Leader for a Day 2023, Embracing Equity
The British Embassy in Montevideo continues to promote young women.
The British Embassy in Montevideo celebrated International Women’s Day with an activity shared with leaders from across Uruguayan society.
In an event held at the Residence on 7 March, Ambassador Faye O’Connor hosted the third edition of ‘Leader for a Day’, a competition that matches young women with outstanding professionals, with the objective of introducing them to leadership and promoting gender equality in leadership positions.
This year, in line with the #EmbraceEquity theme, the Embassy also included male leaders, since forging gender equality is something that involves everyone. We were delighted that leaders such as the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Mayors of Montevideo and Rocha, CEO’s, academics and journalists agreed to take part in this initiative.
We were honoured to be joined by Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pablo Mieres, and UN Women Country Programme Manager, Magdalena Furtado. We also invited previous winners who shared their experiences and what it meant to them.
These were the young women who accompanied the following leaders:
- Florencia González Mendiburu accompanying Carolina Cosse, Mayor of Montevideo
- Laura Storoszczuk accompanying Mariana Chilibroste, Co-founder of Sellin
- María Antonella Trucillo accompanying Silvia Emaldi, Ingeniera, President of UTE
- Analía Reyes accompanying Geoffrey Fichte, President and CEO of HSBC Uruguay
- Camila Carvalho accompanying Pablo Mieres, Minister of Labor and Social Security
- Camila Fernández Spokojny accompanying Pilar Moreno, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Sciences, UdelaR and researcher at the Institut Pasteur de Montevideo
- Avril Perna accompanying Faye O’Connor, British Ambassador
- Avril Suvelza accompanying Blanca Rodríguez, Journalist
- Ana Laura Peralta accompanying Diego Sayanes, CEO and founder of Grupo RUA
- Agustina Nacimiento accompanying Alejandra Silveira, International Logistics Manager of Astrazeneca, Hub Uruguay
- Romina Werner accompanying Alejo Umpiérrez, Mayor of Rocha
- Aitana Ordóñez accompanying Isabelle Valois, Canadian Ambassador
Each of the young women accompanied their leader on International Women’s Day, which allowed them a unique insight of leadership roles and what is expected. Our Ambassador and Avril Perna’s day included:
- A breakfast with Blanca Rodríguez and her companion Avril Suvelza
- The Official Act of Inmujeres at Presidency, where they met President Luis Lacalle Pou and the director of Inmujeres, Mónica Bottero and other government representatives.
- A British-companies lunch, shared with Isabelle Chaquiriand, member of the board of directors of HSBC Uruguay, Geoffrey Fichte, President and CEO of HSBC Uruguay, and Analía Reyes, Geoffrey’s companion for the day.
- A visit to the British Embassy, where Avril met staff and learnt about foreign missions abroad.
- An interview on Radio Sarandí’s Al Pan Pan program, where both spoke about the application process for the contest and the importance of this day for the UK.
- A meeting with members of the women’s team of Montevideo City Torque, where they discussed their aspirations and trajectories, and the challenges and opportunities of women’s football in Uruguay.
- Finally, attending a cocktail at the Residence of the Ambassador of Peru.