Gender equality in a time of backlash | Navigating progress and pushback
Event details
Programme
03 Mar 2026 Past event
Join us for a discussion that is both timely and compelling, focusing on gender equality, progress, and the growing societal backlash.
Efforts to advance gender equality are facing increasing resistance, ranging from subtle opposition to loud public criticism.
To mark International Women’s Day this year, we invite you to explore this backlash in practice, its causes and how leaders can continue to drive meaningful change in spite of it.
We are delighted to welcome:
- Ivana Gažić (Zagreb Stock Exchange) who will speak about the influence of female leadership on decision-making in the financial sector, and the reasons why progress towards equality can provoke unease and opposition in established industries.
- Oya Sehirlioğlu (The Magnum Ice Cream Company) will discuss navigating gender equality within global fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands and explore how cultural narratives, consumer expectations and corporate dynamics can fuel both progress and opposition.
- Deborah St. Lawrence Thompson (Nelson Mullins) will address the fact that efforts to strengthen fairness, integrity and inclusion in the workplace can provoke resistance, and explain how leaders can navigate the challenges of achieving equality by making principled decisions and providing steady guidance.
Why join?
✔ Gain insights from leaders who have experienced — and successfully navigated — backlash to gender equality initiatives.
✔ Explore ways to keep making progress in complicated organisational and societal settings.
✔ Understand how gender equity efforts today are influenced by evolving narratives, public sentiment and workplace dynamics.
✔ Engage in an honest and forward-looking conversation on what it will take to keep advancing equality in 2026 and beyond.
Let's acknowledge the challenges, strengthen our collective resilience, and continue shaping a fairer future - together.
Join us this International Women’s Day!
For further details on the event,
contact ana.borovac@cms-rrh.com
