SUMMARY
At Citi, advancing gender equality is fundamental to our global citizenship. We strive for this within our organization and in the communities we serve.
"What can I do to advance gender equity?”
As we celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD), this is a question we should all be asking ourselves.
While IWD is, above all, an opportunity to recognize women’s immense contributions to the world, it is also a time to acknowledge systemic gender barriers.
Inferior access to education, unequal pay, political underrepresentation and gender-based violence remain endemic globally.
The theme of this IWD 2023 is #EmbraceEquity.
This call recognizes that don’t all start out from the same place. Entrenched obstacles mean that some people require different opportunities to be able to achieve the same results.
We at Citi are committed to driving gender equity. Here are some of the ways we’re playing our part:
Enabling women to thrive
We are helping women to fulfill their potential at every level. Citi’s board is gender equal, and we were the first major Wall Street Bank to appoint a female CEO.
By the end of 2025, our aim is for women to hold 43.5% of mid- and senior-level positions across Citi, up from 40.6% at the end of 2021. And we have already accomplished parity at junior levels.1
In 2019, we were a pioneer of publishing gender pay gap data and we are trying to close the gap.
Creating opportunities for women in our communities
Working with a diverse base of suppliers is an essential part of Citi's mission of enabling growth and progress.
Citi champions female enterprise in our supply chains and investment network, purchasing $172 million of goods from female-owned businesses in 2021.2
And Citi Global Wealth Investments is targeting more than $200 million of client capital to be invested in strategies from women- and minority-managed providers by the end of 2023,3 while also helping clients seek gender equity via their portfolios.
Serving leading female progress makers
Citi Private Bank proudly serves many female progress-makers. These individuals make outstanding contributions to creating growth and opportunities for others. This short film honors some of what they are doing.
Among them is Mabel van Oranje, founder of VOW for Girls, an organization working within communities around the world to put an end to child marriage.
The local organizations supported have already empowered more than 250,000 girls to choose their own destiny.
Connecting pioneering women
We know that great things can happen when dynamic individuals come together.
Citi Private Bank has therefore created a global network for our clients, connecting people of all genders to explore ideas and share experiences from a female perspective.
We know that a gender-equitable world isn’t only in women’s interests. For example, closing the gender gap in business growth could potentially boost global GDP by $2.3 trillion and create 433 million new jobs.4
As we contemplate the challenges and opportunities ahead, I would like to wish everyone a very happy and empowering International Women’s Day 2023!
And we look forward to further celebrating female accomplishment throughout this Women’s History Month.
