In 2008, Goldman Sachs introduced 10,000 Women: a five-year, $100 million global initiative to help grow local economies and bring about greater shared prosperity by providing 10,000 female entrepreneurs with a business and management education, access to mentors and networks and links to capital.

The Goldman Sachs Foundation believes this investment ‘can have a significant impact on GDP growth’, and ‘such an investment in women can have a significant multiplier effect that leads not only to increased revenues and more employees for businesses, but also healthier, better-educated families and ultimately more prosperous communities’.

For nearly a decade, the Nike Foundation has been focusing exclusively on supporting adolescent girls in the developing world through their Girl Effect initiative, investing more than $100 million in this cause. CEO Maria Eitel is also firmly committed to the idea that investing in girls also benefits boys. An educational program called Institute Promundo supported by the Foundation targeted young boys and men in Brazil. The results have indicated a reduction in gender-based violence, and increased awareness of the risks of HIV/AIDS. It’s a fantastic outcome for the girlfriends, wives, sisters, and daughters of these young men and for society in general.