More women are leading unions, still avoiding gaps and micro-machismo

In it Women are increasingly present in the business and production world. Although equality has not yet been achieved, for example, in management positions, several women have managed to stand out in that field.

At the Ecuadorian Business Board, which has just renewed its staff, 53 leading positions, only 10 are women, or 19% of the total number. But, in any case, women who have high professional profiles are currently at the head of various business unions and are a sign that the right path is exactly that of equality.

María Paz Jervis, executive president of the Chamber of Industry and Production (CIP); Marianela Ubilla, President of the Board of Directors of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador; and María Fernanda León, executive director of the Ecuadorian Association of Direct Selling and Procosmetics, talk about their experience with running business unions, where there are still micro-machismos, ambiguities and gaps to overcome.

María Paz Jervis, a 43-year-old lawyer, was elected executive president of the Chamber of Industry and Production (CIP) last October. With this, she became the first woman to hold this position, which also includes a legal representative, in the 86 years of the existence of this trade union.

Her arrival specified the strategy that the Chamber was dealing with, which is the professionalization of this position, which is why, due to her high academic profile, she was selected through a specialized company. Then María Paz Jervis died from the dean of the Faculty of Social and Legal Sciences of the International University (SEK) to the legal representative, management and spokesperson of this important productive union.

She believes that her challenge at the head of the Chamber is similar to the challenge of most unions in a complex country: to find ways for dialogue between different actors of civil society, but this challenge is intensified for being a woman. He explains that, as he believes, by being in this leadership position he is not doing something extraordinary, but simply “taking advantage of the opportunity that life has given him, which is a product of the visible and invisible struggles of other generations”. “Getting to this position is positive, but the challenge is to continue and exercise the position, amidst a series of imaginaries, micromachismo, exercise of invisible interpersonal power, resulting in a complex scenario.”

Maria Paz states: “I am a feminist in all life situations”, and comments that there was resistance to these positions, but that there were also many business people and colleagues who were very ready and committed to the constant challenge.

She assures that she does not have a gender plan for the Chamber, but her entire life management, as a dean, as a neighbor, as an executive director, has this transversal axis of gender equality. He believes that there are many interesting initiatives at the business level, such asor for example Club 30%, which promotes that companies have boards of directors with at least 30% women. Likewise, several companies are certified as gender-based violence-free companies. Meeting this type of standard is not easy, and a number of requirements, such as blind reporting, need to be met in order for women to feel free of pressure to report harassment.

The banana union just re-elected the agronomist Marianela Ubilla as President of the Board of Directors of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE), which gathers 45 export partners in the country and other associated companies such as port terminals, shipping lines, certification companies, cartoners, agricultural inputs.

with his Agzulas company, from Quevedo, which is in the top 5 exports, she led the union from 2020. But in June 2022 she was re-elected for another four years.

Marianela Ubilla says that she worked in the fields with her father from a young age, then she studied agricultural engineering at the University of Costa Rica. Although he says that he has not experienced discrimination on the field, he assures that the number of women at the university is high studying that career was only 20% of the total number. Now in the union, she says she notices, though not directly, a kind of discomfort with women taking center stage.

Evaluating her role as a union leader, she says one of her biggest achievements was when, as the vice-president of the union, they had to face the legal modification of the income tax, which is more like a sales tax. However, the calculation was distorted and they had to work in groups to make the authorities understand that it was unfair.

Furthermore, among their priorities is to continue with the issue of competitiveness sector that is influenced by production costs. It is also required that the country and exporters can participate in international fairs to promote the products. They arrived with a culinary guide to France and Spain.

They also worked on the regulations on use of drones for fumigation. These are much more accurate for taking care of water sources, he says. They are also working with different European parliamentarians to seek fair deals, in the sense that the consumer is becoming more demanding in terms of wages, environmental measures, but these best practices should be reflected in hangers with a better price. He assures that a better price has already been achieved in some stores, explaining that great efforts are being made to comply with all regulations.

She believes that there are several initiatives from her sector to promote the efficient use of water. The banana sector hopes that 2023 will be a good year.

In the meantime, María Fernanda León has been the Executive Director of the Direct Sales and Pro-Cosmetics Association for 14 years, which brings together local and international companies. He believes that male and female associates are well respected within this union, and there are more and more female general managers, but they are still in the minority. María Fernanda believes that there is now a greater debate on issues of gender equality and every year companies set goals in this regard. It is still an unsolved task to get more women into management positions, she says.

She worked tirelessly to encourage exports and believes that they received the support of the Government to be present at the stands and that the world knows that Ecuador is also leading the way and working in innovation. He says that they managed to do it well because trade chains and representatives of sales outlets come to the fairs, and what they are looking for are products with raw materials from the Amazonian biodiversity that are environmentally friendly.

When asked how he copes with the challenge of a demanding professional and private life, ensures that it is important to seek balance in family, professional and even spiritual life.

For María Fernanda León, it is very interesting how this sector, especially direct sales, has helped women are breaking glass ceilings, gender differences and founding their own companies and thus becoming excellent leaders, which provide lessons in personal finance, persistence, organization, discipline, Marketing. He believes that the market is changing and expanding, and now not only women are the main consumers, but also men, young millennials are consuming and selling products.