At the beginning of 2023, AmCham Latvia joined Empower Her initiative along with other AmChams in Europe to encourage women’s equality, economic empowerment, and trade across the Atlantic. The initiative was launched in March 2022 by the U.S. Department of Commerce along with AmCham EU and AmChams in Europe.

In 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration issued the first-ever US government National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality. The initiative EMPOWER HER extends that strategy and promotes the role of women in international business to advance gender equity and equality in the economy. The initiative was announced by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo at AmCham EU’s Transatlantic Week Conference and is being developed by AmCham EU and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA).

AmChams in Europe joined the Empower Her Initiative to cooperate on the following set of strategies and activities:

• Establishing a partnership agreement for the initiative to advance women’s economic empowerment and gender equality in international trade;
• Exploring ways to encourage US and European companies to engage in efforts to advance a more diverse and inclusive workplace that supports women, including women-owned and operated US exporters and US business interests abroad;
• Identifying opportunities to improve the business environment for women, including access to e-commerce tools; and
• Identifying opportunities and mechanisms to increase awareness of available trade, investment, and export-related services, programs, and overseas events.

Learn more about this initiative: HERE