Despite a battle for gender equality that’s spanned decades, we’ve seen an extraordinary resurgence in the movement in the past few years. 2014 brought us the Sony hack, revealing major wage disparities for Hollywood actors which ignited society-wide discussions about equal-pay. 2015 spawned the HeForShe movement, aimed towards changing the rhetoric around feminism. And lest we forget, 2016 brought us Hillary Clinton, the first female Presidential nominee in history.
Yet, the statistics tell us we’ve still got a long way to go.
Remarkably, the media industry has remained vocal in recognizing those failing numbers and furthering the fight for equality in the workplace. It also boasts a hefty lineup of female industry leaders making their way toward shattering the glass ceiling – one boardroom at a time.
During Advertising Week 2016, many of those stand-out women will host seminars and discuss how they’ve used their platform to further shed light on the hardships facing women entering the industry today.
Among them is Kat Gordon – advertising professional turned founder of the 3% Conference, an event with the mission to support more female leadership in advertising agencies. Gordon is familiar with leveraging powerful industry women to further the movement, as she’s featured some of the best in the business at the 3% conference. During the “Is the Fu***ing Gender Debate Over?” session at Advertising Week, Gordon will discuss the 3%’s “Elephant on Madison Avenue Survey” about sexism and gender bias in the industry, as told from the experiences of over 500 advertising women.
Padma Lakshmi, host and executive producer of “Top Chef,” will also speak at Advertising Week and is among those leading the way to redefining what it means to be a woman in the business. In addition to a resume that includes author, actress and food-expert, Lakshmi has also added a home décor line and a collection of culinary products to the list of accomplishments. Lakshmi will speak at the CEO Connectors seminar at Advertising Week to address the fundamental changes in the industry that come alongside a rapidly evolving culture.
No stranger to Advertising Week, Arianna Huffington will also join the lineup of power-house women at the event who have made their mark on the industry. In the beginning of her career, Huffington went on to start a modest online publication. Today, The Huffington Post is one of the most recognizable news outlets in the world, attracting millions of unique users every day. Huffington recently announced that she would be leaving her post as editor-in-chief to focus on a new business venture, Thrive, which she will discuss during her session at Advertising Week in Town Hall.
Finally, Betty Liu, news anchor for Bloomberg Television, will also speak at the Bloomberg Disruptors session during Advertising Week about the ways the media world is rapidly evolving. After establishing a longstanding career in broadcast journalism, Liu has broken into the Podcast craze with her new series, “Radiate,” where she’ll speak with heavyweights in business, politics and society to discuss what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur and CEO.
For a full list speakers and seminars, head over to newyork.advertisingweek.com/calendar.
