Eight organisations have signed up to support a landmark review aimed at boosting female participation in business.
The organisations have joined the Pathways Forward initiative as ‘pledge partners’, with the aim of breaking down barriers for women entrepreneurs and founders.
Converge, The Open University in Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, SIS Ventures, Social Investment Scotland, South of Scotland Enterprise, and the University of Strathclyde all committed to ‘actionable steps’ aligned with the principles set out in the Pathways report, co-written by businesswoman Ana Stewart and former Skyscanner executive, Mark Logan.
Stewart said: “We have been overwhelmed by the level of support for Pathways from across the corporate, public, and not-for-profit sectors, and the Pledge partnership centres on firm commitments to effect change across each organisation. I would like to personally thank all of our Pledge partners to date, and we look forward to more like-minded organisations joining the fold.”
The latest cohort join AccelerateHER, CivTech, CodeBase, Deloitte, Eos Advisory, Scottish EDGE, and the Scottish National Investment Bank as Pathways Pledge partners.
The individual pledges are aimed to complement existing internal policies, and range from the capture and publication of enhanced gender data, gender diversity on selection panels, evidential increases in female participation rates, and the design of key programmes with integrated childcare. The focus is on actionable and trackable pledges, with shared and published results.
The news comes as Pathways prepares to stage the inaugural Female Founders Growth Summit at the Royal Bank of Scotland Conference Centre at Gogarburn in Edinburgh on Thursday 5th September in partnership with Female Founders Rise, a UK-wide resource and community for female founders building growth businesses.
Stewart added: “The Female Founders Growth Summit brings our scale-up founders together with the investment community and is focused on energising this often challenging growth stage of the founder journey.”
The headline sponsors for the summit are Royal Bank of Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, and Scottish National Investment Bank, with British Business Bank, EY, and Eos as sponsors, while the community partners for the Summit are Dechomai and AccelerateHER. Former BBC broadcaster and Freer Consultancy associate Dr Vanessa Collingridge will be the on stage host on the day.
Pathways Forward was launched in September 2023 following the publication of the Scottish Government-commissioned Pathways: A New Approach For Women in Entrepreneurship report.
In February, an advisory group was appointed to work alongside Ana Stewart to amplify and progress the recommendations outlined in the report.