Established in 2018, and set to conclude at the end of 2020, the WE Empower Program is a joint initiative between UN Women, the International Labour Organization and the European Union.

The program lays out seven Women’s Empowerment Principles that form guidelines for corporate action to promote gender equality and women's economic empowerment. They range from commitments on health and safety and transparency and accountability to supply chain diversity and professional development.

Tune in to episode 6 of Diversonomics season 4 as hosts Roberto Aburto and Cindy Kou speak with Camille Beaudoin, junior consultant and program assistant for the WE Empower Program in Canada, about advancing gender equality in the workplace — and how work environments will change drastically over the next decade.

Picking up on episode 4’s theme, there are a number of challenges when it comes to how organizations can meaningfully instigate and encourage movement on the equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) front. Insufficient education about the benefits of EDI, misinformation about how to successfully implement EDI initiatives, and lack of accountability tend to sink the majority of even the most well-intended programs.

However, it’s been proven that businesses that share data around the make-up of their workforce and encourage the creation of employee resource groups are more successful at cultivating opportunities for under-represented groups.

Tune in to episode 5 of Diversonomics season 4 as hosts Roberto Aburto and Cindy Kou speak with Adrian Ishak – senior corporate counsel for global labour & employment at Salesforce and vice-chair of the Roundtable of Diversity Associations – about the key barriers to EDI success and the importance of remaining committed to continually moving forward.