ELC Women Leaders Participate in UN Global Goals Week

The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) recently participated in a number of virtual Global Goals Week events surrounding the UN General Assembly as part of the company’s ongoing commitments to gender equality, racial equality and sustainability. Four of ELC’s women leaders —Sara Moss, Vice Chairman; MC Gonzalez Noguera, Senior Vice President, Global Public Affairs; Nancy Mahon, Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability; and Nicole Monson, Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel — participated in several events in support of the United Nations (UN) and Concordia, a social impact nonprofit organization.

ELC was a presenting sponsor of the Gender Equality programming for the Global Goals Studio, a collaboration between a number of leading organizations focused on advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, including the UN SDG Action Zone and the World Economic Forum (WEF), which serves as a leading digital channel to amplify high-level and high-impact conversations with policy, NGO and business leaders throughout the Week. In advance of the UN General Assembly, ELC also joined the Five for 5 initiative through the United Nations Foundation, which works to advance their sustainable development goals and empower women and girls. The Five for 5 initiative urges progress on five key areas, including: 1) End pay disparity and ensure equal pay for equal work; 2) Commit to advancing women’s inclusion and leadership at all levels; 3) Implement rigorous and transparent safe workplace policies; 4)  Provide paid sick leave and family leave, and encourage men to utilize it; and 5) End the use of gender stereotypes and diminishment in all advertising. 

Sara Moss spoke at the opening of the Five for 5 event with leaders from other companies, including Starbucks, Spotify and P&G. During the virtual discussion, Sara reinforced the importance of keeping to the gender equality agenda: “Particularly during times of global crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, women take on the brunt of responsibilities,” said Sara. “At ELC, we recognize that our employees need work-life balance, which is why the company continuously looks at ways to develop enhanced family-friendly policies around parental leave and flexible working.”

MC Gonzalez Noguera participated in a conversation with the Global Goals Studio and discussed how the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been hard felt across all aspects of life and has disproportionately affected women around the world. She shared her perspective on the role of the private sector in contributing to drive progress on gender equality, both internally for its own employees, and externally with partners, stakeholders and consumers. When asked to deliver a message to global government leaders she stated, “the return on an investment for women is real,” said MC. “Your economies will thrive. Your families will be stronger. You will have a healthier and more prosperous country if you invest in women and girls.”

Nancy Mahon also participated in the Global Goals Studio, discussing the importance of implementing sustainability, equality, and inclusion efforts into business practices. Nancy touched upon ELC’s long history of embedding both sustainability and social impact at the core of its business and across its value chain, and why this intersection is key to meeting positive, long-term business objectives. “We are looking at how we marry the work we have been doing funding girls’ education globally with climate justice. We are seeing a great intersectionality between climate justice, gender justice, and social and racial justice. That is some of the long-term work we are beginning now,” said Nancy.

Finally, Nicole Monson joined Concordia’s Annual Summit to discuss the approach taken by ELC to create a more diverse, open and global workforce, and how the company is expanding its talent pipeline and retention. Nicole reiterated the importance of an inclusive work culture, saying: “Fostering a diverse, inclusive and supportive work culture is not a nice-to-have, it’s a must have and a business imperative,” she said. “ELC has taken this moment to reaffirm our commitment to racial equity through doubling down on our recruitment efforts, expanding our talent pipeline, and ensuring that Black talent has equitable professional development and advancement opportunities.”