A growing body of research concludes that diversity – gender and other – is essential for productivity, competitiveness and innovation for companies, and investing in women is critical for poverty reduction. Women influence up to 80 percent of global spending. Given this, it is important that women are able to have a strong say in how products and services are developed, and that companies are responsive to this market segment. According to a Deloitte study companies with diverse leadership teams that include a significant percentage of women are more innovative and generate higher financial returns.