WILMINGTON, DE — Ashland Inc., a global specialty materials company, in marking International Women’s Day, recently spotlighted 30 of its outstanding female employees and reinforced its commitment to gender equity and parity. The initiative, carried out by the Ashland International Women’s Network (AWIN), also aims to inspire women worldwide.
As part of the annual celebration, the company announced a $25,000 donation to greenlight4girls (g4g), an international nonprofit that encourages young people to explore science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and careers. The contribution is intended to honor Ashland’s award recipients and support g4g’s global initiatives that instill confidence in girls and promote the importance of science.
In addition, Ashland unveiled its Responsible Solvers™ employee engagement and speaker series for 2024. This program will feature both internal and external speakers discussing a wide range of topics, including environmental goals, science-based targets, cyber security, ethics, and social philanthropy with a focus on STEM, diversity, inclusion, and community relations.
The series kicked off last month with a 90-minute session sponsored by the African Descendants Network and AWIN featuring Dr. Yabome Gilpin-Jackson, a globally recognized scholar and human development consultant. Dr. Gilpin-Jackson’s talk centered around the power of resonance and the importance of social inclusion.
Over the past three years, Ashland has increased its global female representation by three percent to 31 percent. Today, 37 percent of the company’s global leaders are women.
“Through the Ashland Women’s International Network (AWIN), we are raising the visibility of exceptionally inspirational women,” said Guillermo Novo, chair and chief executive officer of Ashland. “Our goal is to ignite the spark for STEM at a young age and expand the number of female and minority students pursuing advanced degrees in STEM, instilling confidence in these young students that they can be the changemakers of the future.”
Novo added that Ashland’s commitment to g4g underscores its passion for STEM and its importance to business success. The partnership aligns with Ashland’s mission to cultivate the next generation of women leaders and reinforces its ongoing commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives. To learn more, visit www.ashland.com/iwd2024.
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