Possible Outcomes

Vancouver

It is expected that this meeting will lead to a number of possible outcomes, including:

Working Groups

One or more working groups may emerge from the discussions at the meeting, organized around specific industries (e.g. mining or technology) or specific issues (e.g. attracting talent, accessing women consumers).

Targeted Follow-Up Meetings

Working with anchor partners in different sectors or geographies, the Next Billion will help organize smaller, more focused gatherings that dive deeper into topics raised at the Vancouver conference or that tackle other issues that were only discussed in passing at the launch meeting.

Annual Conference

Depending on the response to the initial meeting in 2015, we would like to see the Next Billion conference become an annual event that serves to provide a pragmatic, solutions-oriented forum for broadening the dialogue about women in the future of global economy.

Why This Issue?

Societies and companies, in particular, can—and must—integrate women economically if they are to remain competitive in the longer term. Why? It pays dividends, and some of the most influential companies in the world are paying attention. Unilever has opened markets and increased sales in India through female sales forces. Walmart has understood the benefits of including women in their supply chains. Coca Cola will be engaging over 5 million women entrepreneurs by 2020 to increase market share. Over the next decade, the economic impact of women will be at least as significant as that of China and India’s respective 1 billion plus populations. Simply put investing in women—in the work force, supply chains, and as consumers—is good business, and those firms that learn how to operationalize this understanding will be poised to thrive in the coming years. Learn more

Why should you attend?

This unique gathering will bring together senior-level corporate leaders from throughout Canada, United States, Europe and Asia to discuss practical ways in which women-- as consumers and employees, entrepreneurs and executives--are critical to the continuing success of companies in today’s competitive, international economy. Learn more

Why is this conference unique?

There is no shortage of evidence to suggest that focusing on innovative ways to address the challenges faced by women and girls will lead to better health and education systems, and safer, stronger communities for all people living in the developing and developed world. This conference will devote its primary focus to the economic potential of the next billion women on the planet.

While most discussions of women and girls understandably focus on the social and health benefits of greater inclusiveness, relatively less time has been dedicated to the important question of the critical role that women—as customers and employees, executives and entrepreneurs—are currently playing in transforming the global economy. A number of the world’s largest companies are moving beyond rhetoric and recognizing the link between the economic engagement of women and the bottom line. We believe that this issue will only be taken seriously by the private sector when it informs day-to-day business operations and is grounded in the unsentimental realities of the balance sheet. Learn more