Seattle, WA – Today at GOAL: the Responsible Seafood Conference, Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and the International Organization for Women in the Seafood Industry (WSI) announce the Gender Equality Dialogues—a new program offering leaders in the seafood sector the opportunity to align on the key barriers to gender equality across the sector, make measurable and actionable commitments, and leave equipped with the tools and information to drive tangible, enduring change.
SAGE and WSI, NGOs focused on gender equality in the seafood sector, will lead a cohort of industry leaders through a series of virtual meetings over the course of approximately one year, rooted in spirited pre-competitive collaboration amongst companies and organizations.
“We are very excited to launch the Gender Equality Dialogues in partnership with WSI,” says Julie Kuchepatov, Founder of SAGE. “Not only are we gathering a group of seafood leaders into a collaboration,” she continues, “but SAGE and WSI are also collaborating pre-competitively to build the most robust program as possible in order to eliminate redundancies and confusion in the sector. By uniting, we are showing that this is an important issue that we all must address collectively.”
The program will start with a primer on key issues and information and experience-sharing amongst participants. It will then progress to alignment on challenges, priorities, and commitments to action before collaboratively determining and adapting guidance and tools that participants can use to implement commitments while measuring and monitoring their progress.
The Gender Equality Dialogues are for anyone who recognizes that the industry has a gender inequality problem, but isn’t sure of the various, multifaceted ways that it exists. This program is perfect for those who are ready and willing to do the work, but desire accountability, a clear structure for jumping into action, and tools to support implementation of commitments.
Unique to other collaborative programs that bring seafood companies into alignment around a problem and solutions, the Gender Equality Dialogues also seek producer participants to join the dialogues. Camille Cherques, Managing Director of WSI says, “It is important to include from the onset every seafood stakeholder around the table to make the dialogues a two-way exchange, to understand better issues and to increase diversity, collective creativity, and innovation. The idea for the Dialogues originated from the conclusions of a global survey conducted by WSI in 2018 which showed the gap of knowledge on the issues in the sector so we are very happy to partner with SAGE so that it becomes a tangible project, starting in North America.”
The Gender Equality Dialogues, scheduled to start mid-2023, are funded by generous contributions from Builders Initiative, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation. The Walton Family Foundation and Sea Pact funded the initial development of the Gender Equality Dialogues. When asked about funding the project, Sam Grimley, Executive Director at Sea Pact, said, “Sea Pact wants to be involved in issues leading to transformational change and helping to establish a dialogue on gender equality in seafood is one clear way we can help strengthen the industry.”
If you are ready to join us in dialogue or have any questions, please contact us at info@seafoodandgenderequality.org or womeninseafood@wsi-asso.org.
By Julie Kuchepatov, founder of Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and Camille Cherques, director of Women in the Seafood Industry (WSI)
Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) uplifts, amplifies, and integrates diverse voices in the global seafood sector to build a more resilient industry. SAGE aims to build gender parity, ensure that women’s contributions to the sector are recognized, and promote responsible production. SAGE’s three-pronged approach focuses on raising awareness, building community, and supporting gender mainstreaming (the integration of gender considerations into day-to-day activities). Learn more about SAGE and our efforts at www.seafoodandgenderequality.org.
