“Okay, so who here knows the company Avon?”
Neha Misra, Co-founder and Chief Collaboration Officer at Solar Sister, was trying to explain the structure of Solar Sister, the NGO she helped create—an NGO that counts Exxon Mobil Women’s Economic Opportunity Initiative, UN Women, and USAID among its partners.
In response to her question, about half of the conference attendees confidently raised their hands and promptly began to chuckle at the attendees with both hands at their sides, bemusedly looking around. Surprise, surprise: Most of the attendees with a hand raised were women; those who didn’t recognize Avon were mostly men.
This all took place at a Millennium Challenge Corporation panel discussion on development initiatives that promote both gender equality and energy access. …So what does Avon have to do with energy access or gender-inclusive development initiatives?
Solar