On March 8^th --
 the 100^th Anniversary of International Women’s Day
 the U.S. Chamber BCLC and the UN Office for Partnerships hosted the event “Investing in Women and Entrepreneurship.”

 With 260 participants from across the nation
 and around the globe – headlining speakers included

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations;
 Geena Davis, Academy Award Winner and Founder,
 Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media;
and Jane Wurwand, Founder, Dermalogica.

 The forum showcased opportunities for the private-sector to lead on issues related to economic and social progress for the world’s women and girls, and provided examples of existing programs from Merck,  Intel, Abbott, and Philips Van Heusen, among others.

An overview of BCLC member company projects can be found
here (pdf).

 Many discussion points focused on the business case for investing in women. UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said that investing in women makes sound economic sense.
For example: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pointed out that publicly traded companies with women on their boards are 53% more profitable than companies with few female board members.

 Jane Wurwand reported that women re-invest 90% of their income in bettering their families and communities, while men tend to use their earnings toward short-term self-fulfilling purchases.

Geena Davis urged the use of role models in media such as Hollywood to help women and girls know that their economic possibilities are endless –
“if they can see it, they can be it.”

 Videos, photos, and further coverage is available on the event website.