Three people who stood out for me were:

• Wendy Lu Habe: she set up a Private Equity Fund that provides capital and business experience to women owned enterprises in Africa and gets returns of over 30%. There are only 5 women private equity funds in the world and I wonder, how much potential remains untapped and waiting for the right investors? She had the most amazing smile; looked very young and energetic even though she has two sons and two grandchildren. I don’t know how she does it but I guess there is hope for those who want to follow her footsteps. She was also the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards Jury member and has worked to empower South African Women.
• Mona Mourshed: I could identify with her dream of improving the education system and enabling people to change their lives, and was inspired to see the work already done by her and others. We have kept in touch even after the Forum and she sent me a copy of her work “How the World’s Best-Performing School Systems Come Out on Top” (download PDF, 9 MB). I was able to connect her with a friend of mine in India who is the Head of Education and Ability Confederation of Indian Industry. I strongly believe that education is what transforms lives and I hope to make a difference in this arena.
• Maryana Iskander: She has worked for a top consulting company and now works in non-profit. She said, “Lot of smart people spend a lot of time thinking about the future and forget to live in the present.” Her worlds remain with me even after I left the conference and I hope to make the most of each moment of my life rather than worrying about the future.

There were many other women I met and have kept in touch with. We can collectively build trust in our societies and make this a better place. It is about trusting and willing to take a chance on people. This is an excellent support network for women and I hope to return to the Women’s Forum.

Three ideas that I brought home:

• “Women take decisions with 75% of the knowledge while men do it with 25%”, a speaker said. For me, that means that we should take bigger risks and turn our fears into strengths.
• Trust is a necessary feature of the world, but creating it requires self-knowledge, openness and understanding of other people’s points of view.
• Writing on the blog in a foreign language (my mother tongue is Spanish) was a real challenge: but now that I’ve started, I don’t expect to stop.

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.

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 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.

It is no surprise, though, as these 2 friendly young women are real brains and committed scientists in their countries: The American Pardis Sabeti is an Assistant Professor at Harvard in Systems Biology and Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, after shooting-star studies at MIT, Oxford University and at Harvard Medical School. Prudence Mutowo, from Zimbabwe, works as a doctoral researcher on micro-organism archea at the University of Nottingham.

Prudence and Pardis both received the 2006 “L’Oréal For Women Science Fellowship”, an L’Oréal-UNESCO award, given to young female scientists.

Catching up with Pardis, I was wondering why there were so few women involved in sciences. “We need a better science education, and more role models in sciences”, she says, and this is one of the key aspect of her job as an Assistant Professor: teaching scientists and teachers-to-be how to communicate about science. “Children should also be given the chance to see the people behind a project.” Project Runway, a reality show showing designers realizing their project, could be a good source of inspiration for something similar in sciences.

Nevertheless, she shows a great enthusiasm in attending the Women’s Forum for the second time, this time as part of the Rising Talents delegation. “It’s a great network, and there was a good balance between all generations coming together, and meetings for the Rising Talents Group, where we could discuss the issues applying to our stage of career.”

But for now, let’s just thank them for their passionate work, and wish them success. Here they are, gathered at the Deauville beach before heading back to their schools. From the left, standing: Louis Chenard (ESSEC), Alix de Poix (member of the WF Board), Gersende Piganeau (coordinator of the students group), Coralie Prin (ESSEC), Manasi Ramanna (London Business School), Joysy John (London Business School), Bonnie Fong (INSEAD), Ivonne Arciniega (IESE), Annachiara Torciano (Stockholm School of Economics), Margit Trollnas (Stockholm School of Economics), Camilla Quental (HEC), Bruno Giussani (coach/editor of the group). Front: Natiq Shamim (Stockholm School of Economics), Jonathan Citadelle (ESSEC) and Bruno Vinay (COO of the WF). (Photo Mario Farinato)

Wang Yuan, Deputy Director, China Development Bank, mentioned that in the financial services women are on par with men as they are educated and compete on merit. Women have the confidence to succeed. In china, women get 6 months of paid maternity leave and husbands get 2 weeks. This is generous compared to the west!

To their credit, financial services sector puts the most effort, time and money into recruiting MBA students. But are there enough role models? What can we do to create more women in power within the finance sector. Organisations need to showcase their senior women and focus on attracting and retaining talented young women. Start educating women at a young age and introduce them to wide range to subjects and career choices. Women look for balance and growth in the organisations that they join. Be willing to adapt and be flexible to their needs. Nurture young talent and develop them by giving stretch assignments and coaching. Put this as a requirement for managers’ performance appraisal. Female senior managers need to mentor other women to help them grow.

Traditionally, finance has been dominated by men but we might need to create a level playing field so that women can also compete. Think creatively how work is designed and how career paths evolve. Can we deconstruct work so that we can creatively think of providing more flexibility. ‘Children and family’ is not just a women’s problem. We don’t make them on our own! Men are also looking for the same flexibility and balance in life.

Is it true that women are worse than men in playing the game of politics? Women tend to be direct and it may be that they don’t know how to play this game or that they dislike playing politics. Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of power and politics (i.e. when somebody gets what they did deserve), think about how you can sell your ideas and enlist people in what you want to do. By thinking of the positive aspects of politics, women can develop themselves to have greater impact and influence.

In golf it takes time to practise your swing, similarly it takes time to get to know your colleagues and build relationships with your clients. Talk to three people you don’t know, call three people you haven’t talked to in a while and call three clients everyday. Share a little personal story as it helps build relationship. To be successful, you need to build a network outside your career path. Make yourself valuable to the company and learn from different environments. Another suggestion was to get your clients to talk about how great you are to your boss. It is very important that you build a great reputation both inside and outside the company.

Finally more women are willing to support others and spend the time to mentor younger women. In the past, when we had very, very few women at the top it was hard for them to compete but now as the numbers are increasing they are enabling more women succeed. Mobility and flexibility is important and it’s a question for everyone in society as to how we can take advantage of flexibility without impacting our reputation or adversely affecting career progression.

I think that there should be public debate on this as people don’t fully understand the role that hedge funds play. Sometimes people are misinformed by media and then they perpetuate these thoughts unknowingly.

At the age of 30, she co-founded the Pushkin Academy of Russian Heritage in New York. What started in a rented Manhattan public school with 17 students has now grown to 90 students aged 2.5 years to 9years. She said, “we wanted our children to be bicultural providing an environment for them to learn and speak Russian. ” Establishing a business was tough but she is very happy with the results. Marina also has an 11month old daughter who accompanies her on Saturdays to the Pushkin academy for the Mommy and Me class.

It’s great to see her energy and I was inspired by how she manages to have a successful career and a baby and give back to society through this social project. This gives many young women the hope that we can also have it all. It is hard to think big on your own but when you get the right support it becomes easier.

Marina feels that she has been extremely lucky for having met the right people at the right time. She is thankful for her incredible parents who motivated her to achieve her dreams, her supportive husband who wants her to work, amazing boss who understands her and wonderful mentors and friends who challenge her. She believes that her network has been very useful and the trust that she has received from others has enabled her to trust others and develop them.

I believe in the old adage that the harder you work, the more luck you find. I hope that young women can learn from Marina and build their network of mentors, coaches and supporters and thereby make their own luck.

Even though I have a Computer Engineering degree, I didn’t think much about how poor people could use technology so easily. Well you don’t need to be literate to use an ATM, laptop or a cellphone in India… The country is changing very fast and technology is making a huge impact on people at the lowest income lowels (vegetable sellers, tailors, masseurs, etc). C.K. Prahalad in his book Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid refers to how some companies are focusing on profit making by eradicating poverty. Companies can profit from the masses and also enable the people at the bottom of the economic pyramid to improve their economic condition.

Necessity is the mother of invention. NGOs have a lot of innovation as the need is severe and passion to deliver is strong. They however do not have the scale and don’t know how to commercialize their innovation. If private sector could help in this area we can create new possibilities. According to Rama the poor are very innovative as they have to think creatively in order to survive. With mentoring, support and coaching we can develop social entrepreneurs and develop market mechanisms that support a new world.

This is not the first time Hung has attended the Women’s Forum. She believes that the Forum plays a critical role in bringing forward women’s point of view. It encourages women leadership to express their views on a wide range of issues, from business and politics to social responsibility and the alleviation of poverty. In addition, the Women’s Forum differs from other women’s conferences because it does not shy away from “feminity”, as evidenced by the beauty and fashion lounges in the Discovery Hall. In her mind, women leaders should be free to express their feminity should they wish to, and should not feel the need to look like a man. In this regard, I believe that “feminity” is regularly associated with “weakness”, and unfortunately this association is often formed by women themselves.

On the events organised for the Chinese delegation, she highlighted two in particular. First, she enjoyed the address given by Laurence Parisot, Chairman of the CEO Council in France. The session gave the delegation a glimpse of how other countries perceive China: the pros and the cons. The political and regulatory risks discussed were also particularly useful for members of the Chinese Government present in the delegation. Second, the session on “How to build an international brand”, led by Cartier, Chanel and Remy Martin, was particularly relevant, as more Chinese companies are eager to graduate from being the “factory of the world” and to move onto building its international brand identity.

As one of China’s most prominent women in publishing, Hung described China as one of the most exciting places in the world right now for entrepreneurship. The size and growth of the market mean that “a lot is possible”. On the downside, she understands that the current infrastructure and regulatory environment in China can be difficult for young companies. Entrepreneurs often find it difficult to find cheap financing, legal and accounting services, amongst others. So, a word of advice for all the budding entrepreneurs in China? Hung summarises it in one concise word: ”Persistence”.

Having said that, Rebecca believes that professional women seeks two common things: mentorship and work-life balance. The McKinsey Women Initiative addresses the former by ensuring that every woman has a mentor and by building a community spirit in the work place. “Women need to have a sense of belonging [more than men]; women want to have friends to talk to after a bad day at work”. On keeping mothers in the workforce, McKinsey has a flexible programme which can be designed to reduce working hours or to minimise business travel. Importantly, she highlighted that women on maternity leave cannot be “left on the platform”, and should be ensured that they are able to integrate fully when they return.

According to Rebecca, the McKinsey’s Greater China office has not lost a single woman due to maternity in the last five years. Whether that is driven by the intrinsic character of the McKinsey women or by the Firm’s flexible programme (or, perhaps, both), that is an impressive stat and certainly a step in the right direction.

Today I spoke to Freja Day, from Cartier International, and she told me that the evaluation is very rigorous. The three main criteria are: creativity (the degree of innovation of the overall business concept and idea); sustainability (financial impact of the business, indicating its long-term success); impact (community impact of the business, in terms of job-creation and impact on the immediate or broader environment).

The jury is composed of outstanding individuals of the business world, the non-profit sector and the academic field. There are five jury panels, one per continent, representing a variety of profiles, countries and cultures. The jury members all voted for the projects of the finalists.

Freja also said that the social impact of the project is very important, especially in emerging countries. The analysis of the business plans, showing the sustainability of the projects in the next three, five or ten years, counted a lot as well.

The Award is a long-term project and is going to be repeated. So, women entrepreneurs of the world, prepare your business plans for next year’s Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards!