For the first time, an all-female panel will take to the stage to discuss gender diversity and its impact on the cotton industry at our upcoming Liverpool 2019 Trade Event, taking place next month.
The session, titled ‘Our Changing Times’, will see five women from across the supply chain participate in the panel chaired by Eimear McDonagh (General Manager Export Marketing & Logistics, Namoi Cotton Alliance).
Speaking ahead of the event, Eimear says;

“At this year’s ICA event, we have a wonderful opportunity to address something that the cotton industry has so far not paid too much attention to. We will discuss what diversity means to us and we will give some insight to the enormous potential already available to all of us for positive change. After all, who doesn’t want to understand how to enhance the economic performance of their business?”.

Immediately after the session, all delegates (both male and female) are invited to carry on the discussion at a Women in Cotton lunch.
The idea to focus on females in the industry arose from a new ‘Women in Cotton’ working group which was developed by the ICA. As a group member, Eimear explains;

“The group‘s mission is to increase engagement and the impact of women within the industry by giving them a stronger voice, sharing and learning from each other’s experiences and helping networking amongst women in the global cotton community. This has now led to the development of a closed LinkedIn ‘Women in Cotton’ group which is open to any female in the cotton industry, providing an online platform to network and share ideas. It currently has 30 members from around the world and we hope to see it grow significantly after our panel session at Liverpool 2019.”

Bill Kingdon, ICA Managing Director says;

“The ‘Women in Cotton’ initiative has the full support of the ICA and we hope the industry will show its support by coming to this panel session, actively participating and taking some tangible ideas to champion change back to their companies.”

Liverpool 2019 will take place on 9-10 October at the Crowne Plaza and St George’s Hall in Liverpool, UK.
Register online and see the Liverpool 2019 programme >
Contact us to become a member of the Women in Cotton LinkedIn group >