News
The Women of the Future: Economic and Empowerment Summit
April 2, 2008 saw the inaugural Women of the Future: Economic and
Empowerment Summit – a new event created by Pinky Lilani OBE and
organized by Caspian Publishing.
Pinky had the idea to create a summit bringing together global
leaders and powerful women in business. It was a single day devoted
to the stories of today’s leaders; and the challenges facing tomorrow’s.
Chaired by BBC presenter Kirsty Wark, the event focused on five key
issues effecting women in business today:
- Leadership
- Climate change
- Entrepreneurship
- Political apathy
- Women’s networks and mentoring
The event had a stellar line-up of incredible speakers – people at
the top of their game and the rising stars of tomorrow. We were
honoured to be joined by HRH Princess Michael of Kent and many
businessmen and women who are all keen to empower the next generation.
The keynote speakers were Indra Nooyi, ranked the World’s most
powerful businesswoman by Fortune magazine, Cherie Booth QC, GCap
Media Chief Executive Fru Hazlitt, Shami Chakrabarti – director of
Liberty and London Mayoral Green Party Candidate Sian Berry.
Coverage
Read more about Indra’s inspiring speech and tips on leadership
Further stories are also published on
www.realbusiness.co.uk
The summit was also featured in the Financial Times
FT Article about the Summit / April 2008
Why mother knows best
It is hard to imagine being taken to task by Indra Nooyi. Speaking
yesterday in London, the chief executive of PepsiCo came across as a
boss who is firm, fair, and full of wit and wisdom about modern
office life.
For example, when Ms Nooyi's teenage daughter calls pleading for more
time on her Nintendo, the PepsiCo boss's assistants run through a
Nooyi-approved checklist ("Have you done your homework?" and so on)
before authorising the request and sending Ms Nooyi a note of what
was agreed. She calls it "group mothering".
So far, so fluffy. But it would be dangerous to underestimate the
steel at the heart of her approach. She e-mails colleagues through
the night, expects "24/7" commitment from people working on deals for
her (men or women) and acknowledges that when you choose to enter the
"C-suite" of chief executives and chief financial officers, notions
of flexibility and work-life balance tend to evaporate.
That's no reason to accept the macho status quo, however. In
addressing a question at the Women of the Future conference about why
she chose the US, not the UK, in which to pursue her career 30 years
ago, she went straight to the heart of a problem with corporate Britain.
If she had chosen the UK, she said, she would not now be running a
multinational company: "I look around at [British] society - I don't
see too many people like me in CEO positions. I don't see people like
me having broken through in major C-suite jobs."
The message is clear: Britain is lagging behind America on diversity.
As Ms Nooyi suggests, it will take much more "tireless lobbying"
before a tipping point is reached and the number of women running
Britain's biggest 100 companies reaches even a small handful. However
softly put, that is a hard message, but one that UK companies must heed.
Read about the Summit on the blog by Sushmitha Narsiah, Doing
Business Project, The World Bank Group
Global Empowerment Award
The events of the day were concluded with the presentation of the
first ever Global Empowerment Award at the Legendary Dinner.
Supported by Aviva plc – the award honours an individual leader whose
vision inspires economic and social progress across the world.
Keynote speaker of the day Indra Nooyi was presented with the award
by HRH Princess Michael of Kent and Louella Eastman from Aviva. The
award was given to Indra to acknowledge her outstanding leadership,
responsibility and courage. Indra has contributed immeasurably to
inspiring countless others to champion progress and success.
JOHN: Perhaps all the above Summit stuff should all go on a new
Summit page linked from a 'more' link on the News page – what do you
think?
The Women’s Delegation to Mumbai
January 15 – 22, 2008
Pinky fulfilled a dream in January 2008 when she led a delegation of
inspiring entrepreneurial women to India.
The Women’s Delegation was a business trip, awareness visit and
social occasion for high-achieving women who wanted to experience
Mumbai or grow their own business out there.
Most of the women who attended had previously been short-listed from
the awards ceremonies. 17 women attended from diverse industries
including recruitment, banking, mentoring and design.
Sponsored by Lloyds TSB, the programme was put together by the Deputy
British High Commissioner who kindly hosted Pinky and the delegates.
The trip included:
Visits to Tata Consultancy Services and Nicholas Piramal’s R&D
Laboratory.
The delegation visited several charities.
As well as a visit to a Bollywood studios, the group were lucky to
meet Shahrukh Khan!
They also attended the Business India Awards where they honored
businessman of the year, Anand Mahindra.
The Asian Women of Achievement Awards 2008 more
Tuesday May 20, 2008
The London Hilton on Park Lane
The Women of the Future Awards 2008 more
Thursday November 6, 2008
The London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square
Other Initiatives
The Lloyds TSB Inspirational Women’s Network more
The Women of Achievement Ambassadors Programme more
For further information on the above events and initiatives,
please contact: Donna Galbraith
Head of Diversity Events
Caspian Events
198 King’s Road
London SW3 5XP
Tel No: 020 7368 7115
Fax No: 020 7368 7124
Email: dg1@caspianpublishing.co.uk