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Women's Day Lunch
7 mars 2023
The fifteenth edition of our Women's Day Lunch took place on 7 March 2023.
Over 85 people gathered at the Sofitel Legend the Grand to share a moment together on International Women's Day.
This day is of importance to highlight the past, present and future actions that still need to happen in order to achieve an inclusive world where everyone has the same rights, respect and opportunities.
For this year's edition of our Women's Day Lunch, we had the privilege to welcome Gwendoline Cazenave, CEO of Thalys/Eurostar as our keynote speaker. The audience was so captivated by her speech that one could have heard the snow fall!
Ms Cazenave shared with us her journey as a woman, wife, mother and professional.
Throughout her career, she has had the chance to work with people who saw her potential, her strengthts and gave her the opportunity to lead a team of 500 people at the age of 30.
However, this was not always so, as some other professionals pointed out that her gender could be a hindrance to her career. This did not weaken Ms Cazenave in any way (quite the opposite) as it made her stronger and more combative.
Her motto was and still is "When there is a will, there is a way"!
In order to manage the different roles we all play, the most valuable advice given by Mrs Cazenave was, without a doubt, the following:
- Stay true to your values at all costs
- Know and play the game
- And finally, change the rules of the game
A guideline that she still follows and which allows her to find her work-life balance and thus to be fulfilled as a woman, mother, wife and CEO!
With the merger of Thalys/Eurostar, two companies that invented international high-speed travel across European frontiers, Eurostar Group wants to inspire talent and transform society.
As a major rail company, the Eurostar Group aims to provide better opportunities for women to join their ranks so that they can achieve their full potential.
As diversity is at the core of Thalys/Eurostar's DNA: a multicultural group, breaking boundaries and bringing people closer, targets are set and will be assessed each year.
Artistic moment of the meal!
During the meal, inspired by the event and the other guests, Willem Den Hertog, lawyer at Den Hertog Legal, wrote a short poem:
CFCI WOMEN'S DAY LUNCHEON
So here we are, all gathered in The Grand
To celebrate tomorrow's Women's Day
All sexism for a few hours is banned
(Of course, it will not quietly go away!)
But, still, it's something, tasty food for thought
As tasty as the courses served today
And, looking at the boons the Fight has brought
We know emancipation's here to stay!
But, still, we cannot on those laurels rest
So much equality must still be fought and won
So let us pledge our efforts to invest
In Progress, till the differences are gone
For now, let plates and wine glasses be brimmin'
And give three cheers for half the world: our Women!
Thank you again for sharing this moment with us, thank you to Sofitel Legend the Grand for this wonderful experience and thank you to Gwendoline Cazenave for this inspiring speech.