K.T.RAMA RAO: Good morning.
So welcome you back.
Welcome to the City of Pearls.
Welcome to the Land of Biryani.
Welcome to Telangana.
I hope you're
having a great stay.
We had a great
inaugural yesterday.
Ms. Ivanka Trump, Cherie Blair,
Karen Quintos, Chanda Kochhar--
I don't think there could be
a more [INAUDIBLE] of a panel
to begin a day with.
So I am looking forward to
this as much as you all are.
But before we get there,
let me just quickly talk
about the state I represent.
I come from Telangana.
My name is K.T. Rama Rao.
I am the Minister for
Industries, Commerce,
Information Technology,
Urban Development.
I've had the
privilege of serving
as a minister for the
last 3 and 1/2 years
for the youngest state in India.
That is Telangana with
Hyderabad as the capitol.
Now, in the last
3 and 1/2 years,
we've tried to do some things
which are truly unique,
which are truly heartbreaking
when it comes to innovation,
workforce, skilling, et cetera,
which is the theme that we
are going to talk about today.
On the innovation front, as
it was mentioned by Ms. Trump
yesterday, today we have India's
largest technology incubator
in Hyderabad called
the T-Hub, which has
been doing exceedingly well.
And come this time next
year, by this time next year,
we will be having the world's
largest technology incubator
slash startup engine in our own
city of Hyderabad right here.
In fact, innovation
has been a huge driver
in the growth story of Telangana
in the last 3 and 1/2 years.
Our honorable Prime
Minister Shri Narendra Modi,
for the first time
in Indian history,
for the first time in the
history of this country,
talks about start up India.
He realizes the
importance of innovation.
He realizes the
importance of skills.
He talks about start up India.
He talks about skill India.
And he also talks
about how to ensure
that this large
demographic dividend, which
is up for the grab for India--
because more than
50% of our population
is less than the age of 27.
More than 2/3 of India today
is less than the age of 35.
So that goes to tell you India
has the largest think force.
I don't like to
call it workforce.
India today has the largest
think force on the planet.
for any country in the
history of the planet.
As the world is aging,
India is getting younger.
As the world today, the
average age goes high and high.
India is getting
younger and younger.
But that throws up a very
interesting challenge all
the way from Hyderabad and
Telangana on our government
and right up to the
United States and Trump
Administration.
The one big challenge
every government
faces today is employment,
is creation of jobs.
Now, that throws up an
interesting question.
How do we ensure that this
so-called demographic dividend
is completely harnessed, is
leveraged by the governments?
The human capital--
how do we harness it?
How do we ensure that in
this innovation and knowledge
economy, how do we keep going?
And how do we make sure,
most importantly, women--
for whom another
added dimension,
another compounded problem
is the gender discrimination
that is rampant across
the first world,
second world, third world,
respect of which country
you come from.
So we want to talk about all
these innovation, skills.
How do we ensure we create jobs?
How do we also ensure
at the same time
we create more job
creators, a platform
for job creators like T-Hub.
How And how do we also ensure
that for those people who
are seeking
employment, how do we
make sure that they
are adequately skilled?
How do we also ensure
that they keep refreshing
their skills every so often?
So like I said, I have a
[INAUDIBLE] of a panel.
And let me start by using the
full powerful men I have--
four powerful women.
I have never done this
in my life, moderation.
So I'm a little nervous as well.
So you have to, you know, bear
with me for the next one hour.
Let me start with Chanda
Kochhar, the MD and CEO
of India's largest private
sector bank, a woman who's
won multiple awards.
I can go on and on.
But she's been
consistently ranked
among the top 100 most powerful
women by Forbes and Fortune
and the winner of Woodrow
Wilson Award for citizen--
corporate citizenship.
Chanda, thank you.
I think you're here.
Chanda Kochhar,
ladies and gentlemen.
A warm round of
applause, please.
[APPLAUSE]
Next, I'd like to introduce
Karen Quintos, the Chief
Customer Officer of Dell.
The highest ranked
most senior position
held by a woman in
Dell is currently
held by Karen Quintos.
[APPLAUSE]
Karen works very closely
on the board of Dell,
the highest and most
senior-most position,
an executive position
with Michael Dell
and the entire team.
So welcome, Karen.
Next, we have a woman
who is extremely popular,
who's done significant
work, who's
been a tremendous
pillar of support
to a former UK Prime
Minister, Prime Minister
Blair, Cherie Blair
of the Cherie Blair
Foundation for women.
Ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome her
with a warm round of applause.
[APPLAUSE]
As I've mentioned,
I am the Minister
for IT, Government of Telangana.
IT normally stands for
Information Technology.
But for the last one month
and more so in the last one
week, IT also in Hyderabad
means Ivanka Trump.
The lady herself
is here, arguably
the most powerful
woman in the world.
Warm welcome to Ms. Ivanka Trump
with a warm round of applause,
please.
[APPLAUSE]
I didn't know what to
call her, because she
dons multiple responsibilities,
multiple roles.
So I wanted to make sure
we capture this moment.
We have a banker.
We have an advisor to POTUS and
many, many other things also.
We have a lawyer.
And then we have a Chief
Marketing and Chief Customer
Officer.
So welcome, ladies.
And then we can get started.
Thank you very much.
[APPLAUSE]
IVANKA TRUMP: What a group.
Good morning.
MR.RAO: It is a bunch of
really, really energetic people
at 9:00 AM in the morning.
Do you guys need more coffee?
Well, this is a great panel.
Thank you, ladies,
for joining me.
Let me start off by
posing one question.
Let me start with Chanda.
Chanda, you've donned
multiple roles.
You've been rated as one of the
most powerful women in business
by Forbes, by Fortune.
You lead India's largest
private sector bank.
You're among the top 10
most influential business
women in the world.
Let me ask you, what
does it take really
to ensure that you break
through the glass ceiling,
you work through
whatever it is that is
required to make it right to
the top in the corporate world?
CHANDA KOCHHAR:
Well, I think it's
a combination of many things.
It's what you yourself
as a woman desire
and want to achieve.
It's what, you know, the
encouragement and support
that you get from your family.
And it's the entire
ecosystem in the organization
where you build your career.
So let me start with
the ecosystem first.
Because I think,
you know, I was very
fortunate to be part of an
organization that has always
been a merit-oriented
organization.
And that gave all of us
the comfort and confidence
to say that if, even as
women, we put in hard work,
we'll be recognized for
the work that we put in.
We'll be given
the next promotion
or the next responsibility
based on your capability
and will not be
discriminated against just
because you were a woman.
Well, beyond that, I think
it's about the woman himself
or herself in that sense.
Because, you know, I have
seen that women are actually
sometimes even more capable and
more intelligent than the boys
that we recruit.
MR.RAO: I agree.
I completely agree.
MS. KOCHHAR: But
at the same time,
we tend to give up when it's the
most difficult time in our life
stage, which is when we
are starting our families.
I think that is
the time when women
need to decide not to give up.
Because if you do not
give up at that time,
then you're able to
continue full on.
And I can later
talk about what I
see [INAUDIBLE] an
organization has
done about really making
life comfortable for women
at that life stage.
But I think that
is very important.
And I feel that at
that time, you know,
it was I who believed
that I want to do this.
Because it's my desire.
I'm not doing it, because
someone is forcing me to do it.
And I think that conviction
takes you through the period.
But beyond that, I must say
that your family, your larger
family, has to be a part of
your growth and progress.
And it's not, you know,
as mundane as saying
that they're supportive
of what you're doing.
I think that's actually
putting their contribution
in a very mundane manner.
I think what gives the
woman the inspiration
is the joy and pride
that your family feels
in your every step.
And that is the biggest
driver of motivation for me.
MR.RAO: Fantastic, fantastic.
Let me go to Karen quickly.
Karen, Chanda represents
the Indian corporate sector.
She is an Indian woman who's
made it right to the top,
and she's worked
her way through.
How different is it
in the United States?
You've worked, prior to Dell,
at multiple organizations.
And you've been with Dell
for the last 17 years.
As I've mentioned, you are the
top most ranked women in Dell
right now.
How difficult or how easy
is it in the United States
or the first world for a woman
to reach right up to the top
and to do what
you've been doing?
KAREN QUINTOS:
Well, first of all,
I agree with everything that
she said in terms of what
it takes to be successful.
The confidence that
you have to have
in you, and your capabilities,
and what you can do,
and what you can enable I
think has a huge impact.
And I couldn't agree
more on that when
you reach those difficult times
and you feel like giving up,
is when you actually
have to stay the course.
Because as a mother of three,
two of which are daughters,
it's unbelievable how
much of a role model
you can be as a successful
woman in helping
them and their friends and
the larger kind of community
and being successful.
You know, candidly, I'm actually
quite optimistic about what
is happening now in this area.
I think we all agree the numbers
are not moving as fast as they
need to be moving.
But the amount of support that
we are seeing in companies,
CEOs, the White House, various
other public organizations,
and the support around getting
more women into leadership
roles and enabling that, I
think today is remarkable.
So it's still tough.
I mean, it's still a,
you know, environment out
there that is really
conducive to men, candidly.
And I think through a policy
change, through culture change,
through having great
leaders step up
and really want to change the
game when it comes to this,
I'm actually optimistic that
over the next couple of years
we're going to continue
to see some real momentum.
Great Great, great.
We'll go to Cherie, Cherie.
For those of you
who are unaware,
minus the famous surname, she
was a lawyer back in 1976.
She started her own law firm.
And for the first time in
the history of Britain,
she was the first wife
of a Prime Minister
who had her own career.
I think that was the
first time that has ever
happened in British history.
So Cherie, how difficult was
it to be in the limelight
and also to have
your own career?
And I'm sure there must
have been a fallout.
There must have been a few
issues that emanate from it.
So let's talk about it.
And how difficult is it, again,
to be in the spotlight, again,
and to fight it out
through your own career?
CHERIE BLAIR: Well, I
think that, first of all,
one of the reasons I was
the first spouse of a Prime
Minister to actually
have gone to university,
and that includes
Dennis Thatcher who
didn't go to
university, by the way,
is just a generational thing.
My predecessors, if you like,
were of a different generation
where girls, you know,
didn't get educated.
In fact, Dorothy Macmillan,
the wife of Macmillan
the Prime Minister,
actually told her daughter
that she shouldn't
go to university
and stopped her
going to university.
Because she said
all she needed to do
was to know how to
run a household.
So there's a generational
thing and a change
in what we expect from women.
What was it like holding
down a full-time job
as well as being married
to the Prime Minister?
Well, I didn't think after 20
to 25 years in my own career
where I'd work when I had
three children under five, when
I was essentially
supporting my husband as he
went on his political career--
why would I change my job just
because he had changed his?
Now, this did cause--
MR.RAO: Absolutely.
[APPLAUSE]
MS. BLAIR: This did
cause some consternation
in Downing Street.
Because they basically
expected me to be there
to be the hostess and to
support and to be wheeled out
on the occasions
when it was required.
And I did all that, by the way.
But one of the things that
enabled me to carry on
with my career actually was IT.
Because by the time I
got to Downing Street,
I was able to conduct
my business through--
from Downing Street.
So I might be dealing
with my legal papers.
I might be answering client's
queries from my desk.
My client would not
know where I was,
nor would they know that
possibly half an hour
before that I'd
been down greeting
the First Lady of Tanzania
to have tea with her.
Now, I couldn't do
that without IT.
And that made a huge
difference to me.
And it's why, when I
left Downing Street
and I was thinking if IT
makes such a difference
to a fortunate woman
like me, surely
there must be opportunities for
using IT to bring advantages
to women entrepreneurs
across the world.
And that's one of the missions
of my foundation, which
is to help women with what
we see as the three Cs
that they need for growing
their own business.
And the three are-- we've
mentioned one already,
Confidence.
Because too many women are
told what they can't do,
not what they can do.
The second C is Capability,
Capacities, training.
It's-- women, again, don't get
the same access to education
across the world as men do.
Business is partly instinctive.
But partly, it's about knowing
how to run things right,
how to read a spreadsheet,
how to build a business plan,
how to make the right sort of
pitch to get the sort of money
that Chanda will then loan you
whatever capital that you need.
And the third one is
access to Capital.
And capital is a big issue
for women entrepreneurs.
And I know there
must be many of them
in this room that know only
too well that when it comes
to getting the money to grow
and expand your businesses,
it's very hard to
move the needle
to get beyond the
skeptical of the male
officers in the banks who
don't actually really believe
that a woman can
succeed in business.
And so we work with our
women to build those things.
And we do that by
using technology.
And finally, I'd say this.
You know, if we're going to
do anything in this world,
we've got to do
something about men.
[LAUGHTER]
MR.RAO: All right.
MS. BLAIR: Yeah.
That includes you.
Men need to--
[LAUGHTER]
--men need to understand
that women are very coarse.
Men need to understand that
the women do face obstacles
that they don't understand.
And men need to
understand that they
need to do their share as well.
I was recently at the
American Embassy in Delhi
where we'd done a program
with the American Embassy
called We Can.
And I have two of our
women entrepreneurs
who won that competition
are in the room here.
But we had a group of 25
Indian women entrepreneurs
who came to present
their business ideas.
At the same time,
the American Embassy
had invited along
some IT entrepreneurs
that they had been
working with, mainly men.
And the women were talking
about that obstacles.
And yet one of the young men
stood up in the audience, said,
I don't understand what
this woman is talking about.
He says, sometimes when
I go to an interview
or to seek a business,
people ask me
about whether I'm married.
And you know, I don't
find that offensive.
So why are these
women complaining
that they can't get any help and
assistance, because when they
come there all everyone
is asking them about
is whether they're married.
And that just showed-- the
women were very firm with him
about there is a difference.
Because for a man here,
if you say you're married,
people will think, oh,
responsible, not likely--
you know, got responsibilities,
likely to be a good bet.
For a woman here who's looking
for capital incomes and they
say, are you married, and she
says, yes, I am, they think,
oh, difficult-- going to
get pregnant, you know,
got other responsibilities.
So it's a completely
different mindset.
And unless young men, like
the young men in those rooms,
understand that understand the
difficulties that their wives
and their sisters and, yes,
their mothers are experiencing,
then we're never going
to change this dynamic.
MR.RAO: Thank you, Cherie.
In fact, you talked about--
[APPLAUSE]
Cherie talked about three Cs--
Capacity, Confidence, Capital.
I think the fourth C today--
Cherie Blair.
Ivanka, you are advising the
leader of the free world.
You have a unique
opportunity to bring
about a huge drastic
transformation
across the world, especially
from the women's perspective
that Cherie so
eloquently spoke about.
In India, in Telangana,
we do a bunch
of things with the
private sector as well.
We do-- we work with Cisco on
a program called Women Rock-IT.
We also work with Microsoft,
another U.S. company,
in what is called
Girls In Technology.
We also work with
Facebook in what
is called Boost Your Business.
We work with ICICI and a bunch
of private sector players.
My question to you is,
how can a government,
be it the United
States or India or any
of the province in India
or across the world,
how can a government ensure that
we do more in terms of policies
for bringing in more women
into the workforce, ensuring,
that they are skilled?
And also, how can we work with
the private sector ensuring
that we give a larger
share to women, which is
what we've been talking about?
MS. TRUMP: Well, thank you.
And thank you for having me here
today on this remarkable panel.
So much of what was said
was deeply inspiring
and I agree with wholeheartedly.
So one thing I'd just
like to throw out there
is these aren't women's issues.
We're half the population.
So we have to just start
thinking about them
as critical issues,
not women's issues.
So the role of strong male
voices in this conversation,
to Cherie's point, is
very, very important.
Also, going back to something
else you said, Cherie,
I think one of the reasons we're
seeing an explosion of Women's
Entrepreneurship is because
traditional workplaces often
haven't worked for us.
We are disproportionately
providing
unpaid care, while
also needing to support
our families financially.
In the vast majority of American
homes now, all parents work.
So women are working,
supporting their families,
and providing unpaid care.
And often and, you know, after
years and years, generations,
these cultural, social,
work institutions
were not set up
with the assumption
that there would be two
parents in the workforce.
So we just have to
fundamentally change things.
It's starting to happen
in the corporate world,
albeit, typically, at
larger companies, not
smaller companies.
It's a lot harder in
terms of flexibility,
traditionally, for people
in tech and in finance
making more money, not for women
working at the lower income
end of the spectrum.
So I think that's where
government policy comes in.
And we need to start
thinking about ways
to support the modern workforce
and the modern reality
of dual income households.
I think technology is a great
driver of entrepreneurship,
because a lot of women
are leaving and saying,
this doesn't work for me.
And it's emboldening them
to go out on their own.
Technology is reducing barriers
to starting new businesses.
It's creating flexibility
around schedule.
So you can work just
as many hours or more,
but maybe you work some
of them after you've
put your child to sleep
from your living room
or from your kitchen table.
So I think technology offers
tremendous opportunities
to women and women
entrepreneurs.
And we're seeing that in terms
of the explosive global growth
and domestic growth we're
experiencing in the United
States.
But going back to
public policy, I
think it's incredibly important
we have policies that support
the modern working family.
You see in tax
reform the expansion,
the vast expansion, of
the child tax credit,
recognizing the massive
investment parents make
into their families at a time
when wages have stagnated
for so long and
working parents really
need relief, the child and
dependent care tax credit,
tackling the cost of child
care, and the fact that it's not
only inaccessible in large
portions of the country,
particularly in rural
America, but the cost
is enormous to many
American parents.
And they're unable to afford to
provide high quality childcare.
So that's another
issue we're addressing.
So you see some of
that agenda coming
to life through
components of tax reform.
And coming into
the new year, you
will hopefully see it in a
National Paid Family Leave
Program that we're working hard
to build coalitions of support
for.
The President included
it for the first time
ever in his budget this year,
paid family leave maternity,
paternity adoption.
And I'm very encouraged
by that step.
And we'll be working with
Congress to try and pass
what is a long overdue policy.
So that's where you have public
policy and many other things
we're doing.
This is a panel focused on
skills training and workforce
development.
And we're really seeking
to fuel that and make sure
that we have the best
trained next generation
K through 12, rethinking
what we're teaching,
and the alignment of what's
being taught in the classroom
with the jobs available in
the economies into which
the students are graduating,
but also worker retraining
and skills training for older
workers, whose jobs have been
displaced or are looking
for new opportunities
in their own lives as well.
So this is an area we've
been very focused on
and I can talk
about in more detail
if the conversation
takes us there.
But you'd mention
the private sector.
And I can't say how
important this is.
I mean, it's really--
all innovation comes
from the private sector.
That's where it starts.
That's where it
originates in government.
And thank you to
all of you out there
and the incredible
entrepreneurs who
are taking some of the
world's greatest challenges
and obstacles, whether
it's humanitarian aids
or just providing a service
better or reinventing
or inventing a new idea.
So it's incredibly
exciting what you're doing.
But government's role
is to help fuel that,
to eliminate barriers, to create
an environment in which you
can really accomplish your
dreams and your goals.
And we're seeking to
do that domestically.
And I'm very excited
about the work
we're doing internationally
to create opportunities
for entrepreneurs and women
entrepreneurs, especially
in the developing world.
MR. RAO: Fabulous.
In fact, let me compliment
the Trump Administration
on, as you said, as you
put it, long overdue policy
reforms which are in
the [INAUDIBLE] now.
And I do hope
Congress passes it.
And I do hope the Trump
Administration actually
has a huge, huge
victory, especially
in this very important sector.
Chanda, you have a very
ambitious ICICI digital village
outreach program.
You already targeted 11,000
villages across 17 states.
And out of which, you
already created 7,500 women
entrepreneurs.
So what goes into ensuring
that these women entrepreneurs
in these villages from
the rural settings?
How are they empowered?
How do you ensure that--
I'm sure there must be obstacles
in trying to bring them
into the workforce,
I'm sure there
must be lot of challenges.
How do you overcome that?
And how do you also ensure that
they stay on top of their game?
And how do they keep
sustaining what they do?
MS. KOCHHAR: So let me
take this in two parts.
Let me also tell you
what we do at ICICI
to just encourage
women participation
in a large organization.
And then let me tell
you, as our CSR, what
do we do in the villages to
encourage women, you know,
in the rural areas.
So in the organization,
as I mentioned,
we are an absolutely
merit-oriented organization.
And in fact, if
people ask me, do
you have special
policies for women,
we actually do not have
special policies for women.
And I think the
only special thing
that we do is to create that
environment where women feel
confident that it's on
the basis of their merit
that they will rise.
[APPLAUSE]
MR. RAO: Fantastic.
Having said that,
we also realize
that, you know, at
specific life stages,
women need that special care
so that they don't give up.
And I'll just point out
to a couple of policies
that we've started.
So we've started
something called
I Work At Home, where we
allow women, you know,
especially the young
mothers, or even women who
have to take care of
their elderly parents
or parents-in-law, to work
from home for extended period.
And this is not just
about sitting and doing
some data entry in some corner.
But we create a work
environment where,
through the use
of technology, we
have computers linked online
with our banking systems.
We have, you know,
face recognition,
so that we know that it's
only the woman who's working.
We have face recognition to
say that if there's too much
crowd around the women and
children are moving around,
then the computer will shut off.
So in a way, we create a
real working environment
where, over long periods,
people can book from home.
And they do not lose out
on their career progression
if they are working from home.
MR. RAO: Fantastic.
Fabulous.
MS. KOCHHAR: The other thing
that we've started lately
is actually to say
that any mother who's
got a child up to
three years of age
and if mother travels overnight
for office work, we of course
pay for the mother, because
she's going for office work.
But we also pay for
the travel of the child
and the travel of a
caretaker, so that the mother
can take a child [INAUDIBLE].
MR. RAO: Fabulous.
Fabulous.
Chanda--
MS. KOCHHAR: So these
are some of the things
in an organizational
environment.
But coming to our skill
training initiative-- you know,
we've started a
whole skill training
initiative across India.
And through that,
what we've done
is we train those
underprivileged youth
who are not able to
afford higher education.
For that, we've
picked skills which
are actually relevant
for this kind of youth.
So we have about
24 training centers
in urban and semi-urban
areas in the country.
Plus around 500 villages
where we have taken the skills
training initiative.
The training skills
that we've picked
vary from something
like a tractor assembly
and a tractor repair
to electricals
to dress designing,
garmenting, web designing,
and office administration
and selling skills.
And what we have seen is that
as we take these training skills
especially to the
rural areas, we
have more and more young women
joining these training skills.
So I'm very proud
to say that we train
about 100,000 youth every year
and, of that, 55% of women.
MR. RAO: Fantastic.
A big round of applause,
ladies of gentlemen.
More than 55%
MS. TRUMP: That's amazing.
That's amazing.
And this is what we were talking
about before with really so
much of the leadership
happening in the private sector
and government taking these
great programs and fueling them
and really bringing
them to scale.
So you know, some of the most
successful examples of skills
training we've seen
when we've looked
across the globe at various
apprenticeship opportunities
are when government teams up
with industry or government
teams up with technical
schools, community colleges,
creates curriculum.
And then that curriculum
is taught to students.
And then on the other side, they
get a job from a private sector
employer-- so really creating
that ecosystem and making sure
there's an alignment
with the classroom skills
and a curriculum
that will actually
lead to a good paying job.
And a lot of it's outside of the
traditional four year college
track.
I think in America we've come
so focused on the importance
of university that
we've really done
a disservice to a lot of people
who could have had great paying
jobs, who could have gone a
different route, who could have
learned skills and maybe
had skills better suited
to do the work that
they wanted to do
and would have benefited
from technical education
or apprenticeship and
real on-the-job training.
So I think there's a tremendous
opportunity in what you're
describing.
And 100,000 people a
year-- that's amazing.
MR. RAO: That's exactly
what my point was.
MS. KOCHHAR: Thank you.
And since you asked how
do they stay into it--
MR. RAO: Absolutely.
MS. KOCHHAR: So what we
do is we create courses
where the content is such that
it ensures them a livelihood.
What we've done in
the digital villages
is that we've actually
digitized a whole set
of financial payment
systems, so that it becomes
inclusive for people
to actually carry
on their financial
transactions and not
suffer for the lack of
having a bank account
and so on and so forth.
Then we provide--
after providing them
skills, we provide
them credit linkage,
so that these people are able
to get, you know, an ability,
access to credit, so
that they can start
a livelihood of their own.
And we provide them
market linkages.
So we link them.
Either-- if somebody's learned
garment manufacturing, then
we link them to the garment
factories around the village,
so that they get, you know, a
constant source of business.
Or, if somebody has learned
office administration,
we link them to the companies,
so that they get a job.
And therefore,
this 55% women who
are part of this
initiative, almost 95%
are standing on their feet
and earning some livelihood
or the other of their own.
MR. RAO: Brilliant.
Brilliant.
That's a great story.
That's a fantastic story.
MS. KOCHHAR: And what we've
seen is that this gives them
not just an economic confidence,
but it actually gives them
a confidence of investing
back to their families
into their villages.
Because I, again, believe in
this phenomena that, you know,
you say that if you educate a
man, you educate an individual.
But if you educate a woman--
MR. RAO: The entire family.
MS. KOCHHAR: --you
educate a generation.
MR. RAO: Absolutely, generation.
55% plus employment
in the rural economy--
let me go back to you, Karen.
In Dell, you're leading a
couple of very interesting
inclusiveness and
diversity initiatives,
one which is called as Women
In Search of Excellence,
WISE acronym.
And then you also have another
very interesting program
Men Advocating Real
Change, of MARC.
You want to talk
about it a bit more?
MS. QUINTOS: Sure.
I mean, this is an area that
is clearly near and dear to us.
And I'm sure is important
to everyone in the audience.
You know, you asked the
question what our companies need
to do to get more women
into leadership roles
and help with skills.
We launched, a
couple of years ago,
unconscious social
bias training.
The biases that exist
in society today--
Cherie talked about some of
them when it comes to women
and, you know, being married
and those types of things.
They have to be addressed.
Men need to be part of
those conversations.
And that's what we did with the
MARC, Med Advocating for Real
Change training
that we have done.
We have trained nearly
90% of our executives.
We made a goal that we're
going to take it out
to all front line managers
by the end of next year.
It teaches all of us
that we have biases.
And it's how you
respond to those.
And it's what you do to lead
your teams through those
and recognize that the
world is a better place.
Business outcomes are great
when you have diverse thinking
that you can enable.
And corporations are
just better places
when individuals
can come in and feel
that they can be
themselves and really
contribute to the company
and the organization.
We also have a very, very
robust employee resource group.
Our Women In Action
resource group
which is the largest
resource group that we have.
It is 13,000 employees strong.
We have 40 chapters
around the world.
We are using that
employee resource group
to fundamentally help drive
some of the policy changes
around paid time off, around
enabling our flexible work
from home solutions.
We have-- we clearly
see that technology
can enable how women and
men can work from home.
We have sites across Dell where
nearly 50% of the workforce
works from home one or
two days out of the week.
And this has actually
been a huge enabler for us
to hire women back
into the workforce.
that have taken some time
off that have children,
that their children
are getting older.
and they want to come back.
And there is an untapped
potential labor pool
that is out there of women that
have master's degrees, that
have started their
own businesses,
that we are actually
rehiring back at Dell.
And they're continuing to
lead major organizations
and functions for us.
And a lot of that is
enabled through a lot
of these practices.
MR. RAO: No wonder you won the
Working Mother Of The Year 2012
awarded by the mother--
Working Mother Magazine.
Because the work life balance,
I think, you talked about.
So Cherie, going
back to you, when
you launched your
foundation in 2008,
you talked about how women
being a part of the workforce
is going to lead to
stronger economies.
You want to elaborate
a bit on that
and what your
foundation has done
to further the cause
in the last nine years?
MS. BLAIR: Well, I think it--
the frustration
I feel after, you
say we founded the
foundation in 2008,
is that, you know,
all the research
we see all the time shows
that by empowering women,
by women getting engaged
in the economy, that
makes stronger economies.
McKinsey recently
produced a report
which said that the world GDP
would increase by $28 trillion
if women were given equal
access to economic opportunities
that men have.
And yet this year, the World
Economics Forum global gender
gap showed that when it
comes to women's equal access
to economic opportunities,
we've actually gone backwards.
So the dial hasn't gone forward.
It's actually gone backwards.
So what is going on?
Though, clearly, it's not enough
to keep producing evidence that
empowering women
makes a difference.
We've actually got to make
sure that people do something
to implement these things.
Because there are various.
Take-- here we are in India--
amazing country, vibrant,
so much going on.
And yet India has one of
the lowest participations
in the workforce of
women in the world.
MR. RAO: Absolutely.
MS. BLAIR: It is
right down there
with some of the poorest
countries in the world
and does worse, for example,
than countries like Bangladesh.
So only, I think,
it's 27% of women
over the age of 15 participate
in the workforce in India.
And when you look at women
graduates from India,
67% of those do not
go on after graduation
to participate in the economy.
So that is a huge
disadvantage for India.
And if these women were being--
contributing their
talents to the economy,
then the Indian economy
would be doing even better.
So why?
You know, why is that happening?
And we've touched on
some of those things.
And what we have tried
to do with our programs
is to help women get the skills
to get the information that
enables them to break down
some of these barriers.
We talked a little bit--
you mentioned, Karen,
about the women returners.
You know, when we talk
globally about women entering
into the economy,
we then often segue
into girls' education,
which is so important.
But in a world where so
many women get married
very young, if we ignore the
women, as you were saying,
who after they've
had their families--
you know, if you get
married at 15 or even 18,
and you have your
children very young,
you are still very active and
got a lot to give in your 40s
when you are possibly
even a grandmother.
And yet it's very
much more difficult
for women at that level to
repenetrate the job market.
And one of the ways you
can reach these women
is to bring them a skill
training, to give them access
to technology, so you reach
out to them where they are,
whether it's as in Chanda's
program, in the villages.
And we did a great
program with Mann Deshi
in Pune recently where we--
they were already giving
microfinanced loans
to women in the rural areas.
And we added to those loans a
component of business training.
And as a result
of that, we found
that the women not
only got the money,
but they used the
money more wisely.
And therefore, were able to
increase their business skills.
So I just wanted to tell you
the story about one of the women
that I met there who's been
on our training course.
And she was 37.
She already had two
teenage children.
Six years ago, she had--
she was working in her shop.
And she cut off her left
hand on a slicing machine.
Obviously, this was a
huge problem for her.
But she picked herself up.
She came on the
course, got a loan
and, as a result of
the business training,
realized that she needed
to diversify her business.
As a result of that,
it ended up increasing
her income fourfold,
which enabled
her to pay for her daughter, who
she wants to become a doctor,
to stay on at school beyond the
age of 15, which was the age
that she herself got married.
But I asked her to
describe her day for me.
And I just wanted to
share this with you.
So she gets up at 5
o'clock in the morning.
And she then, from
5:00 to 8:00, milks
the 10 cows that she
now has to produce milk
to go to her store.
She goes back at 8 o'clock.
And she then feeds her
family and gets her children
off school.
At 10 o'clock, she
goes to her shop.
By the way, remember
she's only got one hand.
And she works in her shop
between 10:00 and 5:00 o'clock.
At 5 o'clock, she goes back
and milks the cows again
until 8 o'clock.
And then at 8 o'clock,
she goes home.
And she feeds her family again
and prepares for the next day.
And she goes to bed then
at 11 o'clock at night
in order to get up again at
5 o'clock in the morning.
That's a woman who is
absolutely devoting herself
to getting the best out
of herself and her family.
And she's the sort of woman
that by, supporting and the fact
that she's done so well,
has increased her prestige
in her village as well.
So you know, these are
the sort of programs.
Now, the other
sort of thing we do
is for a different level
of woman entrepreneur.
And we have what we call our
blended learning training
programs.
These are like three
month mini-MBA courses.
And the point about the
blended learning programs
is though the
women come together
to do the business
training, most of the course
is delivered over the internet,
so that they actually don't
have to leave their businesses.
Because if you're a
woman entrepreneur,
and you started a
business, and you're
progressing that business, but
you need the business skills
to expand that business,
it's sometimes very hard
just to walk away and
leave that business.
But by using technology, we
can provide training to women
where they are, so that they
can carry on their businesses
and still get skills
they need to develop.
So a program we have in
Nigeria, for example,
is called The Road to Growth.
One of the women on that
program who did our course,
for example, was a
psychiatrist trained in the UK.
She came back to Lagos to
start a mental health clinic.
And she said, you know, I'm
obviously an intelligent woman.
But no one had ever taught
me about business skills.
So I start this business.
And I know how to
do the medicine.
But you know, then
it's a question, well,
how do I manage my finances?
How do I manage my staff?
How do I present
a business plan?
And so the blended
learning training
gives women the
skills, but doesn't
require them to have to go
away for weeks or months on end
in order to be able to do that.
So we have to find
practical solutions
to help women who were earning
money now do better at what
they do without requiring
them to have to make
the sort of sacrifices that they
can't actually make by giving
up their businesses altogether.
MR. RAO: Absolutely,
practical solutions.
MS. QUINTOS: Can I-- can
I just add one thing--
MR. RAO: Yeah, please.
Please, please.
MS. QUINTOS: --to Cherie?
Because it's actually
an example that you
all can see here at GES.
And it speaks to how do
we help connect women,
and in particular
women entrepreneurs,
up to the skills, the training,
and everything that they need.
One of the things that
we discovered years
ago as part of the
work that we've
done around women entrepreneurs
is access to capital,
access to mentors,
access to skills.
access to expertise
that exist out there.
And through technology,
we built this platform.
And you can see it in the
Dell booth called Alice.
So I think Angie's List
for women entrepreneurs.
It's built on a
technology platform.
It uses big data,
artificial intelligence,
to hook women up with
other women and the needs
that they have around--
I need capital access.
I need to understand, you
know, legal capabilities.
I want marketing skills
that will help me figure out
how to market my company.
And through this
platform, we have
thousands of women that are
interacting with other women
that they can connect
real time with.
And through technology
and big data,
this platform
continues to be smarter
and smarter and smarter.
And our goal is
to enable millions
of women that can get the access
to the skills, the training,
and everything that
Cherie and her foundation
are helping to enable.
So I think technology can
really, really help here.
MR. RAO: Technology, practical
solutions, sacrifices,
and the wonderful work
that your foundation is
doing-- my compliments.
Let me turn back to Ivanka.
Ivanka, McKinsey
Global Institute study
shows that if you're able
to close this workforce
gap by, you know, 12%, we
Would actually be increasing
the world's GDP by 25% by 2025.
And it also-- another
interesting fact that throws
out--
women in top leadership
positions and boards
actually enjoy greater
financial returns.
So was that a conscious choice
to run your entire enterprise
Ivanka Trump with
all women leadership
and completely run by women?
Was that for the bottom line?
Was that to make sure
that you have more women
in the right positions?
Or how do you go
about doing this?
MS. TRUMP: Well, I think
today, empirically, we
know that having equal
representation, gender
representation, having
diversity is a positive.
It's financially
beneficial to business.
And that's what's pushing
corporations not just
a social responsibility,
but a fiscal responsibility
to their shareholders.
And that's what's
pushing businesses
to diversify at a faster rate
than if they were doing it
for some other motivation.
So that's exciting.
And we're seeing
all the studies.
We're seeing all the data
to support that very fact.
So I think the
key-- and, you know,
we've covered so
much ground here.
We've talked about the
importance of public policy,
supporting working families,
women and men, who work
inside or outside of the home.
We've talked about
the role of technology
and how that can connect people
to mentoring opportunities,
like the great work
being done at Dell.
We're doing that domestically at
the government through programs
such as SCORE,
which has been very,
very successful in
getting private sector,
in getting successful men and
women to coach and to mentor
other young people who--
or not so young people,
who want to become
CEOs as well--
so taking programs like SCORE.
We've talked about
inadequate access
to capital, which
happens domestically,
unfortunately, as well.
When you look at our
participation or our share
of venture capital funding--
is minuscule, 3% last year.
We're trying to fix that
by, A, raising awareness
about this issue, but,
B, increasing our lending
through the Small
Business Administration.
In 2017, we increased the amount
of funding to women-led firms
by over $500 million year.
To date alone.
So that's exciting.
And then internationally, where
the barriers are the same,
but far greater, oftentimes with
a cultural or a legal overlay,
that makes it
particularly challenging.
So one of the
initiatives we launched--
and there are so many great
initiatives across government.
I'm leaving this stage and going
to the State Department-run
GIST competition, which maybe
some of the entrepreneurs
here today will be
participating in.
You will?
Amazing.
It's a pitch competition
to support investment
and great entrepreneurs
around the globe doing
great innovative things.
But there's so many
different programs.
But this summer, we
launched something
that was very extraordinary.
We were founding members with 14
other countries of a World Bank
initiative called We-Fi.
And it seeks to address a number
of the things we've mentioned--
access to capital, access to
networks, access to mentorship,
and access to equitable
laws by pushing governments
in the developing
world to lower barriers
and change the laws
that prohibit women
from full participation
in their economies.
So We-Fi is very exciting.
And we anticipate
being able to leverage
in excess of $1 billion to
go to female entrepreneurs
in the developing world.
So we're hopeful that
has a profound effect
on the ecosystem of
Women's entrepreneurship
generally, but also for
the benefit of women
in the workforce as well.
Because it was noted here
that when you invest in women,
they invest back
to their families,
back into their communities.
They say $0.90 on the dollar
earned by women goes right back
into her family and community
and back into things like
education, into health care,
into things that will create
a positive generational impact.
So we're very excited about
that initiative and all
the other ways we can feel
the exciting work that's
being done in the
entrepreneurship ecosystem
at home and abroad.
MR. RAO: Congratulations.
MS. BLAIR: Can I ask you?
Because--
MR. RAO: Absolutely.
MS. BLAIR: Ivanka, that 90%--
$0.90 figure, it's a
very interesting one.
But I want to ask you, as a man.
What do you think the
equivalent figure is for a man?
MS. TRUMP: $0.40?
MS. BLAIR: He was
supposed to answer that.
MR. RAO: I'm moderator.
I'm supposed to be
asking you questions.
Anyways, I think it
must be around $0.40.
MS. BLAIR: It's $0.30.
MR. RAO: $0.30?
MS. TRUMP: $0.30.
MR. RAO: All right, as
always, as always, you know,
women are the
smarter ones anyway.
MS. BLAIR: $0.40.
But you know what?
I think--
MR. RAO: I was trying--
I was trying [INAUDIBLE].
MS. BLAIR: But do you know
what I think about that?
You see, I think
there are plenty
of men who also invest 90% of
their efforts into their family
and into their community.
And the problem is that
there is some men--
and, you know, I've--
my own father that
was one of these men.
Because he abandoned my mother
and my sister and myself
and never supposed
us ever, ever again--
who'd only put, you
know, 1% if you're
lucky into their families.
And the question really
is for man is, why is it
that we tolerate the idea
that these men who go off
and spend their
lives, and why women,
and so on, somehow
that's acceptable.
The men who put 90% of their
efforts into their families
should be speaking
out more loudly
and saying these men that don't
do that actually are letting us
all down, rather than just
shrugging our shoulders
and saying, oh, well,
you know, women--
women, they do 90%.
We do 30% to 40% as
men, but that's OK.
Because actually, it
isn't really OK, is it?
MS. TRUMP: It's true.
And I think this is something--
[APPLAUSE]
--Cherie, that I'm
glad you brought up,
but I'm actually very
optimistic about.
Because I see the
landscape changing.
And especially when you look at
the next generation coming up,
I think women don't view
themselves as purely providing
care for their families.
They want to work.
In many cases, they need to
work to support their families.
Men, similarly, are taking a
very much more active approach
in raising children and
participating in the family
than in previous
generations as well.
And we see this happening
on different scales,
but all over the world.
And I see this generational
shift that is very exciting.
Because when you think
about true equality,
it starts with having
this level playing field
and sharing the
responsibilities,
domestic
responsibilities, as well
as workplace responsibilities
much more equitably.
So I love the natural shift
that we have happening.
But I think talking
about these issues
and I think men talking about
the fact that they're not
financial providers alone,
that they want to participate,
that they want to be
involved parents and fathers,
is incredibly important as well.
MR. RAO: Now, that you raised
a very personal question,
let me--
let me-- let me ask.
Let me throw a quick
question to all of you.
I've learned that all of
you are privileged to have
a daughter, also, each of you.
I have an eight-year-old
daughter also.
So what would you say is the
single most important thing
that you would like
to see changed?
We talked about multiple things.
We talked about capacity.
We talked about confidence.
We talked about mentorship.
We talked about collaboration
with the private sector.
We talked about rural sector.
What is that one
single important thing
from a government and, you know,
from the societal perspective
that you would like to see
differently, say, a decade
from now?
Let's start with you, Ivanka.
And then we'll move onto others.
We have about five minutes.
So let's make this [INAUDIBLE].
MS. TRUMP: Well, I think--
I have a six-year-old daughter.
And I'm actually trying to get
rid of some of her confidence.
But I think the purity of
a young girl and the lack
of assumption around what her
role is-- what she should do,
what she shouldn't do,
what she should like,
what she shouldn't like--
the longer we can
preserve that, the better.
So I'm always inspired
by my daughter.
Because she makes me realize
how many ingrained biases even I
have that I don't realize
that I'm accidentally
putting on one of my children,
my sons or my daughter.
So you know, I think look
at our smallest children.
And see the world
as much like they
see it as humanly possible.
And you know,
hopefully, Arabella
grows up in a world
where she's never
told she can't do something,
because of her gender.
Certainly, she'll never
be told by her mother.
MR. RAO: Fantastic.
Fantastic.
A big round of applause, please.
[APPLAUSE]
MR. RAO: Ingrained
bias, ingrained bias,
which is even within all of us--
tell me about it.
I'm a man, so I'm,
obviously, going
to have a bit more of that.
Chanda, a quick
point on what you
would like to see
differently a decade
from now, the single
most important thing?
MS. KOCHHAR: Well,
you know, as you said,
we all have daughters.
I have a daughter.
And I think the proudest
thing for me to say
is that while today, here,
I'm sitting as a panel member,
my daughter's sitting here
in her own right as a woman
entrepreneur, as
a delegate here.
MR. RAO: Can we have
her stand here, please?
This is Ms. Kochhar's daughter.
MS. KOCHHAR: There she is.
MR. RAO: A big round of
applause to the young lady.
What's her name?
What's her name, Chanda?
MS. KOCHHAR: Aarti.
MR. RAO: Aarti.
MS. KOCHHAR: Yeah.
MR. RAO: Many
congratulations, Aarti.
MS. KOCHHAR: But what I say
is that, for me, my biggest
inspiration are my children.
And you know, why is my
daughter my biggest inspiration?
Because I think at her
age, I expected my mother
to do so many more
things for me than what
she expects her mother to do.
Because she doesn't
find the mother around.
MR. RAO: She is a
strong young lady.
MS. KOCHHAR: So, yeah--
so much around.
So I think it is
about-- you know,
this is an
entrepreneurship summit.
So I would say it is about
three Es for women, Education,
Encouragement, and Empowerment.
MR. RAO: Education,
Encouragement, and Empowerment.
MS. KOCHHAR: Yeah.
Big round of applause.
MS. KOCHHAR: If we
do that, I think
sky's the limit for all women.
MR. RAO: Fantastic.
Cherie, your thoughts on what
the single most important thing
is that you'd like to see
differently a decade from now.
MS. BLAIR: Well,
I've got a daughter.
I've also got three sons.
And if were to ask
me, you know, what's
the most important
thing for my daughter,
I think the most important
thing is actually to marry well.
And if you--
MR. RAO: Choose
the right partner.
MS. BLAIR: Choose
the right partner.
And therefore, when
I talk about what
I want to see from my
daughter, I actually
think more about my sons.
Because as a mother of
three sons and one daughter,
I have to actually think how
am I bringing up my sons?
And for a long time,
my main concern
was that one day my boys would
come to me and say, mum, here's
my girl that I'm going to marry.
And I want to let you know that
she's going to stay at home
and look after me.
Fortunately, that
hasn't happened.
My two-- my youngest is only 17.
So if he came to say he
wanted to get married,
I'd be a bit upset.
But my two elder boys are both
married to very successful
career women themselves.
But the one thing I said to
both of them before they got
married, the day
before, I said, I
know you're very proud of
your wife and her career
and what she's doing.
But the crunch time will
come is whether you're
prepared at some time in your
career to take a step back
in your career, so that
her career can flourish.
Because if you--
MR. RAO: Fantastic.
MS. BLAIR: --constantly
think that, yes, she
can have a career, but it's
always secondary to mine,
then it's never going
to quite work, is it?
Because the girl will always
then have to take the also ran.
MR. RAO: Since you mentioned
choosing the right partner, one
of these days when I'm going
to catch the Prime Minister,
I'm going to talk to him
about his perspective as well.
on choosing the right partner.
MR. RAO: Can you
also mention to him
when is the time when he's
going to take a step back
in his career, so that
I can get on with mine?
MR. RAO: Absolutely.
Absolutely.
I shall ask him that.
I surely shall.
MS. TRUMP: I do think,
though-- and I just
want to layer something
on top of that.
Because I do think you're right
that that conversation needs
to be happening about who's
going to step back if somebody
is going to step back.
But I do think we have to do
a better job of recognizing
that all women
are working women,
whether they're working inside
the home raising their families
or whether they're working
in a professional capacity.
And I think we have to celebrate
that decision either way.
But we need to create an
environment in which people
can make the decisions that
are right for their family.
So de-stigmatizing men
making the choice to
do that, but also not just
disincentivizing or not
frustrating women
who choose that
as the right path for
themselves as well.
MR. RAO: Well, we are
actually out of time.
But--
MS. QUINTOS: I want
to say one thing.
MR. RAO: No, no, absolutely.
All I was going to say is--
MS. QUINTOS: What
needs to change?
I think we need to see more
women and girls in STEM
related roles.
Whether they are
entrepreneurs that
are creating innovative
technology, big data, I mean,
all of that, or
whether it's girls
that are graduating with
STEM related degrees,
the numbers are really scary.
And that is where the
jobs are going to be.
I mean, the salaries
are going to be higher.
The job security is
going to be greater.
Technology is
permeating everything.
And what I would love to see
is a much more balanced set
of graduates and women that
are in STEM related fields.
Because it's going
to be a huge business
imperative for many, many
companies and governments
around the world.
MR. RAO: Well, while
we are out of time,
I think I have some very
powerful women in the world
sitting on this podium.
So I'm going to
take my liberties.
I'm going to ask organizers
to give us two more minutes.
And then we'll close out
some final thoughts, Chanda,
on what do you think, again,
the skills, training, capacity.
We heard about-- we covered
multiple, multiple issues--
final thoughts, closing remarks,
and what we should be doing,
say, 60 seconds?
MS. KOCHHAR: Yeah.
So, I said that--
you know, education.
In terms of empowerment, you
actually covered everything,
whether it's still access to
credit and, you know, all that.
And in terms of
encouragement, it's
the social approach
towards women.
But I want to take one
minute to talk about India.
Because this is a forum where
I think we should talk India.
And I just want to say that, you
know, for India, this is today
a matter of both
celebration, because India
has come a long way, as well
as a matter of resolving
that there is lots more to do.
So you know, clearly
as Cherie said,
that not even 25% of
the graduates women
really participate
in the workforce.
And therefore, the same McKinsey
study says that for India,
actually we can add in the next
8 to 10 years, $700 billion
of our own GDP if we actually
bridge this gender gap.
But the way I look
at it is that I think
this is a glass half full.
Because that is what is the
potential for India and India's
GDP.
But while we have a
lot to do, I think
I just want to tell this
forum that I think India still
does much better than many, many
other countries in the world.
And let me take-- you
know, it's a wide spectrum.
I mean, you do not have a
country where you have hundred
million families impacted by
the self-help group movement
of which 85% of that
self-help group, you know,
people are women--
MR. RAO: Out of which, 20
million are in Telangana.
MS. KOCHHAR: Yes, absolutely.
So you move from there to
the whole ownership thing.
And you know, I think India's
economic structure is changing.
It's no longer just a
manufacturing or a services
economy.
It's now becoming an
entrepreneurship economy,
an economy of value
chains which gives women
more and more enablement
to create their own niche
and to start their own careers.
And what bigger testimony
than to say that in India we
are able to put up a
platform where more than 50%
participants are women
today sitting right here.
MR. RAO: Fantastic.
Big round of applause to the
ladies, the women entrepreneurs
who have shown up at the
Global Entrepreneurship Summit,
MS. KOCHHAR: And then let me
take this a little further
to say that it's India that
has produced, you know,
sports women in
fields that get us
medals and things like
wrestling and gymnastics,
which were so far, you know,
typified as being men's sports.
Today, India has women fighter
pilots in the Indian Air Force.
Today, it's Indian
Navy that has started
an all-woman circumnavigation
around the world,
you know, just as an expedition.
Today, India has a Defense
Minister who's a lady.
Today, India has, you
know, senior ministers
who are ladies.
And there is no country in the
world where 40% of the banking
sector is headed by women.
MR. RAO: Lovely.
That was a great note, great
closing note from a banker.
Ivanka.
MS. TRUMP: First of all, I
appreciate the discussion
and all the panelists for just
a really great dialogue that
happened here today.
But I do want to
follow up on something
that Karen was talking about as
it relates to STEM education,
particularly.
Because when you think about
the landscape in the developed
world where there has been
better access to capital,
certainly, than in the
developing world and more
progressive policies to support
working families in some cases
better than others,
but there has
been a stagnation in terms of
closing that gender wage gap.
And it's really sort of
persisted and stayed.
It closed, closed,
closed, and then
flat-lined over a decade ago.
And it stayed that way.
And when you really break
down the reason for that
and what's causing
that, it's women
traditionally have in fields.
And when you look at
industry segmentation,
you have a lack of
participation of women
in higher growth fields like
STEM fields and computer
science fields.
And you also have an
unfortunate circumstance
where traditionally
women-dominated sectors
of the economy are
undervalued financially.
and are underpaid financially.
So I think both need
to be disrupted.
We need to get more men into
so-called women's fields.
And we need to get more
women into STEM fields
where our participation
rates are really abysmal.
I'm incredibly fearful
that, when you look out
and you think about
where the future of work
is going, that if women
continue to represent only 13%
of engineers in
the United States
or continue to
represent only 24%
of computer science
professionals,
that the gender
wage gap is actually
going to grow as opposed to
contract in the years to come.
So I this is something
we need to address.
It's something that this
administration in the United
States is very, very focused on.
Each President has
the opportunity
to prioritize for the
Department of Education
what they want them to focus on.
And the President issued
a Presidential memorandum
just last month instructing
the Department of Education
to prioritize STEM education
and, in the guidance,
required that gender
and racial diversity
be considered when granting
the money towards all
of the different programs, so
that the programs are actually
designed to encourage
gender diversity
and to encourage
racial diversity
and to prioritize
computer science.
So I think it's
critical that we think
about occupational
challenges and making sure
that there's more equitable
balance in, especially,
at the high growth industries
as we look forward as
and as we think generally
about the future of work
in our own countries
and around the world.
MR. RAO: So more men
in women's domains
and more women in
men domain's as well.
MS. TRUMP: Well,
then they wouldn't
be sort of women's industry.
MR. RAO: Inclusive--
inclusive growth
closing down the gender gap.
MS. TRUMP: Yeah.
MR. RAO: Fantastic.
Thoughts, Cherie?
Final thoughts before we--
MS. BLAIR: Just a couple
of thoughts for me--
one is that we've heard a lot
about how empowering women,
getting women engaged
in the market, how
women in development
really makes a difference.
And the truth is when we
look at where the development
dollars go across the world,
across all these programs,
it's a pitifully small
amount of that money
that actually goes to women.
It's definitely less than 10%.
And it's probably less than 5%.
I can't remember
the exact figure.
So how often do we have
to say that it really
makes a difference if you invest
in women to when we actually
put our money where our mouth
is and make that happen?
That's why, actually, the We-Fi
scheme is such a great scheme
and where we need to do more.
And my final thought is this.
It's all about
choice and diversity.
You know, we're talking about
women as though all women were
alike and all men are alike.
And of course,
they're all different.
But it's about
embracing diversity
and, most of all, respecting
each other's choices.
Which is when Ivanka talked
about those women who
choose to devote
themselves to their family
and work at home, that's
their right and their choice.
And actually, as
women, we should
be kinder to each other
about each other's choices
and actually help each other,
so we can make a choice
and change our choices
throughout our lives.
So let's hear it for
choice and diversity.
MR. RAO: More power to you.
Karen, final thoughts?
Any final thoughts?
MS. QUINTOS: Yeah.
My final thought is it's
going to take all of us
to change the dialogue,
men and women.
And I would just really
encourage all of--
everybody here in the
audience, it's amazing
how many people are here.
Get involved.
Get involved in
changing the discussion,
changing the trajectory,
helping to invest in women
entrepreneurs.
Women cannot do this alone.
We need men in the
conversation helping.
And the world is a better
place when we all come together
with a common vision
and collaboration
and working together.
And I think together we
can do some amazing things.
MR. RAO: Fantastic.
Like I said right at the
beginning, right at the onset,
we have--
we have a [INAUDIBLE]
of a panel--
Chanda Kochhar, Karen Quintos,
Cherie Blair, Ivanka Trump.
These ladies did
not need me here.
They only needed me as much
as a fish needs a bicycle.
But I think they put up with me.
Thank you, ladies, for your
wonderful, wonderful thoughts.
Thank you so much for
this lovely opportunity.
Thank you very much.
[APPLAUSE]
