AS/COA Sixth Women's Hemispheric Network Conference

(Image: Roey Yohai Photography)

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AS/COA Hosts Sixth Annual Women's Hemispheric Network Conference in New York

The October 19 forum featured panels and networking opportunities for participants keen to share personal stories and professional advice.

New York, October 20, 2017—How can women build a powerful personal brand, and how does unconscious bias affect women’s ability to succeed in their careers? On October 19, Americas Society/Council of the Americas (AS/COA) hosted leaders from the public and private sector before an audience of more than 130 young female and male professionals for a conversation on these and other relevant issues at the Sixth Annual Women’s Hemispheric Network Conference in New York. The half-day forum featured panels and networking opportunities for participants keen to share personal stories and professional advice.

“There’s no initiative as impactful as this because if we can create networks, provide support and highlight amazing stories, then maybe we will just help a few, a hundred, or a thousand women to stay in the workforce,” said AS/COA President and CEO Susan Segal. “And it is only then when you have diversity that you can make a real impact and effect change,” she said.

In her keynote remarks, Grupo Diarq’s President and CEO Gina Diez Barroso shared her personal story of resilience in the face of adversity. Barroso, who also represents Mexico at the W20, the G20 women initiative, announced the upcoming launch of her new education initiative, Dalia Empower, a network of centers scheduled to open in several countries in the Americas, including the United States.

A conversation on the importance of building a powerful personal brand, led by Sapient Razorfish’s Growth Strategist for North America Marco Ambrosio, provided advice on how young professionals can identify their unique traits and use them to achieve their goals. Panelists included Neri Design Group’s Founder and Creative Chief Officer Gabriela Neri, HSBC’s Managing Director and Loan Syndications Head Monica Macia, and Arcos Dorados’ Corporate Social Engagement Senior Director Lyana Latorre.

Recognizing and interrupting unconscious biases in the workplace was the topic discussed by INCAE’s Center for Collaborative and Women’s Leadership Research Director Susan Clancy, Nuevo León Senator Christina Díaz, Philip Morris International’s President for Latin America & Canada Jeanne Pollès, and Cleary Gottlieb partner Nicolas Grabar. The leading figures shared insights on how to challenge assumptions about women and which organizational systems can ensure recruitment, job interviews, and performance evaluations are not defined by biases. Catalyst’s Government Affairs Vice President Serena Fong moderated the conversation.

AS/COA Women’s Hemispheric Network launched in 2012 as a workshop on economic empowerment in New York, bringing together over 100 women at different stages of their professional careers, along with then-UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet and First Lady of Mexico Margarita Zavala, who served as keynote speakers. Since then, the Network has held events in Bogota, Buenos Aires, Lima, Mexico City, Miami, Panama City, Santiago, and São Paulo.

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AS/COA Women’s Hemispheric Network is sponsored by HSBC. 

Additional support: Braskem America and Philip Morris International.

Americas Society is the premier organization dedicated to education, debate, and dialogue in the Americas. Established by David Rockefeller in 1965, our mission is to foster an understanding of the contemporary political, social, and economic issues confronting Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada, and to increase public awareness and appreciation of the diverse cultural heritage of the Americas and the importance of the inter-American relationship. Council of the Americas is the premier international business organization whose members share a common commitment to economic and social development, open markets, the rule of law, and democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere.

 

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