and Haiti, collaborating with local sport-based organizations that are helping encourage a new definition of movement for the next generation of girls.

Essential to Play Academy is Osaka’s personal experiences as an athlete, set by a rich transcontinental heritage that has shaped her views on sport, racial and gender equality and mentorship. With a mission so close to her heart, Osaka wanted to champion those causes in communities she knows and is deeply connected to – starting in Japan, where she was born, and continuing to Los Angeles and Haiti, where she currently lives and where her father is from, respectively.

Texas Women’s Fdn Event Spotlights Outstanding Gender Lens Leaders

The Texas Women’s Foundation (TWF) held its Leadership Forum and Awards Celebration on April 29^th, honoring the trailblazing women making a difference for both Texas and the world. From 10 AM to 12 PM, thousands joined in on the virtual celebration, discussions, and moments of gratitude. The event served to highlight how, particularly since COVID, women’s leadership offers particular value and potential.

The celebration honored five Maura Women Helping Women Award recipients and two Young Leader Award recipients. The Maura award enters its 42^nd year with over 200 past honorees who have and are implementing drastic advancement opportunities for women and girls. The Young Leader Award highlights women leaders under 40 who, through their own accomplishments, are shaping the roads of progress for women everywhere.

Norton Ends Publishing Philip Roth Bio, Pledges Six Figures for Survivors

The literary world has been rocked by a recent scandal that impacts funding for women and girls.

Blake Bailey, the authorized biographer for prominent American writer Philip Roth, has been accused of multiple sexual assaults against women. As a result, on Tuesday, April 27, 2021, W. W. Norton announced that it would permanently stop publishing Philip Roth: The Biography and would donate the same amount as Mr. Bailey’s advance on the book (described as a mid six figures amount) to “to organizations that support sexual assault survivors and victims of sexual harassment.”

Blake Bailey’s biography of Philip Roth will no longer be published by Norton, and Norton will donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to support sexual assault survivors. (Image credit: Amazon Books)

From the New York Times:

Mastercard Invests Millions in Venture Capital with Fearless Fund

Fearless Fund, a venture capital fund built to support women of color, has received a huge investment from Mastercard.

Mastercard has made a muti-million dollar investment to Fearless Fund to help black-owned businesses (Image credit: Fearless Fund)

Black women are building and growing businesses faster than any other segment and yet receive less than one percent of venture capital funding. In addition, only three percent of the people actually leading investments at VC firms are Black according to the National Venture Capital Association. To help further access to funding for Black women, Mastercard today announced a multi-million dollar investment in Fearless Fund, a venture capital fund built by women of color for women of color.

How is Bank of America Responding to the Rise in Anti-Asian Hate?

In response to the rise in anti-Asian hate in the U.S., Bank of America has increased its commitment to racial equality to $1.25 billion.

Bank of America announced a $1B commitment over four years in June 2020, but has decided to increase the donation in response to the rise in anti-Asian hate. (Image credit: Bank of America)

Bank of America today announced that it has increased its $1 billion, four-year commitment to advance racial equality and economic opportunity to $1.25 billion over five years. This effort further accelerates work already underway to address racial equality and opportunity through direct actions, investments and work to catalyze similar efforts across the private sector.

PepsiCo Boosts Women Biz Owners, Fights Hunger with New Grants

PepsiCo is popping the tab on a new funding program for women-led small businesses.

Through two of its charitable arms, Food for Good and WomanMade, PepsiCo recently announced the launch of its Food for Good Meal Solutions program, which offers women-led small businesses the resources and scaling strategies necessary to fight childhood hunger.

PepsiCo’s latest charitable initiative takes a multipronged approach: Fighting childhood hunger, supporting women-led small businesses, and providing pandemic relief all at once. (**Image Credit:** PepsiCo)

Supporting two of the food and beverage giant’s social campaigns — Food for Good, which combats childhood hunger, and WomanMade, which supports women-led small businesses in the US — this new campaign connects female entrepreneurs with the funding they need to produce reliable, effective products that will help end childhood hunger.

Fiona McKay: Financial Sector Must Evolve to Prioritize Social Returns

Fiona McKay’s website asks a simple but striking question: What would the world look like if more women controlled the money? It’s a question I often find myself pondering, too, as a social worker, a small businesswoman, a parent, and a gender equality activist.

A person with blonde hair

Description automatically generated with low confidence — Fiona McKay, author of the report, Trailblazing Women in Investment. (Image Credit: Fiona McKay)

McKay isn’t just pondering this profound question, though. She’s actively doing research on the way that gender norms shape our experiences, particularly in the financial sector. She is the author of Trailblazing Women in Investment, a new report that discusses gender lens investing and the barriers that women still face with controlling the money in finance.

Exposé: Which Companies Are Failing the Gender Pay Scorecard?

More than half of the companies received an “F” that were rated on the Arjuna Capital and Proxy Impact “Racial and Gender Pay Scorecard”.

The 4th edition of the "Racial and Gender Pay Scorecard" analyzed the quantitative disclosures of 51 companies worldwide. (Image credit: Arjuna Capital and Proxy Impact) — The 4th edition of the “Racial and Gender Pay Scorecard” analyzed the quantitative disclosures of 51 companies worldwide. (Image credit: Arjuna Capital and Proxy Impact)

Of 51 companies examined in the “Racial and Gender Pay Scorecard” released on March 23rd to mark Equal Pay Day, fewer than one in 10 — Mastercard, Starbucks, Pfizer, Citigroup, and Bank of New York Mellon – get an “A,” while over half (26) get an “F.”

The 4^th edition of the Scorecard is being released by the investment management firm Arjuna Capital and Proxy Impact. The grades are based on quantitative disclosures (versus qualitative assurances) by companies taking concrete steps to close racial and gender pay gaps. The 51 companies in the ranking have all been engaged by investors through the shareholder proposal process and asked to improve their public pay equity disclosures.

Category: Gender Lens Corporate