The 45th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum concluded on January 24 with yet another record setting year in number of heads of state and other influential participants in attendance, myriad of sessions ranging from cognitive science and future of robotics to global economic outlook and taking stake of the multiplying political risks hotspot around the world.
From Gender Parity to Gender Progress
About a decade ago, women participation in Davos (heads of state, ministers, leaders of multilateral organizations, and C-suite execs combined) was a meager 9% of the total number participants. Even though this year’s 17% of women in the top echelons of power was far from gender parity representation at the Annual Meeting, it was significant progress. In fact, one of the participants of the annual women leaders’ dinner commented that it wasn’t just about the numbers, but the caliber of the 17%—with the likes of Christine Lagarde, Angela Merkel, Sheryl Sandberg, or Melinda Gates who doubled that percentage in impact.
The Forum also evolved and made significant progress in how the gender themes were integrated into the main program. In earlier years, there were no sessions that were even focused on these issues or addressed the topic of lack of women’s representation in the program head on. This changed gradually and a few years ago sessions such as “Interventions to Close the Gender Gap” started peppering the main program. This year’s sessions addressed business and the economy, as opposed to “fringe women issues”. The Diversity Dividend session, led by BBC’s Linda Yueh focused in part on LGBT inclusion and linked diversity with organizational innovation. Another session that fell under the “gender progress” rubric brought together Arne Sorenson—president and CEO of Marriott International, Guler Sabanci, chairwoman of Sabanci Holdings and one of the co-chairs of Turkey’s B-20 host group, Bain’s chairwoman Orit Gadiesh, and Berkley’s Laura Tyson. Not your typical crowd to be discussing closing the gender gap for women in tech.
Shifting the Center of Gravity
A couple of other interesting trends I observed were around the “decentralization” of the discussion. There were a lot more women representing emerging markets this year and their presence was particularly felt: from Zhang Xin—the CEO of China’s SOHO, the largest real estate company to Sung-joo Kim, Founder of Sungjoo Group from Korea, to Mexico’s Angélica Fuentes, the CEO of Mexico’s Grupo Omnilife, to Cecilia Álvarez-Correa Glen, Colombia's Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.
A number of corporations embraced women leadership as a convening topic for their Davos receptions or private events: Credit Suisse hosted their “Women of Impact” dinner, Mercer had a breakfast titled “When Women Thrive, Businesses Win” and the star for the UN Sustainable Development Goals breakfast was Emma Watson who spoke about the #HeforShe campaign.
Some of the more meaningful conversations happened in less formal settings and it was also very telling to see how common some of the issues faced by women cut across organizations, cultures, and age groups. My table mates at the women leaders’ dinner were particularly inspiring: a Portuguese and an Egyptian, a business entrepreneur, an academic, a Silicon Valley executive—were equally fired up about getting men some equal rights like paternity leave, flexible childcare, and other benefits that would truly help change our worlds.
Anna Tunkel is vice president and director of strategic initiatives at the office of executive chairman, APCO Worldwide. She manages APCO’s partnership with the World Economic Forum. Follow her at @atunkel.
DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 22JAN15 - Marissa Mayer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Yahoo, USA; Young Global Leader is captured during the session 'In Tech We Trust' in the congress centre at the Annual Meeting 2015 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 22, 2015. Photo by swiss-image.ch/Monika Flueckiger
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Davos Women: Key Takeaways from Davos 2015
March 14, 2015
The 45th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum concluded on January 24 with yet another record setting year in number of heads of state and other influential participants in attendance, myriad of sessions ranging from cognitive science and future of robotics to global economic outlook and taking stake of the multiplying political risks hotspot around the world.
From Gender Parity to Gender Progress
About a decade ago, women participation in Davos (heads of state, ministers, leaders of multilateral organizations, and C-suite execs combined) was a meager 9% of the total number participants. Even though this year’s 17% of women in the top echelons of power was far from gender parity representation at the Annual Meeting, it was significant progress. In fact, one of the participants of the annual women leaders’ dinner commented that it wasn’t just about the numbers, but the caliber of the 17%—with the likes of Christine Lagarde, Angela Merkel, Sheryl Sandberg, or Melinda Gates who doubled that percentage in impact.
The Forum also evolved and made significant progress in how the gender themes were integrated into the main program. In earlier years, there were no sessions that were even focused on these issues or addressed the topic of lack of women’s representation in the program head on. This changed gradually and a few years ago sessions such as “Interventions to Close the Gender Gap” started peppering the main program. This year’s sessions addressed business and the economy, as opposed to “fringe women issues”. The Diversity Dividend session, led by BBC’s Linda Yueh focused in part on LGBT inclusion and linked diversity with organizational innovation. Another session that fell under the “gender progress” rubric brought together Arne Sorenson—president and CEO of Marriott International, Guler Sabanci, chairwoman of Sabanci Holdings and one of the co-chairs of Turkey’s B-20 host group, Bain’s chairwoman Orit Gadiesh, and Berkley’s Laura Tyson. Not your typical crowd to be discussing closing the gender gap for women in tech.
Shifting the Center of Gravity
A couple of other interesting trends I observed were around the “decentralization” of the discussion. There were a lot more women representing emerging markets this year and their presence was particularly felt: from Zhang Xin—the CEO of China’s SOHO, the largest real estate company to Sung-joo Kim, Founder of Sungjoo Group from Korea, to Mexico’s Angélica Fuentes, the CEO of Mexico’s Grupo Omnilife, to Cecilia Álvarez-Correa Glen, Colombia's Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.
A number of corporations embraced women leadership as a convening topic for their Davos receptions or private events: Credit Suisse hosted their “Women of Impact” dinner, Mercer had a breakfast titled “When Women Thrive, Businesses Win” and the star for the UN Sustainable Development Goals breakfast was Emma Watson who spoke about the #HeforShe campaign.
Some of the more meaningful conversations happened in less formal settings and it was also very telling to see how common some of the issues faced by women cut across organizations, cultures, and age groups. My table mates at the women leaders’ dinner were particularly inspiring: a Portuguese and an Egyptian, a business entrepreneur, an academic, a Silicon Valley executive—were equally fired up about getting men some equal rights like paternity leave, flexible childcare, and other benefits that would truly help change our worlds.
Anna Tunkel is vice president and director of strategic initiatives at the office of executive chairman, APCO Worldwide. She manages APCO’s partnership with the World Economic Forum. Follow her at @atunkel.
DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 22JAN15 - Marissa Mayer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Yahoo, USA; Young Global Leader is captured during the session 'In Tech We Trust' in the congress centre at the Annual Meeting 2015 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 22, 2015. Photo by swiss-image.ch/Monika Flueckiger
