Women's Forum for the Economy & Society

Women's Forum Corporate Logo

The Women's Forum for the Economy & Society is a leading platform that highlights women's voices and perspectives on pressing global issues ranging from sustainable development and economy to culture and media. Headquartered in Paris, France with global influence, the Women's Forum for the Economy & Society manifests a commitment to women's leadership and progress throughout the year with a range of Initiatives in partnership with businesses, cultural and media leaders and nongovernmental organisations.

History

The Women's Forum for the Economy & Society was established in 2005 by Aude de Thuin with the support of a group of influential French women, including Véronique Morali, Anne Lauvergeon, Laurence Parisot and Dominique Hériad Dubreuil. Publicis Groupe is a major stakeholder of the Women's Forum since September 2009.

In 2014, Jacqueline Franjou was confirmed as the CEO of the Women's Forum. Clara Gaymard held the position as the President from 2014 to 2018.  In January 2017, Chiara Corazza was named the managing director, who has previously been the managing director of the Greater Paris Investment Agency (GPIA), among other prestigious roles. Dame Kristen Scott Thomas was also named the honorary president of the Women's Forum that year.

In March 2021, Audrey Tcherkoff was appointed the new managing director of the Women's Forum, she also serves as the Executive President of the Institute for positive Economy (Institut de l’Économie Positive) founded by Jacques Attali.

Women's Forum Global Meeting in Paris

Meetings

Over the years, the Women's Forum has convened over 60,000 delegates from over 158 nationalities at its various international Meetings. Sectors represented include:

Industries (energy, healthcare, retail...)	30%
Entertainment and media	15%
Finance	25%
Public sector, Non-Profit & Governments	20%
Other	10%

Previous Global Meetings

The flagship Women's Forum Global Meeting moved to Paris from Deauville, France in 2017. Every year, the Global Meeting brings together over 2,500 delegates from 90 countries and builds on the success of Women's Forum Meetings with a regional focus.

The 2019 Women's Forum Global Meeting featured special delegations from around the Globe, youth delegations, CEO Champions, the 2019 batch of Rising Talents and more on the pillars of shifting mindsets, reimagining organisations and putting technology to work to “Taking the lead for inclusion: Accelerating impact.”

Previous Regional Meetings

Along with the successes of the Women's Forum Brazil in 2012, 2013 and 2014, the international expansion of the Women's Forum gathered steam with successive Meetings in Myanmar in 2013 and 2014. Women's Forum Italy, which took place during Expo Milano 2015, focused on issues surrounding food and nutrition from the perspective of gender. In 2016 Global Women's Forum Dubai examined the achievements of women in the Arab world. The inaugural edition of Women's Forum Mexico highlighted what women and men in Mexico can do to ‘co-create together’. And Women's Forum Mauritius explored climate change from the perspective of African countries and Small Island Developing States.

In 2017, the Women's Forum Rome (26-27 June) focused on revitalising Europe with women's energy for peace and prosperity, while the Women's Forum Global Meeting convened for the first time in Paris (5-6 October) on the theme ‘Engage for Impact! Daring to lead in a disrupted world’. The second edition of Women's Forum Mexico (8-9 November) was dedicated to the unsung heroes who demonstrated incredible civic engagement during the earthquakes.

In 2018, Women's Forum Canada (10-11 May) generated concrete ideas to inform and influence the agenda of the G7 Summit for inclusive progress. The Manifesto focused on security, women in the workforce, access to education and technology, realigning public and private policy and more. Women's Forum Singapore (12-14 Sept) fostered women's leadership for social progress and economic impact in Singapore and the region in the France-Singapore Year of Innovation.

Partners

Strategic Committee

American Express, AXA, Bayer, BNP Paribas, Google, Microsoft, P&G, and Publicis Groupe co-constructed the objectives and goals for the year of 2020 with the Women's Forum. The engagement of the Strategic Committee in the Women's Forum Meetings around the world, in the five Daring Circles, has generated a long-term positive impact throughout the year on global issues most affecting women and where the leadership of women is paramount.

Global Partners

Global Partners of the Women's Forum include Accenture, Bouygues, Johnson & Johnson and Lenovo.

Editorial Partners

Décisions Durables, Linkedin, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal are the editorial partners of the Women's Forum.

Initiatives

The Women's Forum has initiated a range of initiatives to support women around the globe.

Daring Circles

Daring Circles are workgroups that build on existing research compiled in time by the Women's Forum. They draw on the collaborative expertise of its partners to reveal innovative views and insights, and generate positive societal and economic outcomes.

Each program consists of a combination of strategic members, global partners, knowledge partners sourcing content and institutional partners with relevant policy influence and expertise. The Daring Circles aim to generate evidence-based insights and drive tangible action among members and beyond.

The Women's Forum launched Daring Circles 5 key areas:

Women & Climate

• Led by AXA, which addresses gender gaps and ensures women lead in healthtech.

Women & AI

• Led by BNP Paribas and L’Oréal, which enables women to lead actions against climate change and addresses its disproportionate impact on women.

Women & STEM

• Led by Microsoft, which inspires organisations to apply gender-lens to their AI development and implementation.

Women & Access to Health

• Led by Google, which promotes the increase of the representation, leadership and impact of women with STEM skills.

Women & Business

• Led by P&G, which raises awareness of the power of procurement for women's economic empowerment and promotes women-owned businesses.

The report “Women at the Heart of the Economy”

After the G7 hosted and chaired by France in Biarritz in August 2019, Ms. Chiara Corazza, managing director of the Women's Forum, was commissioned by Ms. Marlène Schiappa, French Government Minister of State for Gender Equality and the Fight against Discrimination, and by Mr. Cédric O, French Government Minister of State for the Digital Sector, to provide critical policy proposals and a national action plan to foster the attractiveness of STEM skills for girls and women throughout their lives.

Thanks to the tremendous support from all the partners of the Women's Forum, Ms. Corazza proposed 27 recommendations, outlined in the report “Women at the Heart of the Economy” and designed to enable women to be where they can have a positive and decisive social and economic impact in order to bring their added value to a rapidly changing world.

These proposals will contribute to the law for women's economic empowerment that the French Government is submitting in 2020. France will lead by example, inspiring other G7 Governments and beyond.

Rising Talents

The Rising Talents program aims to distinguish highly talented young women who will become influential figures in our economies and societies in the future. In partnership with Eurazeo, Spencer Stuart and Lazard, the initiative is an example of the values championed by the Women's Forum since its creation. The Rising Talents network includes more than 100 members and offers networking opportunities year-round. Having celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2017, this initiative brings the vision of these change-makers to the Women's Forum. Each year some 15 young women join the Rising Talents network, attend the Women's Forum Global Meeting and regional Women's Forum meetings, benefiting from enhanced networking activities during these events and in the future.

CEO Champions

CEO Champions is an initiative launched in 2010 by the Women's Forum, designed to drive progress and accountability for women's advancement in the private and public sectors. In partnership with McKinsey & Company, the peer-to-peer network presents an opportunity for CEOs to underscore their organization's commitment to women's advancement as well as taking a strong leadership role in the broader global economy and society. CEO Champions members are participants who track and drive measurable progress for women's advancement through on-record mutual commitments and accountability. Now in its ninth year, the CEO Champions Initiative is a pioneer as a high-level international platform that advocates for the inclusion of both men and women at the leadership level in the private as well as the public sector. In 2018, the Women's Forum gathered over 150 CEOs at CEO Champions workshops, organized in partnership with McKinsey & Company, in Canada, Singapore and France.

External links

• (in English) Women's Forum website
• Women's Forum for the Economy and Society YouTube channel