The Women Economic Forum (WEF) was held for the first time in Mexico from October 15 to 17 at the Banamex Center in Mexico City, with the objective of strengthening the leadership of Mexican women. The event featured more than 100 papers, including keynote lectures, expert panels and interviews, bringing together entrepreneurs, authors, opinion leaders, representatives of civil society organizations and public officials in an inclusive collaboration and synergy creation space.
Among the presenters were Yalitza Aparicio, teacher, actress and Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO; Rosario Marín, former United States treasurer; political scientist Denise Dresser; Nadine Gasman, head of the National Women\’s Institute; and Olga Sánchez Cordero, the first woman to hold the position of Secretary of the Interior in Mexico. Olga was in charge of inaugurating the event and expressed her commitment to helping Mexican women break the glass ceiling.
During this event, The Trust for the Americas was present in two spaces to share the results and the valuable experience obtained through the VIVE Project – Come, Get Inspired and Sell – on the issue of empowering women.
During the first day of activities, Klaudia González, National Coordinator of the VIVE Project, was part of the panel entitled Women with Cause, alongside María Elena Morera, President and founder of Causa en Común, and Mercedes Palomar, Founder and director of Lady Multitask. The panel was moderated by Joanna Cristo, Executive Director of Puerto al Desarrollo. The conversation explained the importance of including women in development projects, both in their design and implementation.
Klaudia González, who also participated in an interview for WEF Mexico available here, explained the various programs that The Trust for the Americas has in Mexico and shared the results that Project VIVE has had, highlighting the importance of recognizing the work of and for women. Klaudia also acknowledged the enormous work done by the Project\’s training team, composed mainly of women, which has managed to train almost 50,000 women in three years despite the obstacles involved in working with communities in conditions of greater vulnerability.
That same day, María Alejandra Barrios, Communication Officer of the VIVE Project; Laura Hernández, CDMX Linker and Fabiola Martínez, a beneficiary, participated in the “Leading with your heart” panel. During this panel the different ways of exercising leadership were explored, as well as the importance of having passion in your projects. “A leader always sees an obstacle as an opportunity for learning and growth,” noted Barrios during the presentation.
Both panels were transmitted in real time via Facebook through the official VIVE Project website and had a total viewership of more than 100 people.
The Women Economic Forum is a global initiative started in India and led by Harbeen Arora, the founder of the All Ladies League. The project has gained a strong foothold in the region thanks to the work of Michelle Ferrari, President of the WEF in Mexico. On the closing day of activities, several awards were given to outstanding participants, including a prize for social innovation, female entrepreneurship, efforts in diversity and inclusion, among others.
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