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Forbes
6 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
GBTA Foundation Assists And Empowers Women In Hospitality
Women are trailblazing new paths for others in hospitality. GBTA GBTA Foundation, the non-profit, purpose-driven arm of the Global Business Travel Association, is an influential business travel and meetings trade organization that serves over 8,500 members and stakeholders across six continents for the $1.48 trillion industry. Beverly Heinritz, Senior Director, Foundation Programs, GBTA Foundation. GBTA Leadership development programs are essential and the numbers tell a clear story. A survey the GBTA Foundation conducted about the challenges and opportunities women face as professionals working in the business travel industry found that even though women make up the majority of professionals on both the corporate travel manager and supplier sides, this representation is strongest at mid-management levels and significant gender disparities remain in the most senior executive roles. In fact, according to the survey respondents, only 39% of vice presidents or executives at travel supplier and travel management companies are women, compared to their higher representation at director levels, where they hold 66% of the roles. Clearly the talent is there, but the upward mobility isn't. Programs like GBTA WINiT that build leadership skills and networks are how we address that drop-off and help women reach the leadership levels they're more than qualified to occupy. Programs can also offer inspiration and validation. A pivotal moment for me, both personally and professionally, was when I participated in a mentorship program earlier in my career. It wasn't just a professional growth opportunity—it made me feel seen. It signaled that my company recognized my potential and was willing to invest in it. That moment created a sense of forward motion, and that momentum carried me through challenges, transitions and future leadership roles. These types of programs offer that same spark to thousands of women. In hospitality, where women often dominate customer-facing and operational roles, we need to ensure leadership development happens early and consistently—not only once someone is already progressing within their career path, but well before that. Otherwise, we risk losing highly capable women at the exact point they're ready to lead. This dynamic is one of several that informed the creation of GBTA WINiT's Path to Parity—a 10-year plan to achieve 50/50 gender representation in leadership roles across the business travel industry by 2035. The initiative draws on mentorship, research, community engagement and allyship to address the gender gap with clear targets and sustained momentum. It's a coordinated effort to develop women leaders personally but also systematically, globally and measurably. CEO Panel from the WINiT Summit 2024. GBTA How can women break through the "glass ceiling" within the industry? Breaking through comes down to three things: visibility, advocacy and readiness. Women are doing the work, but the challenge is making sure they're seen, supported and considered for the roles they've earned. Mentorship is the first step, but sponsorship is the game-changer. Mentors offer guidance and perspective; sponsors use their influence. When a sponsor says in a meeting, 'She's ready for this role,' that changes everything. It positions women not just as capable, but as top-of-mind for critical opportunities. These relationships often shift careers. Visibility matters just as much. One of the reasons we host our annual WINiT Summit and Gala , where we honor the Top 50 Women in Travel and Pinnacle Awards, is to ignite industry dialogue, promote learning and empowerment and highlight the impact women are making in this industry. These events and recognitions open doors to serving on boards, panels, advisory roles and promotions. We've heard directly from past honorees: their visibility at the Summit and through these awards have unequivocally led to career advancement. We also need to examine the cultures within our companies. For years, many women advanced by adapting to male-dominated leadership models and behaviors. But that's changing. Today's workforce values empathy, adaptability and authenticity—traits women have long brought to leadership but weren't always encouraged to use. We're now in an environment where those qualities are not only accepted but expected. I'll never forget a moment during one of our WINiT summits: a male ally in one of our sessions shared how attending had changed his perspective. It was the first time he'd been in a professional setting where he was in the gender minority. It shifted how he saw inclusion, and that awareness shaped how he led, ran meetings and created safe spaces for others to be seen. The saying 'it takes a village' really is true here: women don't break the ceiling alone—they do it with networks, champions and organizations that are truly committed to equity. Participants were prompted to identify their 'superpower.' GBTA How does WINiT specifically help women advance in their careers? WINiT supports women through mentorship, leadership development, global community-building, and recognition. These programs are designed to scale and deliver impact. Today, we support more than 2,000 active mentees and train over 1,000 women each year through our leadership offerings. This endeavor is core to our work, designed to reach women at various points in their careers, and has grown significantly in the last three years. Our mentorship model puts the mentee in the driver's seat. They set their own goals, manage the relationship, and guide the pace. That ownership builds confidence and reinforces core leadership behaviors. It also prepares them for the real-world dynamics of managing up and navigating influence. We've expanded our reach globally, with WINiT members in Canada, Mexico, Europe, and across the Asia Pacific region. Regardless of geography, the need is consistent: women want connection, coaching, and community. And through WINiT, they find all three. Recognition is another critical lever. Through our annual awards programs, we elevate voices that deserve to be seen and celebrated. These stories inspire others while putting high-potential women on the radar of industry leaders and decision-makers. We also work with organizations to embed equity at the system level. We encourage alignment with frameworks like the UN Women's Empowerment Principles , and we're seeing uptake. Some of the largest companies in travel are now signatories, aligning their internal strategies with the global movement we're driving. A Superpower Exchange Session at WINiT Summit 2024. GBTA What skills can be taught through these programs? Our programs focus on strategic leadership, effective communication and personal growth, the core skill sets that set strong leaders apart. They're often called 'soft skills,' but we treat them as essential to executive readiness. One of the most requested topics is personal branding. Women want to refine how they show up, communicate their value, and advocate for leadership roles. These aren't vanity exercises. They're central to visibility and influence, two things every leader needs. Resilience is another major theme. In a recent session, we broke down resilience into traits like confidence and composure and discussed how to build those deliberately over time. Communication is foundational. In hospitality, you're constantly navigating multiple stakeholders: clients, internal teams, leadership and vendors. We train women to tailor messaging, negotiate, and influence across all those groups with clarity and confidence. We also emphasize leadership habits: how to effectively delegate, how to prioritize with limited time, how to set strategic goals. And perhaps most importantly, we make space for meaningful connections. Community isn't just a bonus—it's a leadership behavior. One of our panelists put it best at a recent summit: when she's overwhelmed, she doesn't power through alone. She reconnects with people who give her energy and perspective. That's strategic, not soft. We've also expanded into emerging areas—adaptive leadership, managing burnout, and leading through change. These are the tools leaders need right now, not just in theory, but in practice. Event hosts Patricia Huska, Shawn Cole and Laura Smith. GBTA How can these programs address the gender gap? They do it by targeting the critical inflection point where the gender gap becomes most visible: the transition from director to executive roles. Anecdotally and through our research, we've seen that the industry workforce isn't missing women, but the executive suite is. Our Path to Parity strategy addresses this systematically. It's built around five key focus areas: inspire change, shape future leaders, engage every level, motivate change, and recognize achievement. Each one has a roadmap and a metric. We've made real progress already. We now train over 1,000 women annually, support a growing base of 2,000 mentees, and engage a global community of more than 10,000 professionals. Those numbers aren't just markers of growth; they represent a shift in what's possible. Our recent How Women are Shaping the Future of Business Travel survey of over 600 global business professionals found that even though women are well-represented in mid-management roles, there are still significant gender disparities at the most senior executive levels. This indicates there is still room for significant improvement as the impact of women in the industry continues to evolve. Recognition also plays a role in steering corporate engagement. Celebrating women who make our industry better shines a spotlight on their achievements that lead to new opportunities, board seats, and decision-making influence. And representation, as we know, creates a multiplier effect. When women see others lead, they believe they can too. We also push for accountability at the company level. Through the UN Women's Empowerment Principles, we're helping organizations make public, measurable commitments. The gender gap won't close with good intentions alone. It takes programs that address real barriers, use real data, and operate at scale. It takes companies willing to commit. And it takes leadership from across the business travel ecosystem—individuals, teams, and institutions—working together over time. This is a long-term movement, and we're building it to last. MORE FROM FORBES Forbes How To Best Experience The Great American Road Trip By Roger Sands Forbes The Uber-Rich Are Flocking To This Small Mountain Town By Roger Sands
The Guardian
21 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Female officers crucial to policing, says chief after ‘diminishing' comments by Reform MP
Police chiefs have criticised Reform UK's 'diminishing' of female police officers, when, during its launch of law and order policies, it said women should patrol only with a 'big, strapping' male constable. On Monday the rightwing party tried to establish itself as the party of law and order but Sarah Pochin, its justice spokesperson, said she did not like seeing two women together on patrol. Gavin Stephens, the chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council, hit back at the claims by saying that female officers were 'critical' to tackling crime. Stephens said: 'There are an increasing number of women who choose a career in policing, bringing with them vital skills and experience that are critical to the progress of policing, our role in society, and keeping the public safe. 'Over a third of our officers and around 40% of our chief constables are women, and we must not jeopardise our progress by diminishing the value and role women play in our workforce. 'There are no roles in policing which women cannot do, and the same exacting standards to qualify are met by all men and women who undertake some of the most challenging tasks of any profession. 'We celebrate that women have an essential and irreplaceable role in every aspect of policing across the United Kingdom; policing is at its best when it represents the communities it serves, and our priority continues to be making policing a career where anyone can thrive and make a difference.' Launching a suite of promises on law and order on Monday, Reform;s leader, Nigel Farage, said that criminals should 'slightly fear the police', adding 'that is a desirable place for us to be as a society'. Later Pochin, Reform's justice spokesperson who is also the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, told the BBC 'I never feel comfortable actually seeing two female officers together. I'd much rather see a great big strapping male police officer with a female.' She added that women police officers 'look vulnerable' and should be deployed to 'more sensitive situations', such as dealing with children or women who have suffered from domestic violence. One chief constable told the Guardian that not just chiefs were annoyed, but rank-and-file officers also: 'It takes us back 30 years, and it has annoyed my work force as well. To suggest women officers are not equal because they are not of a certain size and shape, is a disservice.' The chief said physical confrontation was nowadays a 'minuscule' part of the job and women were also more likely to make an arrest without the need for force. Reform UK also pledged 30,000 more officers, costing an estimated £2bn. The chief said that up to 40% of new recruits were women, and that Reform's comments would deter women from joining if the party was looking to boost police numbers.
Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Japan's ‘Womenomics' Push Ages Terribly As Economy Struggles
Pedestrians cross a road in Tokyo, Japan. Noriko Hayashi/Bloomberg Sometimes, it's the pressing election issues that no one is talking about that matter most. Especially when the omission is by design — like the role of women in Japan's economy. I'm as bummed as anyone to have to point this out 12-plus years on since the Liberal Democratic Party returned to power pledging to prioritize gender equality. What was it that then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised to do for half of Japan's population? Make them 'shine.' In December 2012, the late Abe propelled the LDP back to power with a bold-sounding revival plan. Never mind that it was merely a list of things Japan should've done years earlier. It's better to be late to cut bureaucracy, modernize labor markets, increase productivity and reanimate Japan's innovative animal spirits than never to act. A key strategy to achieve those last two goals was empowering women. All available research shows that nations and companies that best utilize their female workforces are the most vibrant, efficient and prosperous. Any report from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank or investment banks like Goldman Sachs will attest to that. It's no coincidence that the LDP called their plan 'womenomics.' The word is believed to have been coined by then-Goldman Sachs economist Kathy Matsui, whose gender research made her a local celebrity. Abe cited her work when he pledged to increase the role of women in business and politics. Sadly, though, such talk ended up being a shiny object. In 2012, Japan ranked 101st in the World Economic Forum's gender equality index. Today, it's 118th out of 148 countries, a 17-place backslide. And Sunday's election offers its own metric on the dimming hopes for gender parity in the third-biggest economy. In upper house elections, women make up fewer than 30% of candidates. As Jiji Press reported earlier this month, of the 522 people who initially filed candidacies, just 152 were women, or 29.1%. This is shy of the LDP's 35% target for female lawmakers. In fact, in terms of women holding political office, Japan trails Saudi Arabia by 17 places, according to the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union. Why is Japan failing to make such an obvious fix to its underperforming economy? After all, Goldman Sachs has long argued, Japan's gross domestic product would increase by as much as 15% if the female labor participation matched that of men. One reason for the foot-dragging is that the power with Japan's patriarchy is strong. Economic history knows few examples of those with power giving it up willingly. Typically, change is demanded by the masses in ways the ruling class can't ignore. And virtually no one thinks the LDP, which has led Japan with only two brief interruptions since 1955, is going to lose all power on Sunday. Another problem is that Tokyo establishment is much better at treating the symptoms of a problem than addressing it. Abe was far from the first modern leader to latch onto gender disparities as an election issue. Back in the early 2000s, then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi also made a play for fielding more female candidates. But Abe, like Koizumi before him, mostly prodded the Bank of Japan to cut rates to, or near, zero and leave them there indefinitely. As all that free money boosted the economy, there was less urgency to do the hard work of upending the status quo. Yet the last dozen years have been particularly frustrating. The LDP had broad-based public support to level playing fields and smash glass ceilings. And then it just pivoted to other pursuits, leaving Japan quite the gender-equality outlier in Group of Seven circles. This has also been a lost period of lawmakers appearing to understand that the lack of progress plays a role in so many of Japan's biggest challenges. Take Japan's demographic trajectory, one that worries global debt investors wary of the developed world's biggest debt burden. A key reason Japan's birth rate falls year after year to new record lows is Japan Inc.'s poor track record on work-life-balance policies. This has many women delaying childbirth. Then there's the 'informalization' boom that relegates more and more jobs to 'non-regular' status. These gigs pay less, offer less upward mobility and come with less job security. And the vast majority of them go to women. What does Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba have to say about all this? Not much. How about new ideas to empower half of Japan's 124 million people? Crickets. In fact, one of the most vital repairs Japan needs this election season is among the last things anyone wants to talk about.
BBC News
6 days ago
- BBC News
Sexual harassment widespread at work
A woman who was sexually harassed as a teenager in her supermarket job said management dismissed it as "harmless" Stevens said a male colleague's unwanted touching made her feel "really uncomfortable" as "we weren't friends."A recent Censuswide survey found almost half of workers in Wales interviewed have experienced sexual harassment at a union representative for the independent trade union for transport and travel industries TSSA, Ms Stevens, stressed the need for better education to help people understand that even so-called "jokes" can cause harm. Commissioned by TUC Cymru, the body for trade unions in Wales, the survey gathered responses from 2,000 employees across the country. It found that 43% of men and 48% of women had experienced sexual harassment in the highest rate was recorded in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries, where 66% of respondents reported those who had experienced harassment, around half did not report in ten said this was because they did not trust their employer to believe them. Ms Stevens said the man would often put his arm around her "when there just wasn't any need to.""I asked him to stop, and he did for a while - but then he'd start again," she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast."I kept asking, but he kept crossing the boundary."Although she reported his behaviour to management, she said they "just didn't particularly care", dismissing it as the man "just being friendly".Regardless of his intent, Ms Stevens said it made her feel uncomfortable and "really unsupported"."He crossed my boundaries, and I just felt really uncared for," she Stevens eventually changed departments to "just to get myself out of the situation at the time". "You're so young, you're naïve," she said."You feel embarrassed, you don't really want to stand up for yourself and call people out on it because you don't want to make a fuss." Under the Worker Protection Act, employers must discipline or hold accountable those who are found guilty of sexual law, which was introduced in October 2024, covers harassment on social media as well as that by customers, clients, service users, or members of the also includes conduct in any event or situation related to work such as a Christmas party, client event, or messaging between the survey respondents, one in 10 said their workplace either had no formal sexual harassment policy or they were not informed of a policy in place. Ms Stevens, who is trained in the issue, said her own experiences have made her "even more passionate about ensuring everyone is safe at work at all times".She explained that many people do not realise their behaviour is inappropriate, but once it's pointed out, most stop - but she said repeated behaviour should be addressed more Stevens emphasised the importance of education and urged anyone affected to speak to their union rep, saying: "We're here, we will listen, and we will act." To raise awareness around support available to workers from unions around sexual harassment in the workplace, TUC Cymru has launched a campaign, called We'll Support organisation has also published a handbook to give union reps the information and resources they need to prevent sexual harassment in the Taj from TUC Cymru said "everyone deserves to feel safe at work" and that workplace sexual harassment "has to stop".She said the new campaign will empower union reps to be a "visible ally" for workers, hold employers accountable under the new Worker Protection Act, and "ultimately help reduce harassment in workplaces in Wales". What is sexual harassment? According to Wesh Women's Aid, sexual harassment is any unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature that may cause offense, distress, will intimidate or humiliate a examples are: making sexually degrading comments or gesturesbeing stared or leered atunwanted or inappropriate sexual jokes or propositionse-mails, social media or text messages with sexual contentunwelcome sexual advances and touching, forms of sexual assaultdisplaying sexually explicit pictures in a shared space, such as at work
France 24
6 days ago
- Business
- France 24
South Africa warns global turmoil threaten development goals
The blueprint, adopted by all United Nations member states in 2015, includes 17 targets on areas such as education, climate action and gender equality. But progress has been uneven and is at risk as the world faces growing uncertainty and mounting threats to multilateralism. South Africa is chairing the G20 group of nations until November 2025, a complex task that involves coordinating a broad and fractious membership that includes the United States, China, Russia, the European Union and the African Union. "While inflation is gradually moderating and financial conditions have started to stabilise in some regions, uncertainty continues to weigh heavily on global growth prospects," Pretoria's finance minister Enoch Godongwana told G20 finance chiefs and central bank governors. "Rising trade barriers, persistent global imbalances and new geopolitical risks are significant concerns," he said. These challenges, coupled with climate-related shocks, risk pushing the development targets "further out of reach", he added. The group has scrambled to respond to drastic policy shifts by its richest member, the United States, which has upended global trade rules since Donald Trump's return. Washington -- next in line for the G20 presidency -- has imposed tariffs on countries it labels "anti-American" and announced foreign aid cuts that are hammering development projects especially in Africa. 'Inclusive dialogue' US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is not attending the two-day meeting in the port city of Durban, with Washington instead represented by an undersecretary for international affairs. Bessent also skipped a similar meeting in February and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio snubbed a meeting for G20 foreign ministers. "We have a critical role to play in revitalising and strengthening multilateralism by fostering inclusive dialogue, reinforcing rules-based cooperation, and driving collective action on global challenges that no country can solve alone," said Godongwana. Germany said it was committed to the course, underscoring the importance of the bloc whose resolutions are non-binding in nature. "We as the federal government, are using all possibilities... to also discuss how, especially in these times of international upheavals and uncertainty, we can strengthen our partnerships within the multilateral world order," Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told journalists. The G20 is made up of 19 nations and two regional organisations and accounts for more than 80 percent of the world's economic output.
