Women as a Driver of Economic Growth

At a Peterson Institute event held June 24, 2013, Heidi Crebo-Rediker, chief economist at the US Department of State, discussed how to ensure that women, as proven drivers of economic growth, can be fully utilized in economies around the world. Minouche Shafik, International Monetary Fund, and Carly Fiorina, Hewlett-Packard, joined the event as discussants.

Heidi Crebo-Rediker joined the US State Department as its first chief economist in March 2012. Previously, she served as chief of International Finance and Economics for the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Prior to her work on Capitol Hill, Ms. Crebo-Rediker spent nearly two decades as a senior investment banker in Europe and led a wide range of activities to promote markets, privatization, and entrepreneurship, and went on to structure and lead many pioneering transactions in transition economies. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the London School of Economics.

Minouche Shafik has served as deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund since 2011. Shafik was the youngest-ever vice president at the World Bank, where she was responsible for a private sector and infrastructure portfolio of investments and was part of the senior management team of the International Finance Corporation. She was the Permanent Secretary of the UK Department for International Development (DFID). She earned degrees from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst and the London School of Economics, as well as a PhD in economics from Oxford University.

Carly Fiorina served as the chairman and chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005. She became the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 company and was named by Fortune as "Most Powerful Woman in Business" for six consecutive years. Fiorina is the founder of the One Woman Initiative. She earned her undergraduate degree from Stanford University, an MBA from the University of Maryland, and a Master of Science degree in Business from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Event Materials

Prepared Remarks: Pushing Forward Gender-Driven Growth
Heidi Crebo-Rediker
June 24, 2013