Listening to Women's Lived Experience Is Essential to Economic Empowerment

We all agree.  Issues come and go, but the speed at which diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has dropped down the business sustainability agenda in recent months is extraordinary.

One influential voice pushing against the “anti-woke” tide is Cherie Blair, a leading British barrister and, most famously, wife of former UK Prime Minister (1997-2007) Tony Blair.

As a feminist, the 71-year-old international trade and human rights specialist is focused on what she sees as business’s systemic bias against women. “Business was built by men, for men, on the assumption that a lot of other things were being done by somebody else; (i.e.) women,” she says.

Blair compares female economic exclusion to an airplane flying with one engine; companies will eventually get to their destination, she says, but they would get there much quicker with two.

She concedes that philanthropic approaches can only go so far: Companies need to think harder about how women’s lived experience can be designed into their digital products and services. Her goal is to empower one million women entrepreneurs by 2030.

Learn more about Cherie Blair, her program and how she encourages women to back themselves.