P&G India & WeConnect International partner to empower women entrepreneurs

Procter & Gamble India (P&G India), maker of brands like Gillette, Whisper, Vicks etc., in partnership with WEConnect International conducted the next edition of the Women Entrepreneur Development Program (WEDP). About 30 women entrepreneurs, who were selected via an application process, graduated from the two-day program aimed at their capacity development. As part of the program, senior leaders from P&G conducted training and workshops with real-time case studies covering various aspects of building a sustainable business including professional skills like business strategy, finance capital, new customer outreach and more, including strategic inputs for driving business growth.

 Taking this a step further, the holistic program also provided women entrepreneurs, an opportunity to explore business opportunities with P&G. Just in the last two years, P&G India has spent ₹400 Crore by deliberately working with women owned and women led businesses. This commitment was announced by the company in 2018, as part of the inaugural WEDP initiative aimed at fostering supplier diversity.

LV Vaidyanathan, CEO, P&G India said, “We are delighted to conclude this edition of the Women Entrepreneur Development Program (WEDP). Through this initiative, we conceived a holistic capability platform which will help women entrepreneurs build their businesses sustainably. This initiative is in line with our global commitment to empower women-owned and women led businesses, which is an important aspect of our citizenship efforts. We believe, that empowering and enabling equal and inclusive business practices will not only stimulate economic growth, but also bring about a long-lasting social change.”

 P&G consistently aspires to create a world free from gender bias, with equal voice and equal representation for all individuals. Hence, some of the other initiatives that the company has undertaken in the past year that champion women include:

• Over the last 2 years, P&G India has invested over INR 400 crore deliberately working with women-owned and women-led businesses in India
  • The company’s efforts are on track and P&G has significantly over-delivered against the commitment of INR 500 crore from 2021 to 2025
• P&G India achieved 50% representation of female directors behind the camera for the company’s brand advertisements this year
  • This significant milestone was achieved one year ahead of the commitment timeline of 2024. The company will continue to work towards maintaining an equal representation of female directors behind the camera through a comprehensive set of actions to build, fuel, and connect a pipeline of diverse female talent in advertising, media, and content.
• With Project Pragati, P&G India commits to provide digital upskilling opportunities to 5 lakh women from lesser privileged communities over 5 years
• With the aim of advancing Equality & inclusion in STEM, P&G India, with NGO partners and employee volunteers, will impart a diverse range of digital skills to enhance employable opportunities 

 The WEDP training preceded P&G India’s flagship External Business Partner Summit where the Company also announced a ₹300 Crore ‘P&G Supply Chain Catalyst Fund’ to collaborate with external partners and innovators, in co-creating solutions that accelerate its journey towards Supply 3.0 – the modern supply chain ecosystem. This new fund is part of P&G India’s ‘vGROW’ program that focuses on identifying and collaborating with start-ups, small businesses, individuals, and large organizations offering innovative industry-leading business solutions.