Mayor Carles Ruiz met yesterday with the management team of the Women MeetUp of Viladecans, a new association of women entrepreneurs and professionals in the city. The main objective is to give visibility to female talent, promote equal opportunities and gender, and move forward together through a motivating, welcoming and inspiring community. This initiative weaves a network of contacts and promotes mutual learning, the exchange of knowledge and experiences, and facilitates the creation of synergies and support between the participants.
The Women MeetUp association, now legally constituted, arises from the community of women formed as recipients of the municipal programs focused on female empowerment: InnovaDona and Women Corporate. Once the development of these programs was finished, the participants expressed the need to continue in contact to share experiences and concerns in a safe space, both physical and digital, and the result has been the creation of the association.
The Women MeetUp community was initially opened to the participation of all women entrepreneurs and professionals from Viladecans companies who were committed to equal opportunities between men and women, equal pay, personal empowerment and professional growth the participants. Progressively, other initiatives from different localities have wanted to participate actively in the community, learn about the experience and replicate it. The community broke local barriers, reaching the national and even the international level.
During 2023 and the first four months of 2024, the organization, which brings together more than 50 women, has worked to give the initiative a more formal character, articulating an association of businesswomen who want to share their concerns and support other women in the city. In this period, they have organized meetings, trainings and meetings to maintain contact between the participants, learn and share.
The main drivers are Claudia Franco, currently founder of ODS Consulting and president of the Viladecans Cruz Roja; María Jesús Chaparro-Egaña, from the company Isotònia, trainer and consultant, expert in gender equality, diversity and inclusion; Viry Macias, entrepreneur, disseminator of sustainable awareness and vocation trainer, and Eva María López Illera, philologist by training and vocation guidance counsellor.
