Remarks by Under Secretary Marisa Lago at EMPOWER HER Event at Trade Winds 2024 - MAY 13

Istanbul, Türkiye 
May 13, 2024

As Prepared

Good morning, everyone. I’m so delighted to see such an enthusiastic audience for this important event. As many of you know, I’m a deeply passionate advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility — both within and beyond the U.S. Department of Commerce.  

And, I couldn’t be more pleased to share the stage with Canan [Özsoy] and Asli [Özelli], who I’m seeing for the third time and in a third different city. During my tenure, Canan is the only senior representative of an American Chamber of Commerce worldwide who’s come to Washington with a Chamber delegation comprised entirely of women business leaders.  

Recently, I also met with a group of leaders in Washington who represent American Chambers of Commerce in 31 countries across Europe, and I was impressed by the fact that about 75 percent of these leaders were female.  

As for the EMPOWER HER initiative, I’ve been so proud of the widespread participation that we’ve seen since the launch in 2022. There have been 80 different EMPOWER HER events across Europe and Eurasia — about a dozen of which I’ve participated in. While each event is different, reflecting the local context, they have a common theme: sharing best practices for making meaningful progress on women’s economic empowerment and women’s leadership in international trade. Over 165 companies have signed an AmCham Declaration of Support, committing to reducing gender pay gaps, to increasing female representation in leadership positions, and to investing in women-focused programs for leadership development and skill-building.  

What does this mean in practice? Let me highlight two specific examples of successful collaboration through the EMPOWER HER initiative. First, in Italy, the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, which I have the privilege of leading, worked with AmCham Italy to co-author a white paper on best practices to create more inclusive work environments, while improving Italy’s competitiveness and company bottom lines. The white paper was so popular that the Mayor of Milan participated in its launch event!    

The second example is from Ukraine, where ITA has organized a webinar series for Ukrainian women entrepreneurs, who are operating under very difficult circumstances. This series has included a business accelerator program, which has already helped both a Ukrainian and a U.S. company generate new sales and hire more employees.  

Now, turning to the specific focus of today’s event — artificial intelligence — we know that AI is extremely powerful and already transforming how we do business.  

We’re already seeing a number of positive applications. For example, AI can improve accessibility for people with disabilities, expanding the participation of all communities in the digital economy. Through natural language processing, computer vision and assistive technologies, AI can enhance communication and increase access to educational resources.  

At the same time, however, it’s essential to integrate the development of AI with diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility efforts so as to prevent this technology from further widening the gender gap — or further excluding other underserved communities.  

To state the obvious, there are already significant gaps in how women can access digital technologies and economic opportunities globally. However, when used appropriately, AI has the potential to identify and mitigate biases or barriers to access, such as by helping recruiters attract a more diverse pool of talent.  

At the Commerce Department, we have a bureau called the National Institute of Standards and Technology — or NIST, for short. NIST has been working for several years to advance trustworthy and responsible AI systems, including by reducing the risks of bias. And, speaking of inspiring women, NIST is led by a superb biomedical engineer and scientist, Dr. Laurie Locascio.

The Commerce Department also recently launched the U.S. AI Safety Institute, which is likewise led by outstanding women — from its Director, Elizabeth Kelly, to its Chief Technology Officer, Elham Tabassi, who was featured last year on the cover of Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in AI. Seeing these stellar women in science and technology — seeing all of the women leaders in this room — gives me incredible hope.  

Let me end by noting that governments can’t tackle the challenges and opportunities presented by AI alone. We absolutely need the private sector. Which is why today’s list of speakers is so exciting, featuring a wide array of women leading the way at top AI companies.  

I look forward to learning from the many experts gathered here on how we can harness the potential of AI to build a more inclusive economy for all businesses, workers and communities. Thank you.