Dr. Cynthia L. Drakeman is a global expert on women’s economic empowerment with particular expertise in gender-smart investing, evidence-based policy development, private sector best practices, and women’s entrepreneurship.
Global Entrepreneurship Award Presented to Dr. Cynthia Drakeman by the International Alliance for Women
PRESS RELEASE NOV 22, 2021 09:00 EST
WASHINGTON, November 22, 2021 (Newswire.com) - Dr. Cynthia Drakeman received a 2021 World of Difference Award from The International Alliance for Women (TIAW) at a virtual awards ceremony on Friday, November 18, announced Victrix Ventures today. The global award recognized Dr. Drakeman, Victrix Ventures' Founding CEO, for her contributions to Entrepreneurship and Women's Economic Empowerment. The 20 World of Difference Awards were presented to "extraordinary individuals" from 10 countries on five different continents "whose efforts have advanced the economic empowerment of women locally, regionally, or worldwide."
"I'm honored to be recognized by The International Alliance for Women, and commend the important work they do bringing attention to women's economic advancement around the world. Women's entrepreneurship is an engine that can power our communities, and help us create the sustainable economies of the future. I am excited to be part of that effort," said Dr. Drakeman.
Dr. Cynthia L. Drakeman is a global expert on women's economic empowerment with particular expertise in gender-smart investing, evidence-based policy development, private sector best practices, women's market access, and women's entrepreneurship. The lead author of the 2017 U.N. Report on Women's Economic Empowerment, Dr. Drakeman has worked closely with heads of state, senior government ministers, diplomats, corporate executives, investors, academics, think tanks, and women entrepreneurs along with numerous NGOs and multilateral institutions.
Dr. Drakeman is the Founding CEO of Victrix Ventures, a company dedicated to women's economic advancement, and was previously the founding CEO of DoubleXEconomy, LLC, a research and consulting firm committed exclusively to women's economic empowerment. She also serves as a Delegate and former Co-Chair of the United States Delegation to the Women20 (an official engagement group of the G20), and has served as a board member of Solar Sister, a non-profit organization committed to bringing clean energy to Africa through women's entrepreneurship. She has an AB from Princeton University, and a DPhil from the University of Oxford.
The International Alliance of Women 2021 World of Difference Awards
Entrepreneurship awards category award citation for Dr. Drakeman
Dr. Cynthia L. Drakeman is an internationally recognized expert on global women’s economic empowerment issues, especially gender-smart investing, evidence-based policies, and women’s entrepreneurship and market access. She is a Delegate, and former US delegation co-chair, of the Women20, an official engagement group of the G20, the international forum of the countries representing 80% of world GDP. She is also the CEO of Victrix Ventures in Washington DC. As the lead author of the final report of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment (2017), Cindy helped shape the global agenda for women’s economic advancement. Moreover, her whitepaper for the Panel’s working group on Changing Business Culture and Practice, presented evidence-based approaches for women’s economic empowerment in the private sector, and served as a model for the other working groups. During her tenure as a Delegate, the W20’s work led to the World Banks’s Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (WE-Fi), a $354 million fund created by 14 countries. Cindy also designed the program for the first Gender-Smart Investing Summit in 2018, where investors from 42 countries, representing $14 trillion in assets, discussed how to accelerate the flow of capital to women. Attendees announced $9 billion in new commitments to gender-smart investing during the event, and billions more soon thereafter. Cindy managed a multi-year Gates Foundation project that piloted a novel digital wallet for 1,770 rural women in Uganda, which is now being expanded by Care International. Cindy’s breadth and depth of work allow her to build linkages between policy and practice, resulting in a track record of real-world impact thus creating opportunities and removing barriers for women’s economic empowerment world-wide.