International Women's Day 2023 #embraceequity

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY ’23 #EmbraceEquity

By Caroline Moultrie – Managing Director, MMGY Hills Balfour

For this year’s International Women’s Day, the campaign theme is #EmbraceEquity which seeks to help forge a worldwide conversation about the important issue of recognising individual circumstances and needs.

As Co-chair of our DE & I board at MMGY Global, along with our amazing HR EVP @MiaWise and one of my favourite women @juliaedwards, I have had the privilege of working alongside a host of incredible individuals, women and men, all of whom are stepping forward and playing their part in driving a culture of inclusivity, equity and equality. 

But firstly, I’d like to ensure that we are clear about the difference between ‘equity’ and ‘equality’ and why it’s important to understand, acknowledge and value this difference, because very often the words are used interchangeably.

Equality means each individual or group of people are given the same resources or opportunities.

Equity recognises that each person has different needs and circumstances and allocates, in many cases, additional resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.  I love this graphic and how it speaks a thousand words to explain it. 

Travel & Tourism has a pivotal role to play in achieving the objectives at the heart of the sustainable development goals, in particular the commitments to gender equality and the empowerment of women of Sustainable Development Goal 5.

Globally as a sector, women make up the majority of the tourism workforce which on the one hand is fantastic, as it’s a sector which over indexes on the employment of women; Women are often the pioneers of family businesses and the drivers of ambition, however in many countries around the world, women on average are the lowest paid, as many perform a large amount of unpaid work in family tourism businesses – so we must continue to support and empower women to forge the agenda of both equality and equity. 

Where women choose to work can make a significant difference to their success in life and I’m proud of the fact that here at MMGY Global, one of our missions is to create inclusive work cultures where everyone’s career thrives.  We continue to offer individual support to our female members of staff as we move towards building a more equitable workplace and an improved work/life balance.  We also recognise that it’s important to ensure that we specifically celebrate the achievements of the women in our workforce and elevate their visibility. And I am a great believer in shining a spotlight on women, their achievements and successes. 

As a proud mother of two, I am inspired every day by all the women in my life, both personally and professionally and of course by women the world over.  It’s essential that women continue to push forward into leadership positions and at the same time, those in leadership continue to drive the agenda for equity.  This includes a workplace focus on flexibility, employee well-being, diversity, equity and inclusion.  We recognise that in order to create fully inclusive workplace cultures we need to invest in career and skills development for employees including mentorship, in order to provide the guidance they need to reach their goals.  

We should be constantly checking ourselves and searching for ways to improve by helping to empower one another to learn more and drive real change and to recognise why sometimes equal opportunities are no longer enough.  From experience I know the importance of encouraging individuals to soar professionally, and we strive every day to ensure our teams are getting the balance right.  Working for a large, progressive employer can certainly have its benefits, offering competitive salaries, significant training and development, a highly diverse and inclusive work culture and excellent opportunities for promotion.  

Having just returned from an inspiring trip to Saudi Arabia, I met once again, the most incredible vibrant women, all of whom carry an immense pride in belonging  to a global community of women, working together, sharing, learning and operating as a team.  Travel & Tourism is such a force for good. Reducing barriers, preserving cultures and fostering peace and understanding our world.

To this international women’s day, I salute all women, in all walks of life and as I say to my daughter every day, “Be you, be kind and be amazing.”