Discovering YOU Magazine April 2019 Issue | Page 27

schools or local colleges and offer to let students shadow you at work, or give them a chance to do an informational interview with you to learn more about your business. Help them get connected within your business network and share your experiences. If your employer is willing, develop an internship or on-the-job training program to encourage and empower up-and-coming women in your industry.

Support companies actively involved in projects that empower women. Mars Wrigley Confectionery U.S. and Dove Chocolate have pledged $1 million to CARE, a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty, specifically to empower women in West Africa. Dove Chocolate and CARE partnered to empower women in the

cocoa growing communities of Cote d'Ivoire after an assessment of women's involvement in West African cocoa farms found that women were not benefiting from cocoa production, even though they participate in more than half of cocoa-farming activities. The first stone was recently laid on a new marketplace for women-led businesses in the village of Gueyo, a centrally located commerce area nestled among the cocoa fields of Cote d'Ivoire. Consumers can help support these efforts, as $5 will be donated to CARE with every online purchase of qualifying Dove Chocolate Promises.

This year find special ways to celebrate and support the women in your neighborhood and around the world who are working hard to create better lives for themselves, their families and their communities.