Webinar: Gender and supply chain governance: building resilient value chains
On Monday 7 September 2026, Gulf Sustain and the Pearl Initiative co-hosted an online discussion on gender and supply chain governance.
The panel brought together Verona Naidoo, Vice President of People and Culture Operations at Accor, and Manali Deasai, Independent Consultant and former Chief Sustainability Officer of PepsiCo. It was moderated by Marian Fletcher, regional consultant for Gulf Sustain.
The discussion focused on how companies can move beyond supplier diversity policies towards measurable outcomes. Their discussion ranged from tracking where procurement spend goes and setting accountable targets to removing the barriers that limit women-owned businesses' access to markets, capital, and capability building.
Key takeaways
- What is not measured is not taken seriously. A useful starting point is the share of spend that goes to women-owned and women-led businesses.
- Gender inclusion belongs in procurement, not only in HR. Procurement decides where the money goes, so gender inclusion has the most impact when it is written into responsible procurement charters and supplier agreements.
- Leading indicators matter. At PepsiCo, around 1,000 women farmers in West Bengal achieved yields 20 to 25% higher than a comparable mixed-gender group.
- Ownership figures are an outcome of the system. PepsiCo raised the share of women-owned suppliers from around 10 to 12% to 25%. It did this through e-auctions, access to grants, peer forums, and skills training.
- Due diligence can be a starting point, not a barrier. In Kenya, Accor supported local women-led suppliers to meet requirements and become preferred suppliers.
- A first-year roadmap has three stages: diagnose, design, and implement. Companies can start by interviewing suppliers to understand the barriers they face. They can then set targets linked to their mission, and track progress against them with scorecards.
- Change the system, not only the supplier. Rather than expecting suppliers to adapt on their own, companies can remove the barriers built into the systems their suppliers operate in. That means applying global standards while working closely with local partners on the ground.
For more insights on how strong governance can make gender inclusion a driver of more resilient value chains, watch the full discussion.