The connection between women's economic participation and prosperity is undeniable. Over the past two decades, a growing number of international organizations and world leaders have recognized that the economic empowerment of women is critical to economic growth and stability. Yet despite this growing recognition, national and international economic leaders continue to make and measure policy in ways that undervalue women's work and do not capitalize on women's economic participation.

In this report, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon and Rachel B. Vogelstein show how Washington can reprogram existing economic development funding to promote women's economic empowerment as a tool to accelerate growth and reduce poverty.