“Women in Shipping Summit.”

London International Shipping Week 2019, marked the launching of the inaugural “Women in Shipping Summit.” The summit, was held on the 10th & 11th of September 2019, in the context of London International Shipping Week.

The conference was organized by Knect365 Maritime, a member of informa group following an initiative by its’ Portfolio Manager, Joanna Crisan. Joanna has been an active supporter of gender equality for several years, proving in practice her passion for female empowerment in bringing this exceptional two-day conference to life, which took great effort and a year’s work to make it happen. While undoubtedly reluctant at first in introducing this unique concept, the summit gave platform to 30 plus inspirational women from the industry, while what was initially planned to be a very small “teaser” conference, eventually attracted 130 plus delegates from around the globe. It is worth noting, that the summit also welcomed two 14-year-old female students from Cape Town, who travelled all the way from South Africa to attend the summit, escorted by their school teacher, in the context of a wider cause to introduce shipping and female empowerment in schools from a very young age.

Following the summit, Joanna commented that “Having organized numerous shipping conferences, a clear observation could be made, in that women were always the minority. This made me skeptical that there may be some issues manifesting in the industry itself – whether it’s that women are facing challenges, or that they are reluctant to put themselves in the limelight, or that they aren’t getting enough support. In wanted to investigate these questions, the idea was both to organize a professional development summit, where women and men can share their stories, learn from each other and build relationships and communities. And I think it worked brilliantly and we are already looking ahead to the Women in Shipping Summit 2020.”

The event agenda, was built around the unique challenges that women face, acknowledging the value they provide, on empowering female leadership, and helping women progress in their career. All of the speakers were exceptional in their own way, sharing experiences, advise and constructive input on how to tackle the challenges faced for a more gender balances industry, while the summit was quite interactive with some amazing input and thoughts from the audience.

During the keynote panel titled “What women bring to the table,” Chaired by Gina Panayiotou, Global Head of Shipping at Michael Kyprianou & Co. LLC, a survey was conducted as to the greatest reason perceived for achieving greater gender equality. It came down to industry culture being the main reason for gender inequality, while the audience voted that greater flexibility would be the most helpful tool to enable more women to pursue higher ranking positions without hesitations. The panel aimed to stress the amazing opportunity that women are presented with, in a time where the industry is moving towards enhancing collaboration and inter-connectivity to achieve greater efficiencies, having the advantage of excelling at such skills.

In thanking the conference organizers, Gina stated “It was a great honor for me to be part of this amazing initiative.  Finally, the shift in dynamics towards gender equality is becoming even more evident.  The very fact that for the first time, an event focused on female empowerment was held during such an internationally renowned event such as London International Shipping Week, aimed at bringing to the forefront women’s challenges, needs and provide them with guidance on how to follow through their dreams and aspirations within this industry, is a great step forward. If even one more female is inspired to fearlessly pursue her dreams, following the summit, it can be deemed a success!”

The Women in Shipping summit, turned out to be quite a success, with a full house on both days, despite the numerous concurrent events held on both days. All delegates left the room inspired, empowered and with incredible take-aways, making it two unforgettable days.

Congratulations once again to the organizers and looking forward to an even greater “Women in Shipping Summit” in 2021.

Full details on the summit are available HERE.