By Pam Pelletier, National Director, Dell Technologies

 

International Women’s Day (IWD) has come and gone, but it’s not too late to reinforce what we at Dell Technologies know to be true every day, 365 days of the year: Gender equality is a business imperative that requires our collective action and shared ownership.

That’s why I love the theme of this year’s IWD, “Each for Equal.” It’s a call for every person—male or female—to take personal action. Personal action from our 165,000 Dell Technologies team members is the only way we’ll meet our diversity moonshot goal of having 50 percent of our global workforce and 40 percent of our people leaders be those who identify as female by 2030. And because it’s so important to us that our workforce and world are places where ALL people can succeed, by 2030, 25 percent of our U.S. workforce will be those who identify as African American or Hispanic.

While we just announced these goals last November, I’m proud to say we’re making progress and are focused on expanding opportunities for women— starting from the very top. In fact, at a recent leadership meeting, our Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke asked every senior leader at the company to make a list of five people he or she would commit to investing in this year. Once everyone had finished their lists, he asked them to revisit those names and ensure at least three of those five people were women. I encourage all managers, my team included, to follow Jeff’s lead and commit to mentoring and advocating for one or more women, including people of colour.

This is just one example of how we are opening doors for equality within the walls of our company. Because gender equality is a global opportunity, we at Dell Technologies are making investments in our workforce, our communities and around the world.

 

Investing in our workforce

Reaching our 2030 gender diversity goals will require closely examining how we build, develop and retain female talent in our workforce. Through strategic partnerships with organizations like Girls Who Code and programs like STEMAspire, we’re building tomorrow’s talent pipeline by enabling girls and female university students of all ethnicities to see the path to a career in technology.

We’re also opening doors through initiatives like Dell Career Re-Start and our Diversity Leadership Accelerator Program that ensure women at every stage in their careers can build their tech and business acumen—whether they are re-entering the workforce after taking time away or looking to take on a management role.

 

Investing in community

We know the impact small businesses have on building a thriving community and inclusive economy. Given that women reinvest 90 percent of their earnings in their families and communities, we recognize one of our greatest economic opportunities is to advance women business leaders. The Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) contributes to our communities by providing our 5,000 members with access to capital, technology, networks, and knowledge needed to scale their businesses.

 

Investing in systemic change worldwide

Driving cultural change in gender equality also requires opening doors through public-private partnerships globally. Our WE Cities research illustrates the best cities for women entrepreneurs worldwide and exposes the areas for systemic improvement. By arming city leaders and policymakers with the findings, we can collectively accelerate the success of women-owned businesses by removing financial, cultural and political barriers. For example, Toronto and Vancouver showed great promise in 2019, both ranking among the top 20 cities in the world for women entrepreneurship. These were the only two Canadian cities to qualify.

 

Join us in driving measurable change

We are all accountable for creating a world where all people can succeed. I’m inspired by Dell Technologies’ leadership in driving the industry toward change. We are setting aggressive 2030 goals and holding ourselves accountable. There is a lot of work still left to do to reach equality, and we hope to be an example for all businesses to set and track similar goals.

Looking beyond International Women’s Day, let’s encourage each other to open the door to gender equality all year long. I look forward to discussing ways we can all open doors. I invite you to join this conversation with me by using the hashtag #EachforEqual and sharing the ways you’re investing in women this year.