Giving Compass' Take:

• Getting women involved in supply chains around the world is good for business, women, and communities. 

• How can philanthropists help women learn the skills they need to run businesses and help those businesses connect to the larger supply chain? Are there policy avenues available to increase women's access to training, capital, and other resources they need to start and run successful businesses?

• Find out why economic empowerment projects for women must involve both women and men. 

Linda DuCharme, president of Exxon’s Global Services Company, recently sat down with Devex to explain why working with women-owned businesses is not only a good thing to do, but also beneficial to the company’s bottom line.

Q: Why is it important to actively involve women in supply chains?

A: We’re in a very competitive business and the best way to do that is to make sure that you open up the aperture. It helps drive cost down and improve competition.

We also fundamentally know that particularly in a lot of the developing world where a lot of our activities are in the oil and gas business, investing in women-owned businesses is shown to bring more value to the community.

Q: What is the biggest challenge in involving more women in your supply chain?

A: It’s the challenge of first of all getting more and more women to actually own businesses, particularly in some of the developing world where we work, and that’s again where WEConnect helps to come in and help people get the skills that they need to actually run businesses.

Read the full interview with Linda DuCharme on getting women involved in supply chains by Teresa Welsh at Devex International Development