International Women’s Day is celebrated on the 8th of March every year and this year’s theme is, “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights.” The purpose of the day is to celebrate women’s achievements, recognize challenges, and focus attention on women’s rights and gender equality.
“The year 2020 represents an unmissable opportunity to mobilize global action to achieve gender equality and human rights of all women and girls,” says the United Nations about this year’s Generation Equality focus. This year’s hashtag is #EachforEqual and the event runs all year long and certainly doesn’t end on International Women’s Day.
According to Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and author of the wildly popular book, Lean In, the glass ceiling refuses to crack completely as “women have stalled out at the top,” and generation equality isn’t where it should be. The meetings and hospitality industry is one dominated by women but peek into any corporate suite, and odds are you will find a man.
In many instances, women who have aimed for the upper echelons of management have encountered roadblocks. In most instances, the glass ceiling, the invisible barrier that blocks women from top jobs, still exists but not in all cases. Many of the women we profile to celebrate International Women’s Day say their gender has not inhibited their career growth, but it has, at times, made the climb to the top tougher.
We had the opportunity to get the insights from Sheila Johnson, the only African American woman to own a five-star resort, Salamander Resort & Spa in Middleburg, VA; Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group; Naomi Umhey, CEO, Emerson Resort & Spa; Janet Traphagen, president, Creative Group; and Jennifer Glynn, managing partner at Meeting Encore, and president of SITE.
Sit back and read about these incredible women and lift a glass to toast the impact they are making.
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