Today Karen Quintos, Dell SVP and CMO discussed the expansion of its women’s programs, outlining new initiatives and providing updates on existing programs at the annual Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) event in New Delhi, India.
Quintos announced that Dell is formalizing its long history of support for women in business with renewed focus on women in technology, aimed at addressing the gender gap for women in IT, globally. The initiatives tie together Dell’s commitment to women in IT through the lifecycle of their careers, starting with education for girls in science, technology, economics and math (STEM), through to mentoring young women early in their careers and facilitating networks for women as they progress to positions of leadership in the technology arena.
She outlined the ways in which Dell is active in supporting women entrepreneurs around the world, both in the DWEN community and beyond, with initiatives like the new Dell Innovators Credit Fund currently being spearheaded by Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Ingrid Vanderveldt, herself a DWEN alum.
Dell is also supporting women in public life. Quintos described Dell’s work in Washington, as technology partner for the Women in Public Service Project. She also mentioned the recent announcement around Dell’s technology support of the Summer Institute at Wellesley College in the US.
She called on large companies to use their influence to raise awareness and do more to promote women in business: “We believe that large companies with influential brands, like Dell, have a responsibility to stand up and do more.”
The announcement of the expansion of the women in IT initiative comes hot on the heels of Dell’s recent commitment of $1m to Catalyst, the leading nonprofit membership group focused on women in business, to fund future research to study and address the root causes of gender gaps.
The women in IT initiative rounds out Dell’s commitment to Women Powering Business which already includes DWEN and Wise – the employee resource group that represents Dell’s commitment to advancing women in its own organization.
“The programs and progress we are announcing are designed to celebrate the amazing contribution that women are making in business today” said Quintos. “We also need to raise awareness of the continuing barriers faced by women in business, by directly addressing them with tangible actions aimed at moving the needle.”
The DWEN invite-only event featured 200 guests, comprised of women entrepreneurs, distinguished speakers and guests and Dell executives. To find out more about the DWEN India event, please visit the DWEN homepage.
