The power of male allyship

By Lindsay Garvey-Jones, chair of the Association of Women Travel Executives (AWTE) and national retail manager at Holiday Extras

As we celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD), I look back on the last "almost" 70 years of the Association of Women Travel Executives (AWTE) – and it’s been a pleasure to see we are now moving with the times.

Reflecting the industry we serve and our members, we have aligned ourselves with some of our core values of inclusivity and equity. This means we have successfully included more members who identify as male and are able to participate in our events, socials and are valued members of our community.

On IWD 2023 (8 March), AWTE is proud to be building effective relationships with male ambassadors who are crucial to making a positive impact on progress towards gender parity – to challenge narratives, question ineffective workplace cultures and use their influence in our industry to harness positive contributions, create even more diverse cultures and see them thrive.

In December, we named our third male ambassador at our annual Christmas Lunch – Daniel Pearce, CEO of TTG Media. Dan is an outstanding advocate of male allyship and displays all of the attributes of a compelling and impressive ally.

Dan acknowledges and celebrates the differences and diverse qualities that those who identify as women bring to the workplace. He understands how those qualities are sometimes not valued equally within our industry and publicly campaigns for fairness, equity and an inclusive industry that values every individual equally.

We encourage anyone who would like to be part of the AWTE male allyship to get involved, be a mentor, be reverse mentored, and add value to future discussions.

#EmbraceEquity

By Daniel Pearce, CEO of TTG Media

Another International Women’s Day has come around – and with it, a multitude of comments from companies vying to demonstrate their support for women.

This year, the social media started early. My LinkedIn and Twitter feeds have been punctuated for days by companies and individuals calling for change, celebrating female members of their teams, peppering the #IWD23 hashtag, and sharing the initiative’s logo like confetti.

So far, so good. But while it’s great to see companies shouting about their support for female colleagues in March, it does beggar the question – how many of these companies are actually creating fair and equal opportunities for their female employees, and measuring gender equality within their firms?

At TTG Media, we’ve been on a mission for Smarter, Better, Fairer travel for four years now, and it’s the fairer part of this mission – to create an industry that’s fairer both to the environment and the people within it – that really gets us up in the morning.

We don’t just talk the talk – 50% of our senior leadership team are female; we’ve changed our recruitment methods, investing in new companies to ensure job adverts are seen by more diverse candidates; we’re committed to supporting working parents, offering flexible or reduced hours to allow for school pick-ups; and we remain committed to never hosting all male panels at any TTG event.

Last week, I also proudly turned down an opportunity to join a panel at a publishing conference because it was all male. These might be small steps, but they’re important ones, and they’ll hopefully effect change in the long run.

It meant a huge amount to me to be named Male Ambassador of the Year by the AWTE last December. But it was genuine testimony to our whole team and culture – how we all look to support each other and challenge one another to uphold our standards. It’s in TTG’s DNA now, and not just for Christmas (or indeed #IWD23).

Making it our mission to #EmbraceEquity (to the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day) is undoubtedly good for business. But it’s not enough to just voice our support. Companies must also create open, equal cultures, and offer maximum flexibility in the workplace. As a male ally, I believe it’s also our role to act against negative behaviour – an area where male allies can really make a difference.

Call out men that talk over women in meetings. Banish “laddish” behaviour and offensive banter from the workplace. Refuse to take part in industry conferences that feature all-male panels. Embrace equity and celebrate International Women’s Day with meaningful action.

It’s not just about abhorring discrimination, it’s about taking active steps to prevent it. If all companies – and male allies – committed to this, what a positive way to truly celebrate International Women’s Day that would be.