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AIWF Young Arab Women Leaders Conference, Morocco
Close to 200 delegates from the Arab world and internationally attended this highly successful conference, AIWF’s first ever event in Morocco, and the 9th event in this series designed by Arab International Women's Forum in partnership with PwC to nurture the next generation of young women entrepreneurs, helping to empower them as they aspire to leadership roles in business and in public life.
The 9th Young Arab Women Leaders conference in Morocco aimed to recognise and celebrate the contribution of Moroccan business women whilst inspiring the next generation of young women leaders to contribute to the development of the national economy and to MENA long-term economic growth.
The objective of the Young Arab Women Leaders programme is to support and nurture young women entrepreneurs, community leaders and change agents in the Arab world, and to engage in dialogue and debate on challenges and opportunities for young women in leadership roles, on corporate boards, in social enterprise and tech innovation, and in the energy, finance, law and STEM sectors.
The programme brought high caliber speakers from government, business and civil society organisations together with talented, driven young women who aspire to community, business and political leadership. For more details
London & Toronto: Diversity is our Strength
In light of Canada’s 150th birthday and the “London is Open” campaign, this Diversity is our Strength event highlighted the importance of immigrants and women to the economic growth, innovation and international impact of Toronto and London, two of the world’s most diverse and dynamic cities.
The session was hosted by the High Commissioner for Canada to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Janice Charette and Ontario’s Minister of International Trade, the Honourable Michael Chan and was partnered by the London Women's Forum and the London Chambers of Commerce. The event stressed how diversity must be addressed and wanted female entrepeneurs and women business leaders to be inspired and confident to expand their businesses internationally.
A study by Dell Women Entrepeneurs City Index ranked Toronto and London in the top ten.
A panel on Women's International Impact moderated by Diana Carney, Director, Strategy & Programmes at Pi Capital considered some of issues affecting women in the workplace; like leadership, flexible working, maternity and paternity rights, executive diversity and how to get heard.
Marion Leslie: Chair, London Women's Forum & Managing Director Enterprise Business at Thomson Reuters (TR) said those firms with a diverse workplace outperformed and there were tangible benefits in a company's economic performance.
It could result in an improvement of 53% on return on equity, drive customer loyalty and employee engagement. TR has 30% of women in senior executive positions and a target of 40%.
There's a realisation that there is not one thing you can do but a number of actions need to happen from day one that a woman is employed, said Leslie, adding that there's a realisation that attitudes need to change. It is an opportunity to unlock economic power if you unleash your female workforce.
Angelique Mohring: CEO, Gain X told delegates she had battled the challenges of being invisible in the boardroom throughout her career and she had worked hard on changing business culture.
While Georgia Hanias: Head of Global Communications & Diversity Programmes, Innovate Finance said they had put together a manifesto to attract and retain female talent and one part of it was to show there was flexible working for both parents.
The focus is to change the mindset and the language. At Innovate Finance the CEO, who's male, also does flexible working.
Iceland will become the first country to make employers pay men and women equally: WEF
For eight years in a row, this tiny Nordic nation has topped the World Economic Forum’s ranking of nations with the smallest gender gap.
Iceland has brought in measures to improve equality for women, such as quotas on corporate boards and government committees. And in 2016, female
representation in the Icelandic parliament reached 48%.
But the country’s gender pay gap has not been shrinking fast enough.
In October, thousands of women across Iceland walked out of their workplaces at 2.38pm. The pay discrepancy means that Icelandic women effectively work without pay after this time, according to unions and women’s organizations.
Gaining Ground on Equal Pay: Empowering Boston’s Women Through Salary Negotiation Workshops
Gaining Ground on Equal Pay, examines the first year of Boston's salary negotiation workshop programme for women, which reached close to 1,800 women organised by the American Association of University Women.
The study is filled with fascinating personal testimonies from the women who took part, showing the positive impact the workshops had on their ability to negotiate for better pay and/or conditions, the networks they established and the sense of confidence and self-value they gained.
Some 87 percent of the workshop participants used the research tools they received to identify the appropriate salaries for their positions.
Close to half negotiated increased compensation for their existing job or achieved a competitive starting salary for a new job.
The workshops are being offered to women at universities or those starting out in their first job and to those already working with the full support of the City of Boston.
Eventually, AAUW Work Smart in Boston hopes to train 85,000 women --half of Boston’s working women, from every neighborhood of the city.
As the authors of the study say, closing the gender wage gap is not only the right thing to do; it is important to the city’s economy and to the bottom lines of our businesses.
"Women make up the majority of our population, but like every city and company in the nation, women, especially women of color, are underrepresented and underpaid in our workforce."
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