Women's Forum for the Economy and Society
Encyclopedia
The Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society was created in 2005 by Aude Zieseniss de Thuin. It aims to promote women’s vision on the key social and economic issues of our times. Geared towards leading women and men, the forum seeks to be a place for debate, exchange, reflection and action and gives women a voice on all major issues facing our societies today and tomorrow.

The Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society was ranked among the top five influential forums worldwide by the Financial Times on 24 January 2007.

History

The Women's Forum for the Economy and Society was established in 2005 to bring together women leaders and their male peers to discuss ways of enhancing women's contribution to the global economy and society. The group's focus is on "building the future with women's vision" and is dedicated to projects in the areas of education; performance and parity in corporations; and employment for women. In 2005, the forum held its first Global Meeting and in 2008, the first edition of its Women's Forum Asia was held.

The founder, Aude Zieseniss de Thuin, is a psychologist by training and founder of other major events including International Direct Marketing Week. After expressing interest in joining the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....

 in Davos
Davos
Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...

 several years ago, and receiving no response, she decided to launch the Women's Forum with a vision of fashioning the forum "in the spirit of promoting women's ideas and actions, a tribune where women can debate and express their views, where women of all generations and cultures can discuss socio-economic issues to help build the future." The Women's Forum is overseen by a Global Council "composed of leading international business, civil society and media figures representing the five continents," which aims to "contribute to the strategic orientation and to the content of the Forum, and to make recommendations on the international positioning of the Forum." Today, the forum operates under its values of "progress through diversity; reconciliation of antagonisms; transformation by example; [and] permanent connection with the realities in the field." The Women's Forum is supported in part by corporate partnerships with its events.

Events

The Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society holds various events.

The Women’s Forum Global Meeting is held in Deauville
Deauville
Deauville is a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and...

 (France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

) each year in October. It welcomes around 1200 participants to discuss various themes on gender diversity.

The first edition was held on 13-15 October 2005. The theme of the first year was "The new dimensions of power and influence". Speakers included Sheikha Lubna al Qasimi
Lubna Khalid Al Qasimi
HE Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi is the Minister for Foreign Trade and was previously Minister of Economic and Planning of the United Arab Emirates . She was appointed on 1 November 2004. Sheikha Lubna holds the distinction of being the first woman to hold a ministerial post in the...

, Cherie Blair
Cherie Blair
Cherie Blair , known professionally as Cherie Booth QC, is a British barrister working in the legal system of England and Wales. She is married to the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair; the couple have three sons and one daughter...

, Barbara Hendricks
Barbara Hendricks
Barbara Hendricks is an African American operatic soprano and concert singer. Hendricks has lived in Europe since 1977, and in Switzerland on Lake Geneva since 1985, She is a citizen of Sweden.-Early life and education:...

, Hung Huang
Hung Huang
Hung Huang is of Chinese descent, and is a television host, author, actress, blogger, media figure, and the publisher of the fashion magazine iLook. A CNN article stated that she had been referred to as "China's answer to Oprah Winfrey and Anna Wintour."...

, Anne-Marie Idrac
Anne-Marie Idrac
Anne-Marie Idrac is a French politician, member of the Nouveau Centre political party, was French Minister of State for foreign trade.- Biography :...

, Taslima Nasreen
Taslima Nasrin
Taslima Nasrin is a Bengali Bangladeshi ex-doctor turned author who has been living in exile since 1994. From a modest literary profile in the late 1980s, she rose to global fame by the end of the 20th century owing to her feminist views and her criticism of Islam in particular and of religion in...

, Simone Veil
Simone Veil
Simone Veil, DBE is a French lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Health under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of the European Parliament and member of the Constitutional Council of France....

, Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist and founder of the Grameen Bank, an institution that provides microcredit to help its clients establish creditworthiness and financial self-sufficiency. In 2006 Yunus and Grameen received the Nobel Peace Prize...

 and Zhang Xin
Zhang Xin (businesswoman)
Zhang Xin is a businesswoman from Mainland China. Presently, she is the CEO of SOHO China, the largest real estate developer in Beijing.Her parents returned to China from Burma in the fifties and worked as translators at the Bureau of Foreign Languages...

.

The second edition was held on 5-6 October 2006. The theme was "Women’s new responsibility for improving our societies". H.M. Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan, Massouma al-Mubarak
Massouma al-Mubarak
Massouma al-Mubarak is Kuwait's first female minister, sworn in on June 20, 2005. She was Minister of Planning and Minister of State for Administrative Development. Massouma al-Mubarak was educated in the United States and is a professor of political science....

, Michèle Alliot-Marie
Michèle Alliot-Marie
Michèle Jeanne Honorine Alliot-Marie, born 10 September 1946 and nicknamed MAM, is a French politician of the Union for a Popular Movement . A member of all but one right-wing governments of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, she was the first woman in France to hold the portfolios of Defense , the...

, Antoinette Batumubwira
Antoinette Batumubwira
Antoinette Batumubwira is a Burundian politician. She was foreign minister of the country from 2005 to 2009. She is married to former foreign minister Jean-Marie Ngendahayo....

, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe is an Austrian businessman. He is the Chairman and former CEO of the Nestlé Group.-Early life:Brabeck-Letmathe was born in a family with its origins in Iserlohn-Letmathe in North West Germany....

, Carlos Ghosn
Carlos Ghosn
Carlos Ghosn, KBE , born 9 March 1954, is a Brazilian-Lebanese-French businessman who is currently the Chairman and CEO of Yokohama, Japan-based Nissan and holds the same positions at Paris-based Renault, which together produce more than one in 10 cars worldwide...

, Diane Kurys
Diane Kurys
Diane Kurys is a French filmmaker and actress. Several of her films as director are autobiographical. Born in Lyon, Rhône, France, her parents divorced when she was a child. She began as an actress with Jean-Louis Barrault's company. She gained film stardom, but didn't like the roles she was...

, Christine Lagarde
Christine Lagarde
Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde is a French lawyer and the managing director of the International Monetary Fund since July 5, 2011...

, Nicole Notat
Nicole Notat
Nicole Notat, born 26 July 1947 in Châtrices, Marne, is the former secretary general of the union CFDT. She is currently founder and president of Vigeo, a company committed to a concept of sustainable development....

, Patricia Russo
Patricia Russo
Patricia F. Russo is an American businessperson most widely known for having served as chief executive officer of Lucent Technologies and its successor, Alcatel-Lucent, a large communications equipment manufacturer. She currently serves on the board of directors of HP, General Motors, Merck & Co....

, among others, were speakers at this edition.

The third edition was held on 11-13 October 2007 under the theme "Building trust in our societies". The main speakers of this edition were: Dora Akunyili
Dora Akunyili
Dora Nkem Akunyili is the former Director General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control of Nigeria and former Nigerian Minister of Information and Communications...

, May Chidiac
May Chidiac
May Chidiac is a Lebanese Christian Maronite journalist.Chidiac is a former television journalist at the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation and one of the station's main television anchors until an assassination attempt on her life...

, H.E. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is a South African politician who was Deputy President of South Africa from 2005 to 2008. She was the first woman to hold the position and was the highest ranking woman in the history of South Africa...

, Ayo Obe, Ana Palacio, Rama Yade
Rama Yade
Rama Yade is a French politician who served in the government of France from 2007 to 2010. She was Secretary of State for Sports and married to Joseph Zimet - son of Yiddish singer Ben Zimet, an adviser to Secretary of State Jean-Marie Bockel.- Early life :Yade was born in Ouakam, Senegal. She...

, among others.

The fourth edition was held on 16-18 October 2008 under the theme "Progress to share, Future to dare".

The 5th edition was held on 15-17 October 2009 under the theme "Think again, think ahead! It is time for action change and hope." Main speakers of this edition: Irina Bokova
Irina Bokova
Irina Georgieva Bokova is a Bulgarian politician, incumbent Directors-General of UNESCO. She was member of the Bulgarian Parliament from the Bulgarian Socialist Party for two terms, minister and deputy minister of foreign affairs in the socialist cabinet of Prime Minister Zhan Videnov, and was...

, Clara Rojas
Clara Rojas
Clara Leticia Rojas González is a Colombian tax lawyer, university lecturer, and campaign manager for former senator and presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. She was kidnapped along with Betancourt by the FARC guerrilla group near San Vicente del Caguán on February 23, 2002, while Betancourt...

, Fadela Amara
Fadela Amara
Fadéla Amara, also known as Fatiha Amara is a French feminist and politician, who began her political life as an advocate for women in the impoverished banlieues. She was the Secretary of State for Urban Policies in the conservative Union for a Popular Movement government of French Prime Minister...

, Meglena Kuneva
Meglena Kuneva
Meglena Shtilianova Kuneva is a Bulgarian and EU politician.Born in Sofia, Kuneva graduated in Law from Sofia University in 1981. In 1984 she became a Doctor of Law. She worked as a journalist for the Law Programme of the Bulgarian National Radio while being an Assistant Professor at Sofia...

, Karen Kornbluh
Karen Kornbluh
Karen Kornbluh is an American government official, and expert on communications policy, international trade and issues affecting working families...

, Anousheh Ansari
Anousheh Ansari
Anousheh Ansari is an engineer and the Iranian-American co-founder and chairman of Prodea Systems. Her previous business accomplishments include serving as co-founder and CEO of Telecom Technologies, Inc. . The Ansari family is also the title sponsor of the Ansari X Prize. On September 18, 2006,...

, Louise Arbour
Louise Arbour
Louise Arbour, is the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal for Ontario and a former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda...

, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Carlos Ghosn, among others

The 6th edition will be held 14-16 October 2010 in Deauville, France.

The first edition of the Women’s Forum Asia was held 15-17 May 2008 in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

. It welcomed more than 700 participants to discuss the theme "Growth and Sustainability: How women are making a difference". A special Brainstorming Meeting was held on 13 May 2009 gathering 80 participants; Joseph Stiglitz was one of the main speaker of this event.

The first Talents Day by the Women’s Forum will be held in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 at the Musée du Quai Branly
Musée du quai Branly
thumb|225px|Musée du quai BranlyThe Musée du quai Branly , known in English as the Quai Branly Museum, nicknamed MQB, is a museum in Paris, France that features indigenous art, cultures and civilizations from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. The museum is located at 37, quai Branly -...

 on 8 July 2008. This event was meant to gather the feminine talents of tomorrow and allow them to network, debate with diversity managers from big companies and meet exceptional leading figures debating on gender diversity.

Projects

The Women’s Forum has also initiated concrete projects to support women all over the world, and in various spheres.

The Cartier Women's Initiative Awards is an international business plan competition for women created in 2006 by Cartier and the Women's Forum with the support of the consulting firm McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company, Inc. is a global management consulting firm that focuses on solving issues of concern to senior management. McKinsey serves as an adviser to many businesses, governments, and institutions...

 and INSEAD
INSEAD
INSEAD is an international graduate business school and research institution. It has campuses in Europe , Asia , and the Middle East , as well as a research center in Israel...

 business school. Five female entrepreneurs, one per continent, are rewarded annually. Each receives coaching support for a full year, a $20,000 grant and an exclusive trophy designed by Cartier
Cartier SA
Cartier S.A., commonly known as Cartier , is a French luxury jeweler and watch manufacturer. The corporation carries the name of the Cartier family of jewellers whose control ended in 1964 and who were known for numerous pieces including the "Bestiary" , the diamond necklace created for Bhupinder...

. The competition comprises two rounds: the selection of the finalists in June based on their short business plans and the selection of the Laureates in October based on their detailed business plans.

Rising Talents aims to distinguish highly talented young women who will become influential figures in our economies and societies in the future. The initiative is an example of the values illustrated by the Women’s Forum since its creation. It was launched in 2007 under the impulse of Aude de Thuin, Founder and CEO, as a corporate and personal commitment to promoting women leaders and bringing the vision of rising generations to the Forum. Each year, 20 to 25 young women are invited to attend the Women’s Forum Global Meeting and join the Rising Talents network.

SciTechGirls aims to encourage girls to embrace scientific and engineering studies and careers. It was launched in 2007 following the alarming observation that scientific, technological and engineering careers fail to attract and retain women. Though many initiatives have been designed to answer that issue, so far they have had limited impact on the situation.

The Women for Education award rewards a leading figure and an outstading action implemented to promote education and training of women and girls all around the world. A theme will be chosen each year: Peace and conflicts prevention, Health, Democracy, Etc. In 2007, the NGO Afghanistan Libre, chaired by Chékéba Hachémi, was awarded. The winning association in 2008 was Basha Trust, represented by Surekha Devi. In 2009, two NGOs were rewarded: El Camino (Mexico) and Accueil d'Enfants Ethiopie (Ethiopia).

Supporters

The following people are working with the Women's Forum.
  • Patricia Barbizet
    Patricia Barbizet
    Patricia Barbizet, born on april 17, 1955, is a prominent figure in the French business world. She has been Executive Director of Artemis since 1992 and is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Groupe PPR and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Christie’s....

    , CEO, Artemis
  • Mercedes Erra, Co–Chairman, BETC Euro RSCG
    Euro RSCG
    Euro RSCG Worldwide is one of the largest integrated marketing communications agencies in the world, made up of 233 offices located in 75 countries throughout Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Euro RSCG provides advertising, marketing services, corporate...

  • Irène Frain, Journalist and Author
  • Dominique Hériard Dubreuil, Chairman of the Board, Rémy Cointreau
    Rémy Cointreau
    Rémy Cointreau is a French alcohol manufacturer that produces cognac, liqueurs, spirits and champagne. The company is a result of a 1990-1991 merger between Rémy Martin and Cointreau.- Brands :...

  • Christine Kerdellant, Chief Editor, L’Express
    L'Express (France)
    L'Express is a French weekly news magazine. When founded in 1953 during the First Indochina War, it was modelled on the US magazine TIME.-History:...

  • Anne Lauvergeon
    Anne Lauvergeon
    Anne Lauvergeon , is a French businesswoman, and CEO of Areva 2001 – 2011 .-Biography:In 1978 she attended the École Normale Supérieure to pass the Agrégation in physics. Then she entered the Corps des Mines. In 1983 she enrolled in her first vocational course with the Corps de Mines, in the iron...

    , Chairman of the Executive Board, Areva
    Areva
    AREVA is a French public multinational industrial conglomerate headquartered in the Tour Areva in Courbevoie, Paris. AREVA is mainly known for nuclear power; it also has interests in other energy projects. It was created on 3 September 2001, by the merger of Framatome , Cogema and...

  • Christine Ockrent
    Christine Ockrent
    Christine Ockrent is a Belgian journalist whose career has principally centered on French television.Daughter of Belgian diplomat Charles Ockrent, she was born in Brussels, Belgium. She graduated from Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris in 1965. She worked for American television and...

    , Journalist, France Monde
    France Monde
    Société de l'audiovisuel extérieur de la France or Audiovisuel extérieur de la France , formerly France Monde is a holding company which manages the major public French media groups which broadcast or publish internationally. The three targets of this reform measure are Radio France...

  • Laurence Parisot
    Laurence Parisot
    Laurence Parisot is the head of the French MEDEF employers' union since the 5 July 2005...

    , CEO, IFOP
    Institut français d'opinion publique
    The Institut français d'opinion publique is an international marketing firm, whose motto is "Connection creates value". Its CEO is Laurence Parisot, who is also the current leader of the MEDEF French employers' trade union...

  • Pierre Cohade, President Asia Pacific Region, Goodyear
    Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
    The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, SUVs, race cars, airplanes, farm equipment and heavy earth-mover machinery....

  • Annick De Kermadec, General Manager, BNP Paribas
    BNP Paribas
    BNP Paribas S.A. is a global banking group, headquartered in Paris, with its second global headquarters in London. In October 2010 BNP Paribas was ranked by Bloomberg and Forbes as the largest bank and largest company in the world by assets with over $3.1 trillion. It was formed through the merger...

     Shanghai
  • Yan Lan, Vice Chairman, Women’s Forum Asia Partner, Gide Loyrette Nouel
    Gide Loyrette Nouel
    Gide Loyrette Nouel is an independent French law firm based in Paris. Though Pierre Gide's legal practice began as early as 1920, the firm was itself founded in 1957 by Gide, Jean Loyrette and Philippe Nouel after the Barreau de Paris amended its rules allowing lawyers to form associations and...

  • Nora Sun
    Nora Sun
    Nora Sun was a Chinese American diplomat, businesswoman, and granddaughter of Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen. She was the founder of the Hong Kong based Nora Sun Associates and a longtime resident of Shanghai, San Francisco, and Hong Kong...

    , Nora Sun Associates
  • Katherine Tsang, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank
    Standard Chartered Bank
    Standard Chartered PLC is a multinational financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom with operations in more than seventy countries...

     (China) Ltd.
  • Rebecca Wei, CEO, Principal, McKinsey & Inc. China
  • Zhang Xin
    Zhang Xin (businesswoman)
    Zhang Xin is a businesswoman from Mainland China. Presently, she is the CEO of SOHO China, the largest real estate developer in Beijing.Her parents returned to China from Burma in the fifties and worked as translators at the Bureau of Foreign Languages...

    , CEO, SOHO China
    SOHO China
    SOHO China Limited , founded in 1995, is the largest real-estate developer in Beijing, China . The company is incorporated in Cayman Islands. The founders are Pan Shiyi , a former Oil Ministry employee, and his wife Zhang Xin , a former Goldman Sachs employee...


External links

Women's Forum website Videos of the Women's Forum Deauville 2007 Edition Article "Building India's future with women's vision" Website of the first Women's Forum Asia Blog article about the first Women's Forum Asia
Press release about the first Women's Forum Asia Presentation of the Women's Forum Article about the Women's Forum Asia Art exhibition of the Women's Forum 2006 Edition
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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