Going to the Women’s Forum this year as a member of the student’s delegation has been an amazing experience. I’ve been interested in women’s issues and challenges since my master, when I made my dissertation about women entrepreneurs in Brazil. At this time, I hadn’t completely realized all the challenges women face in society and in the job market. And I became so excited about this study that I decided to continue to do my research on the subject for my PhD thesis at HEC, in Paris.

Participating in the Women’s Forum 2007 was therefore a wonderful opportunity. Not only could I attend sessions and panels with women and men who make a difference in the world, but I also had the pleasure of interviewing some of them, leveraging the work that we did with the blog.

During this three days in Deauville, I was impressed to see how much women have improved. Indeed, seeing all the successful and courageous women from all over the world who participate in the forum, it becomes clear that we have made some real progress. However, we also realize that there is still a lot do to. Women are not yet well represented in positions of responsibility in private and public spheres. How can it still be true in the XXI century? And, more importantly, how can there still exist some practices concerning women, particularly in some African and eastern countries, which go against the most basic human rights? It is a world of paradoxes. This is why the theme of this year was so pertinent: trust. Trust is the basis of any relationship between human beings.

The Women’s Forum is not only a gathering of important women (and men) but also a place where people discuss about the future, the environment, politics, world conflicts and current crisis, such as the one in Darfur. Long-term and concrete initiatives have also been created and put into practice since the first edition of the Women’s Forum, in 2005. One of the most interesting of these is the Cartier Women’s Initiative Award, with the support of McKinsey & Company and INSEAD. Five women entrepreneurs, one from each continent, have received a prize from Cartier, as well as a US$ 20 000 grant and coaching support for one year. The projects have a real impact. One example is the one of Lucie Avoaka, the African Laureate this year, whose project is a healthcare provider in the underprivileged region of Abobo, in Ivory Coast.

What I took from the Women’s Forum as a lesson is that we have to continue to fight for our dreams. All the interesting women to whom I talked to or interviewed during the forum had a couple of things in common: they had a passion for what they do and they were not afraid of taking risks, of fighting for their ideals. This is really inspiring.

After the Rising Talents awards, the Cartier Women’s Initiative award and the Women for Education initiative, which were at the center of this year’s Women’s Forum, I would like now to grant my very own awards to some of the people I met at the conference. Here is my personal selection:

The One with the Most Guts Award – Obviously, this one goes to Lebanese journalist May Chidiac, who was attacked and severely injured in 2005 for criticising Syria’s prominent presence in Lebanon. The current instabilities in Lebanon still haven’t prevented her from keeping on doing her job and promoting freedom of speech.

The Most Determined Award – I’d like to give this one to both Jobeda Ali and Maryanna Iskander, the Rising Talents I had the chance to interview. I had really inspiring conversations with them that kind of shook up my bourgeoise morals. Thanks girls.

The Best Sense of Humour Award – This one should definitely go to Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, vice-president of the Republic of South Africa, who made a very nice point saying that women should all stay in bed. I totally agree with that. The jury also grants a special mention to Bonnie Fong, one of the members of the Student team, for her dry jokes.

The Rock Star Award – This one goes to Anne Lauvergeon, CEO of Areva, who was just impossible to interview because of the army of fans and journalists constantly surrounding her.

The Best Hair Style Award – Let’s reward originality, with the fashion designer Angel Chang. She also won the Cartier Women’s Initiative award for North America. I wish her good luck.

The Best Ideas Award – OK, this one was created specially for Aude Zieseniss de Thuin, founder and CEO of the Forum. Establishing an international women-only network isn’t that bad of an idea, right?

I was very glad and curious when I arrived in Deauville the evening before the Women’s Forum. My fellow students looked smart and friendly, and the coming days fairly unusual.

I was amazed by the way the organizes have been able to convince a vast group of powerful people to spend some of their time at the meeting. The WF offered me the opportunity to speak with the Head of communication at McKinsey Paris, with a Partner at McKinsey NY, with Carlos Ghosn of Renault, with Maria Emilia Menezes (Exec Director of Wallace Pharma) and so many others. I learned alot from them all, and I learned even more being confronted to the many Asian and African women at the conference. I was delighted to discover how strong, dynamic and decisive women they were. Figures like South-African Vice Prime Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka or Yolanda Conyers, VP and Chief diversity officer at Lenovo, impressed me much.

I also realized (thanks to an analysis by my co-blogger Ivonne) how strange it can be to discuss about women’s conditions globally when, in fact, in many developing countries this discussion has not even begun yet.