Empowering girls with education key to closing gender inequality and leadership gap, charity founder says
- A new charity has been formed to equip teenage schoolgirls with tech knowledge and skills to help them become leaders in a digitalised economy
- The foundation will initially provide scholarships to 100 girls in Guizhou province that will allow them to complete their university degrees
With the world economy going digital at an accelerated pace triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need to strengthen girls’ education and equip them with the necessary technological and leadership skills to reduce gender inequality, according to Jennifer Yu Cheng.
“In Asia alone, women hold one in five leadership positions and comprise just 13 per cent of company board members,” Yu told the South China Morning Post in a written reply. “I believe we need to close the gap, to equip teen girls with the tech knowledge, skills and mindset to position them to have more career options and become leaders in a digitalised economy.”
Yu said over the next 12 months the foundation will partner with NGOs and other institutions to extend scholarships to teenage girls in marginalised or underprivileged communities, starting with China’s Guizhou province. Scholarships will be provided to 100 girls in the province over four years, allowing them to complete their university degrees.