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The Estée Lauder Companies Participates in the Generation Equality Forum in Paris
ELC’s Charitable Foundation is Inaugural Corporate Sponsor of Co-Impact's New Gender Fund to Accelerate Progress Towards Gender Equality
Company Feature, Jul 2, 2021
Today, The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) proudly joined multi-lateral and multi-stakeholder participants in the final day of The Generation Equality Forum (GEF) in Paris, France, reinforcing the company’s commitment to providing resources and a platform to close the gender inequality gap. Led by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of France and Mexico, the Forum’s goal is to set strategic objectives and drive actionable commitments for transformational change towards the advancement of women and girls around the world. Sara Moss, Vice Chairman of The Estée Lauder Companies, gave remarks at a special private sector event outlining the company’s commitments towards gender equality and equity.
The Generation Equality Forum originally launched at an historic event in 1995 in Beijing, China. There, the “Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action” was adopted unanimously and marked a significant turning point for the global agenda for gender equality and is considered the key global policy document. The Forum sets strategic objectives and actions for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality in the critical areas of concern such as women and poverty, the economy, health, education and training, violence against women, and human rights, among others.
The Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation
It was also announced today at the GEF that The Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation (ELCCF) is delighted to stand alongside an initial group of philanthropists and foundations as the inaugural corporate sponsor of Co-Impact's new Gender Fund to accelerate progress towards gender equality. The fund will launch at the end of the year and aims to raise and invest $1 billion USD over 10 years, supporting predominantly women-led organizations in the Global South to transform systems, advance women’s power, agency and leadership at all levels, and shift harmful gender norms. Additional funders include: the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation; MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett; Melinda French Gates; Roshni Nadar Malhotra; The Rockefeller Foundation; and Thankyou Charitable Trust.
Sara Moss on Women’s Leadership and Advancement
Sara Moss delivered remarks on the topic of Women’s Leadership and Advancement at the VIP Private Sector Showcase, which was moderated by Chinese businesswoman and journalist, Yang Lan, and included several other global companies. In her remarks Sara stated, “We firmly believe that it is our responsibility —and our privilege— to use our resources and our platform to work to achieve gender equality and equity around the world.”
Sara's remarks are a strong complement to ELC’s March 2021 announcement when the company published its commitments to gender equality and women’s advancement, with initiatives committed to level the playing field for all genders inside and outside the company. When asked by Yang Lan how companies can advance the agenda for women and girls and advance equality beyond funding, Sara responded with the company’s present commitments towards gender equality and equity, as well as future looking commitments such as expanding ELC’s women’s advancement development programs, working with multi-stakeholder partners like Co-Impact and other community partners and NGOs, and leveraging the company’s platform to engage the next generation of leaders.
At the Forum, Sara was presented with a question: “Beyond funding, which is critical, how can companies advance the agenda for women and girls and advance equality?”
Below is Sara’s response to the posed question in its entirety:
Sara Moss Remarks at the Generation Equality Forum
On behalf of The Estée Lauder Companies, I want to say that we are honored to be included today.
Our company was founded by a woman 75 years ago. Today, we are a global company with 50,000 employees - 84% are women. We have 30 brands and millions of consumers.
With this broad reach, we firmly believe that it is our responsibility – and our privilege – to use our resources and our platform to help achieve gender equality and equity around the world.
So, to answer your question, first, we agree that funding is critical. That is why, over the years, The Estée Lauder Companies and our Charitable Foundation have contributed more than $250 million USD to support non-profits focused on girl’s education, and women’s economic mobility, health, and advancement.
But we also know that we must go beyond funding. We believe that the private sector can do more and must do more. And this begins from within.
At The Estée Lauder Companies, we have committed to:
- Achieve gender pay equity by closing the narrow gap by 2023
- Increase representation from underrepresented groups by 2025
- Achieve gender parity in our most senior leadership positions by 2025
Today, The Estée Lauder Companies and our Foundation pledge to continue to make sustained financial investments to close the gender gap and we commit to leverage our business, our innovation, and our platform to make gender equality a reality.
Specifically, we:
- Will expand our innovative women’s advancement programming through our Open Doors Women’s Leadership Program within our company and beyond.
- We will expand our work with multi-stakeholder partners to drive progress and engagement and we will continue to support organizations doing critical work to promote gender equality.
In this regard, I am proud to say that we are an inaugural partner of Co-Impact’s new ‘Gender Fund,’ announced this week, which supports organizations working to transform systems and shift harmful gender norms.
- We will expand our support of community partners and NGOs supporting women.
We know that communities around the world are facing tremendous challenges today—especially in light of the devastating COVID pandemic. And we know that the impact of the pandemic has been greatest on women and girls.
So, we will expand our work with community organizations and grassroots programs.
While we are not the source of the solution for many of these challenges, we know that our voice and support can help those who are.
- And finally, we will leverage our platform to engage the next generation of leaders.
We will use our global platform to engage and empower young women to activate their voices and be agents of positive change around the world.
In closing, we are honored to participate in this celebration of action for the future. We are inspired by those who came before us, and we are energized by the leaders to come. The Generation Equality Forum speaks to that future and we are so proud to be a part of it.
Thank you.
