Greater Than the Sum

The "Greater than the Sum" series highlights stories of women leveraging their economic power to create exponential impact in their own lives and the lives of those in their communities.

When women are able to fully pursue economic opportunities and make decisions over their own lives, their families, communities and countries will be stronger and more resilient. But nothing is more powerful than hearing from women themselves. Featuring the stories of five passionate women from around the world, this series brings you along their journeys of breaking the status quo while also opening doors for other women to claim their own economic power.

In each episode, we peek into the lives of women who share their interests, their aspirations, the challenges they face, and demonstrate just how important women’s power is. This story series reveals how women’s ability to thrive, especially in the economy, requires that systems are designed to support them.

Capital

In sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, women business owners receive as few as 10% of loans issued to small and medium-sized businesses, creating an estimated $1.7 trillion financing gap for women entrepreneurs. When women don’t have the same access to much-needed capital as men, it holds back women, their businesses, and entire economies.

See how access to capital for women entrepreneurs fuels economies

Women’s health

When the odds were against her, Dr. Stellah Bosire overcame every barrier imaginable. Today, she pays it forward to her community in Kibera, Kenya to ensure that women have access to the health care they need, while forging paths for women entrepreneurs along the way.

Learn how women’s health connects to economic power

Child care

Affordable, high-quality childcare has the power to transform lives—and economies. For one Kenyan mother, childcare was the difference between losing her job and starting and growing her own successful business.

Understand the value of care work

Related work on gender equality

Women's Economic Power

Women’s Economic Power

Most economic empowerment programs focus on getting cash into women’s hands. However, we must go beyond empowerment programs and build economic systems that work for women.
Labake Bode-Matthew poses for a picture along with some members of her staff outside her home which also serves as her production facility in Lagos, Nigeria.

Women in Leadership

Our goal is to accelerate women’s full and effective participation in leadership at all levels of decision-making in economic and public life, particularly in the fields of health, law, and economics.
Pooja, 27, and mother of two, takes care of her younger daughter, Shreya, and is accompanied by husband, Sangam Lal and elder daughter, Ruchi at their home Trilokpuri, New Delhi, India.

Gender Data & Insights

Our goal is to collect and analyze better data to ensure that women are counted and considered in decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods.