From the President's Desk: IWF President, Carolyn Carter

IWF Global President Carolyn Carter
on the importance of International Women’s Day

IWF is celebrating International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month along with so many others around the globe. It’s a time to recognize women’s achievements, raise awareness of women’s equality, and champion positive change. Championing positive change for women in our way—uniting a global community to advance women’s leadership—is something our IWF Forums do every day.

In this first quarter of our 50th Anniversary Year, I’ve had the privilege of taking part in the mission-based initiatives of many of our Forums and I’d like to highlight just a few:

1. IWF South Africa is partnering with Duke Corporate Education in a government-sponsored initiative to give advanced leadership training to 1,000 high-potential women executives in financial services in 3 years. This initiative provides participants with IWF South Africa mentors and immersive leadership education with Duke Corporate Education in outside markets like London, Singapore and India. I joined the January session in London where IWF UK members formed the faculty, including IWF Global Board Members Irene Charnley and Julie Goldstein, IWFSA President Nolitha Fakude, and IWF UK president Marty Rolle. It was a truly inspiring event. Special congratulations to IWF UK and SA member Sharmla Chetty, CEO of Duke Corporate Education, for bringing this initiative to life.  IWF UK and Duke have a strong follow-up on March 13 with a repeat of their highly successful “Lead With Her” full-day conference to share leadership insights for senior women.
2. New York and Israel member Mina Teicher, Professor of Mathematics and Neuroscience who made quantum computing understandable to all of us in Helsinki, is a relentless champion of women in STEM. I was able to join her Math and Business event at the University of Miami, along with past IWF President Teresa Weintraub, where Mina used the same magic to make women young and old see that “math is part of everything”. It’s all part of her WIMSA Program – ‘Advancing Women in Mathematics Across the Americas” and for her, it’s all about giving back.
3. The Women’s Forum of New York continues its Women in Business breakfast series, which tackles the toughest issues of the day from backlash against DEI, to AI, to focusing on sectors like non-profit. These remarkable women leaders who share their wisdom are all IWF members, highlighting that one of the ways we advance as women leaders is learning from each other.
4. And then there is our global world-class Fellows Program. In late February, I joined our 2023-24 Fellows for their first leadership training immersive at INSEAD. The insightful programming drew the line between knowledge and leadership and addressed those elusive skills that can make the difference on your way to top management: culture, communicating, leadership style, and inclusive decision making. But the most powerful aspect of the program are the bonds these leadership peers from 11 countries made with each other forming a supportive community in the true spirit of IWF.

The programs we launch as organizations, the passionate initiatives we undertake as individuals, the knowledge we share as leaders, and the supportive bonds we make as lifelong friends are all ways IWF walks the talk of International Women’s Day and it makes me very proud.