INVC,,
Washington, DC,
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong announced the launch of the U.S.-China Women’s Leadership Exchange and Dialogue (“Women-LEAD”) on April 12, 2011 at the conclusion of the second U.S.-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE). The CPE endeavors to enhance and strengthen ties between the citizens of the United States and China in the areas of women’s issues, including education, culture, sports, and science and technology.
Women-LEAD will enhance exchanges and high-level dialogues between women leaders from the two countries to tackle common challenges and to raise the visibility of and opportunities for women and girls in both countries.
Women-LEAD facilitates public-private partnerships as the vehicle for accomplishing its key objectives: to promote the sharing of knowledge and expertise on developing women’s leadership across all sectors – including entrepreneurship, science, and technology – and to provide support for capacity building programs for emerging women leaders.
The first public-private partnership established in support of Women-LEAD is the Yale Chinese Women’s Leadership Development Program, a collaboration between Yale University and the All China Women’s Federation to develop a management and leadership program targeted at senior-level women leaders. On May 9, 2011 Secretary Clinton met with more than 30 senior Chinese women government officials, representing both the national and provincial levels, who traveled to the United States under this program. The Chinese delegates will also meet their U.S. counterparts in Washington and New York, and attend a week of leadership seminars at Yale University. Women-LEAD is jointly led by the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues and the ACWF. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer represents the United States. Michelle Kwan serves as an advisor to Women-LEAD. Other planned Women-LEAD programs include:
Leadership
The United States and China are exploring partnerships with leading organizations such as the Asia Society to organize a regional summit for women leaders in Asia in 2012. To enhance women’s leadership across all sectors, McKinsey & Co. will contribute its “Centered Leadership” training module to the ACWF. Madam Song Xiuyan, Vice-Chairwoman of the ACWF, will lead a delegation of senior-level women leaders to the United States for a high-level dialogue with American counterparts in late 2011.
Women’s Entrepreneurship
With the support of corporate leaders in both countries, the United States and China will collaborate to build the capacity of women entrepreneurs. Corporate bodies such as Mary Kay, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, and Walmart will contribute financial support to such programs in China.
Sustainable Development
The United States will send a delegation of senior-level women leaders to the International Forum for Women and Sustainable Development in China hosted by the ACWF in November 2011. Following the Forum, the delegation will conduct a field visit, and a U.S.-China working group meeting will be held to discuss plans for the upcoming year.
