A Woman for All Women

Women from government, public and private sector congregated in London on April 2 for the Women of the Future Economic Empowerment Summit where a dialogue among global female leaders began to discuss the importance of women’s role in the economy. Pinky Lilani – founder of the Asian Women of Achievement Awards and author of the Indian cookbook Spice Magic – founded and coordinated the Summit.

During the event she noted: “I wanted to get people of influence and people who can make a difference to come together to discuss issues that basically effect women deeply, but I wanted men involved in the situation because really we can’t do much without them, and the objective is to begin a conversation which I hope will become louder and will engage more and more people on issues like climate change, leadership styles, and entrepreneurship. It was really to get women together and make a difference.”

Regarded as one of the world’s most powerful businesswomen, Indra Nooyi (see picture of Indra and me), the CEO and chairman of PepsiCo, gave an inspirational keynote address. Indra candidly spoke about how her success did not come without a struggle. She outlined three important aspects of progress for women in the workplace:

“The biological clock and the career clock are ticking at the same time. The desire to start and raise a family occurs at exactly the moment in their lives that their careers are starting to take shape. The conflict is real, but we can manage it better. When I say we, I mean three separate communities: I mean women themselves, good companies and I mean governments through public policy.”

Not only would change in the workplace in regards to work/life balance benefit women, but also men who are often facing some of the same issues as parents. As Indra asked, “What about women to who maternity leave is unheard of, the right to vote is considered a luxury, and equal pay, equal opportunity is science fiction?” Women need to serve as catalysts to lobby for other women around the world. 

The third aspect of her speech was about the importance of good public policy that has the potential to transform the way we work and live in cooperation with companies. For example, in the United Kingdom women have the option of taking up to a year of maternity leave, and they often do. Although this may be thought of as a benefit, it may also put women at a disadvantage. Often times women are replaced when they get back to work, or lose the competition for a promotion, and find it harder to transition back on the career path that they had paved for themselves. Doing Business is currently working on compiling labor laws that affect women. Research will have to be done-- are maternity leave and early retirement age actually benefits for women?

Other inspirational female leaders who spoke included Cherie Booth, an English barrister and wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Shami Chakrabarti, also an English barrister and director of Liberty, a British pressure group, and Fru Hazlitt, recently named CEO of GCap Media. Amanda Natalie Ellis, lead gender specialist from the World Bank was also a part of the Women in Entrepreneurship panel.

The event was the first of its kind to provide a platform for strong role models to inspire women to find their voice and challenge the barriers they face on the path to economic, educational, and political empowerment.