Building Inclusive Communities at Dow
Originally published in Dow's 2022 Progress Report
We are building inclusive communities by engaging our ERGs, empowering more inclusive learning environments and collaborating with strategic partners to help address systemic discrimination and inequity to accelerate change. One of the ways we do this is through the ALL IN ERG Fund.
ALL IN ERG FUND
The ALL IN ERG Fund aims to help Dow become the world’s most inclusive materials science company by harnessing the passion and perspective of our 10 ERGs to collaborate with community organizations tackling the greatest inclusion, diversity and equity needs.
Since the fund launched in 2019, we have committed $1.1 million to support 53 ALL IN ERG projects in 25 countries worldwide, resulting in:
3,042 people gaining social networks and support 505 people obtaining/ sustaining a job
481 people achieving safety and inclusion
1,387 people improving social/emotional well-being
505 people obtaining/ sustaining a job
1,563 people succeeding in school
4,831 hours volunteered by Dow employees
Promoting Gender Equity and Inclusion in Thailand
To help promote health, well-being and equal learning opportunities, Dow collaborated with our customer Kao Industrial (Thailand) Co. Ltd. and the World Vision Foundation of Thailand on reproductive health workshops for more than 500 adolescents in Rayong and Chanthaburi provinces. The workshops educated all genders aged 11-16 on reproductive health and adolescent growth and development. Volunteer-led activities helped students understand more about menstrual hygiene and the risks of sexually transmitted diseases. To help students have equal access to quality menstruation products and alleviate period poverty, a portion of project funds also served as seed money to set up sanitary pad banks at two schools in Chanthaburi.
The activity is part of the Freedom Project, initiated by our Women’s Inclusion Network. The workshop aimed to promote more understanding and reshape attitudes about gender differences, with a key focus on ending menstrual period stigma.
“One of the project’s key achievements is that male students got the opportunity to learn about menstruation products for the first time,” said Nuch Benjarpornbanyat of the Freedom Project. “One student even said that he could now understand the challenges that the girls faced every month to wear the sanitary pads.”
