Girls and women not a ‘silver bullet’ for ending poverty

Kathryn Moeller first started looking into efforts by major corporations and their foundations to support girls and young women in Latin America, Africa and Asia more than a decade ago. At the time, several global brands, such as Nike and ExxonMobil, were getting behind theories promoted by some economists in the early 1990s that considered investing in girls’ and women’s education to be the most efficient way to end poverty and promote development. Moeller’s extensive research examining these efforts was released in a new book in February titled, “The Gender Effect: Capitalism, Feminism, and the Corporate Politics of Development.”