Slideshow: Women's Economic Empowerment in Mexico - Lessons from the Top

AS/COA's Women's Hemispheric Network, in partnership with Grupo Expansión, held the workshop “Women’s Economic Empowerment in Mexico: Lessons from the Top” on November 18, 2014 in Mexico City. The event brought together leading women in business and public service to share their success stories and draw lessons for a rising generation of young professionals at the local and regional level. Audience members included women working in the fields of finance, law, entrepreneurship, communications, government, and more.

During opening remarks, Reyna Torres Mendivil, Director General for the Protection of Mexicans Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Relations, spoke on the challenges she experienced early in her career as a woman diplomat, saying institutional and legal changes are needed for women’s advancement in Mexico. In a panel titled "Lead to Inspire, Inspire to Lead" moderated by the founder of Start Up Mexico Media Lab S21, Rossana Fuentes-Berain, she noted that women must prepare themselves to compete for positions of leadership and that women who leaves decisions to someone else won’t “make it." She was joined by: Mercedes Aráoz, representative for Mexico at the Inter-American Development Bank; Tanya Moss, founder of Tanya Moss Joyería; Adriana Tortajada, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Mexican Ministry of the Economy; and Monica Flores, Regional Managing Director for Latin America at ManpowerGroup Mexico. They reflected on women in the field of entrepreneurship, overcoming stereotypes, and particular strengths women bring together in any job role. In a conversation with Susan Segal, President and CEO of Americas Society/Council of the Americas, Omnilife CEO and Angelíssima founder Angélica Fuentes Téllez and the President of Greenberg Traurig LLP's Global Practice Group, Patricia Menéndez Cambó, shared their career experiences, emphasizing the importance of networking and that, when a woman becomes a leader, she must teach others how to be leaders as well. Former First Lady of Mexico Margarita Zavala closed the event by stressing that finding a life balance is important, not just for women, but for men as well.

For more information, visit the Women's Hemispheric Network portal.

Photos by Keith Dannemiller