World Pulse receives a new grant from Equinix Foundation to accelerate digital inclusion for women and girls globally

At World Pulse, we know that bridging the gender-based digital divide is a necessity. Digital connectivity has become a basic human right associated with access to education, employment opportunities, healthcare, and other community resources. But progress on gender-based digital inclusion has slowed — and even reversed — in recent years. Women remain 18% less likely than men to own a smartphone, which puts 315 million women at a disadvantage when it comes to mobile internet access. *1

To ensure a more equitable and sustainable future for communities around the world, World Pulse is leading the effort by joining with corporations, government entities, and nonprofit organizations to innovate, share resources, and solve digital inclusion collaboratively.

This is why we are excited to announce that Equinix — a digital infrastructure leader — is expanding its long-time commitment to World Pulse with a $100,000 grant from the Equinix Foundation, spread over three years, to support our work accelerating digital inclusion and closing the gender digital divide. The $100,000 Foundation grant builds on the nearly $250,000 in funding and 300+ hours of employee volunteer time from Equinix since the partnership with World Pulse began in 2015.

The new grant specifically supports Her Digital Leadership Alliance — an initiative connecting women in 50 countries with digital skills to build grassroots momentum around bridging the gender digital divide. *2

Her Digital Leadership Alliance is a collaborative project launched by World Pulse and dozens of business, government, women’s rights and digital rights partners, including Equinix. The program offers

• Online digital training and an online peer community hosted by World Pulse
• Digital certification to support career opportunities and advancement
• Extensive global partnerships with organizations that serve women
• Real-time member impact tracking of initiatives and movements via an online impact dashboard
• Crowdsourcing and amplifying women’s voices to international decision-makers *3

Her Digital Leadership Alliance is a five-year commitment with business, government, and civil society to equip 20,000 grassroots women leaders with digital leadership, advocacy, and trainer skills. The initiative demonstrates the collective impact that’s possible when corporate and nonprofit leaders come together in trust-based philanthropic partnerships to support grassroots change.

Join the movement for digital inclusion

We know that digital inclusion requires more than just access to technology and the internet; it’s also about enabling people to engage fully and freely online. Creating safe online spaces is fundamental to building grassroots change, and it’s more important than ever for women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals, who face a disproportionate amount of online harassment. Building trust, safety and connection defines the shared mission of Equinix and World Pulse, and we’re committed to using technology as a tool for transformation.

Equinix Foundation and World Pulse will continue to partner to close the gender digital divide in the coming years. In 2020, World Pulse committed to a 10-year digital pathway to connect half a million emerging women leaders across all sectors who would then go on to impact a billion more in their communities.

Learn more about the Equinix grant to accelerate digital inclusion in this joint announcement by Sujata Narayan, Director, Community Impact for Equinix Foundation and our own Jensine Larsen, Founder and CEO, World Pulse.

Want to join the movement? The Her Digital Leadership Alliance is growing and welcomes more programmatic and funding partners. Interested individuals can reach out to partner@worldpulse.org to receive more information.

Citations

• *1 The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2022, GSMA, June 2022.
• *2 New Alliance to Strengthen Women’s Digital Skills and Changemaking Globally at the UN GenerationEquality Forum, Business Wire, July 1, 2021.
• *3 Five gender equality advocates chosen as ambassadors of the World Trade Congress on Gender, World Trade Organization, November 17, 2022.