Private Sector Companies & Social Enterprises
Smarter design, stronger market performance, and a workplace culture that lives up to its commitments
Companies invest significant resources in developing products and technologies that reach scale, but even the most well-resourced innovations can fall short when gender differences go unexamined. From the architecture of a mobile financial platform to the design of new seed varieties to the rollout of a vaccine, gender shapes who adopts a product, how, and why. Overlooking those differences can be the difference between a solution that scales and one that stalls. At the same time, many companies have made meaningful commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion internally but can struggle to translate those commitments into concrete cultural change.
We bring rigorous gender expertise to both challenges in order to help companies build products that reach the people they're designed for, and workplaces where the full talent of every employee can be realized.
What We Do
We partner with the private sector to embed gender considerations into product development, market strategy, and organizational culture — delivering stronger outcomes at every stage of the business cycle.
Research & Evidence
Map gender-differentiated user preferences, adoption drivers, and barriers to uptake to inform smarter product design and market entry strategies
Identify where and why product introduction is likely to fail, and what questions need to be asked before launch
Synthesize existing evidence on gender differences relevant to your product category, sector, and target markets, including across diverse geographic and cultural contexts
Advise on study design and statistical powering for studies on biomedical and health products to ensure meaningful analysis of sex and gender differences
Inclusive Leadership
Advisory & Capacity Building
Advise on go-to-market and rollout strategies for products entering new geographies, ensuring introduction approaches account for gender differences in access, trust, and adoption dynamics
Review communications, marketing materials, and public-facing content to identify where gender assumptions may undermine credibility, reach, or user trust
Assess gender dynamics across your supply chain to identify where women are concentrated, where they face barriers to advancement or fair compensation, and where those dynamics create business risk or opportunity
Develop internal guidance documents, decision tools, and checklists that embed gender considerations into standard product development and procurement workflows
Facilitate cross-functional workshops that build shared language and practical skills across R&D, marketing, operations, and leadership teams
Deliver leadership training and coaching on how to lead for gender equality and build genuinely inclusive workplace cultures
Support the development of realistic, evidence-informed DEI targets and accountability mechanisms that leadership can own and operationalize
Advise on internal policies, talent practices, and organizational structures that shape whether employees of all genders can contribute fully and advance equitably
© Gates Foundation 2024