MANILA, PHILIPPINES — GCash is strengthening its commitment to inclusivity in the workplace with the signing of the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP) on April 25 at the GCash headquarters in Bonifacio Global City.
Coinciding with its celebration of women in tech, the WEP will provide guidance on how to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace and community. This is in line with GCash’s advocacy to equalize the workforce with 47% of its current employee pool made up of women.
GCash President & CEO Martha Sazon said, “GCash stands for inclusion. Financial inclusion, but also inclusion at large.”
The company is also helmed by two women in its leadership team as pointed out by host Karen Davila during the signing ceremony.
“When you’re a woman leader, be visible because we need to normalize women leadership,” Martha added.
The ceremony was preceded by a GTalks session where Connected Women Co-founder Gina Romero and FTW Co-founder Michelle Alarcon shared about their organizations’ community building and focus on women. The panel was moderated by broadcast journalist Karen Davila.
Connected Women is an organization that provides online skills development and remote work opportunities for women. To date, it has trained 1000 women with limited opportunities because of education or displacement. Meanwhile, FTW Foundation is a non-profit that empowers women through free data science and technology upskilling.
“A lot of the time, we dismiss ourselves before we even try,” said Gina. She made an example of how women in her organization are not intimidated by powering AI because of how they reframe questions.
Meanwhile, GCash Chief Technology and Operations Officer Pebbles Sy emphasized how role models and mentoring matter in building a future with more women in the industry. When asked if she sees discrimination personally, Pebbles said it is not so much the choosing of men over women but the scarcity of women in the pool of talents that is the problem. Hence, the solution to get young girls into STEM courses.
Paving the way forward is also a recurring theme during the panel discussion.
“Remove the barriers in your mind and let’s also be confident for the other women who are just hesitating to try but are needing more role models to follow,” said Michelle.
“We also need to provide extra time for women to learn how to tinker,” added Rosalyn “Lenlen” Mesina, Country Coordinator of UN Women. “When we invest in women, we invest not just in their lives but they are investments that would return in terms of what they would make out of that.”
This move supports three UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), namely: Gender Equality (SDG 5), Reduced Inequality (SDG 10), and Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8).
