As part of Women Deliver 2023, GBL organized a virtual concurrent session with Shahi Exports and the United Nations Foundation. The Women Deliver 2023 Conference took place in-person in Kigali, Rwanda, as well as virtually, from 17-20 July 2023. The theme of WD2023 was Spaces, Solidarity, and Solutions. WD2023 aimed to build inclusive and co-created spaces which promote solidarity for sustainable solutions on gender equality. 

The session organized by us addressed gender inequity in the blue-collar workforce and invited diverse stakeholders to collaborate and create actionable solutions. Speakers presented cross-cutting views from across the value chain, including insights from lived experience, research, on-ground implementation, and policy perspectives.

| Title: Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Growth for Women in Low-Income Work
| Date: July 18th 2023

Key Insights from the Session

1. The speakers discussed how employers need to do more than just provide women with workplace training. Policies that promote equality in access to opportunities, decision-making, and remuneration must be emphasized.
2. When building a programme for women, they must consider their cultural context. Fundamental health and reproductive health problems, which are frequently left out of global discussions, must be incorporated into the business model for holistic worker welfare.
3. Women face biases right from home and at work, where they are often expected to drop the ball in terms of quality and responsibility. Soft-skills programs which entail modules on awareness, communication, time management, and financial planning can help bring about significant changes both at work and at home for women workers.

With over 21 years of experience in Human Resource Management in the industry, Chitra leads several programs on workers’ rights and well-being– such as physical and psychological health, the welfare of migrant workers, and building robust grievance redressal mechanisms. She has been instrumental in driving women’s advancement in collaboration with stakeholders, including Brands, Unions, NGOs, and Government organizations. Chitra’s balanced and strategic approach has helped Shahi align worker welfare with growth. She holds a Master’s in Social Work, a post-graduate diploma in Human Rights Law from National Law School, India, and Executive Education in Strategic Leadership from IIM Bangalore.

David Wofford is senior director of the Private Sector Strategy and Engagement for the UN Foundation/Universal Access Project, where he leads the Private Sector Action on Women’s Health and Empowerment (PSA) initiative. He also provides management support for the Resilience Fund for Women in Global Value Chains which invests in women-led organizations. He oversees collaborations on women’s health in corporate supply chains with companies and civil society organizations. In February 2023, the PSA initiative launched an Accountability Platform to be an engine for driving collective action and corporate performance on women’s health and empowerment. David brings more than 25 years experience on sustainability policies and workplace programs to improve workplace health for women and men workers and promote systemic change at the global and supply chain levels.

Professional in Law & Political Science, Specialist in Labour Law & Social Security, with complementary national & international studies in administration,business, management and leadership. Along with executive experience in various roles, he has been the Vice President of Human Resources with Grupo Éxito for 13 years. In his 27 years of service in Grupo Éxito, he has championed causes that impact the development of the country, such as joining the LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Colombia, the creation and implementation of the Diversity and Inclusion Policy for employees and their families to have a Decent Life.

Kalyani joined Shahi in 2010 as a feeder and went on to become a needle-keeper and then a Floor In-charge. With her exposure to well-being programs and her experience on the shop floor, she turned entrepreneur and supported her husband in setting up their independent garment finishing business. Their small business employs over 30 people.Kalyani takes initiatives beyond the factory to improve utilities in her neighborhood. She gained the confidence of her neighbors and, with their support, got drains and roads constructed near her home in a locality with limited amenities.

Mamta Pimoli is an Associate Director (Ventures) at Good Business Lab or GBL. She is responsible for scaling impact of GBL’s proven solutions, which improve well-being outcomes and business returns for workers and firms respectively. For the last five years, she has worked on multiple fronts in the development sector, including program implementation, partnerships, fundraising, and research. In her current role, she is bringing technological transformation to workplace challenges, largely affecting low-income, underserviced workers.