The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage company with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories. Coca-Cola in the ASEAN and South Pacific (ASP) region serves over 40 well-loved brands across 25 diverse countries in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.

In 2023, Coca-Cola hosted an event in Australia that was the region’s first global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Summit. Called ‘Level the Playing Field’,’ this summit brought together an outstanding array of expert speakers, thought leaders, and pioneers in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion to drive focus on women and underrepresented groups in business and society and advance women in the boardroom.

Held in August 2023 as part of Coca-Cola’s program of events in conjunction with its sponsorship of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in Australia and New Zealand, the Level the Playing Field Summit was a standalone event attended by over 500 people.

The summit used storytelling techniques to inspire audience members and challenge them to raise the status of women and under-represented groups in society and business. The summit was also used as the launch platform for a groundbreaking new partnership between The Coca-Cola Foundation and Kiva, a nonprofit organisation issuing microloans to empower and support female entrepreneurs. Lastly, it served as a catalyst for Coca-Cola’s continued advancement towards a 50% gender balance at senior leadership levels within the company, employee pride and engagement, and execution of the company’s wider purpose to ‘refresh the world and make a difference’.

The problem that the Level the Playing Field Summit sought to address is global; namely, women still do not experience equity with men within business and society more broadly. This is true of Australia, with women remaining under-represented in key decision-making roles across almost all industries and in many countries closest to Australia in the Asia Pacific region. Coca-Cola knew that the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ was going to be a catalyst for change and wanted to leverage the spotlight it had to drive gender equity and advance women in business.

The Level the Playing Field Summit pushed the conversation around gender, equity, diversity, education, and opportunities for systemic change. The landmark event recognised our collective progress towards achieving equity and inclusion in society, sport, and business and enabled important discussions around continued vulnerabilities and societal challenges where we need to make meaningful progress.

Working in partnership with an external consultancy specialised in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Coca-Cola identified that there are three pillars it needed to address: educating the audience; highlighting opportunities to address inequality; and driving systemic change. A wide array of external speakers was assembled and primed to take the audience on this journey, inspiring and challenging attendees to make changes in their organisations.

In addition to addressing equity and inclusion topics via a one-off event, Coca-Cola wanted to leave a lasting legacy and positive changes. To do so, Coca-Cola used the Level the Playing Field Summit to launch a new global five-year partnership between The Coca-Cola Foundation and Kiva, a microloan nonprofit organisation. Kiva is best known for its global lending platform, which provides a simple way to connect lenders with borrowers through crowdfunding microfinance. This is an effective strategy to help get loans to people who would not otherwise have access to commercial bank services.

This forms part of the lasting legacy of the summit initiative. Launched during this summit in 2023, the Change Make Her program has since grown to incorporate the company’s entities in Latin America, Africa, and Europe, magnifying its impact. The initial $1.1 million investment in 2023 could result in between $3.2 and $4.5 million in loan volume over five years, Emphasising Coca-Cola’s dedication to lifting women entrepreneurs and solidifying their access to essential financial resources.

The summit garnered significant earned coverage across different media outlets, delivering its objective of drawing attention to the challenges facing women’s development in business. Across earned, paid and social coverage, the event reached a far larger audience than was possible on the day, reaching an estimated 93.8 million people through various impressions. A 6-page post-summit report was produced, capturing the key messages from the speakers and panels and practical tips and actions that participants could take in the aftermath to promote equity at home, in the workplace and in society following the summit.

Overall, the summit left a significant positive impact on employee engagement and pride within the company.

For information about The Coca-Cola Company, visit coca-cola.com/au/en