The national 2022 UN Women WEPs Awards ceremony was held in Beijing on 27 October 2022, with KPMG China winning the award in the Community Engagement and Partnerships category.

Established by the UN Global Compact and UN Women, the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) are “a set of principles offering guidance to business on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community”. The UN Women WEPs Awards recognise that businesses have a role in – and a responsibility for – gender equity and women’s empowerment.

After a robust judging process, including a due diligence check by the UN Women China office and scoring by an external multi-stakeholder judging panel, KPMG China’s STEM is Her Future programme won the top prize in the Community Engagement and Partnerships category.

STEM is HER Future aims to better empower female students in the STEM field by equipping them with a deeper understanding of business and increasing their competitiveness in the future workplace. Since the launch of the programme in 2021, nearly 3,400 female STEM students have enrolled. Through the completion of four stages – virtual course training, virtual proposal showcase, regional offline summit and the final conference, the students employed their STEM skills and business thinking to design business plans. Throughout the programme, KPMG China volunteers devoted their time and efforts in various positions such as course tutors, programme coaches and competition judges, contributing their professional skills to empower female students.

“It is great to hear that KPMG China was selected as the winner in the Community Engagement and Partnerships category of the WEPs Awards. STEM is Her Future is one of KPMG China’s CSR programmes aiming to empower females, break the bias and promote gender equity in STEM, therefore striving for more equal opportunities for women.

Gender is one of our key focus areas in KPMG China’s Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (IDE) strategy. The award is a great recognition and encouragement for KPMG China to promote gender equity and women’s empowerment, not only in the workplace, but also in the marketplace and community. We will continue to use our social influence to promote a gender-inclusive and equal business environment, and contribute to the early realisation of the SDG Gender Equality goal.”

Linda Lin

Head of People, Performance and Culture, KPMG China

In March 2022, KPMG: Our Impact Plan – 2022 update announced the global '10 by 30' strategy – to empower 10 million disadvantaged young people to be economically empowered by 2030 through education, employment and entrepreneurship. STEM is HER Future is one of our CSR programmes promoting gender equity based on the ‘10 by 30’ strategic goal and IDE commitment. In the future, KPMG China will continue to implement the strategic objectives, actively advocate for gender equity, and continue to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community.