Jon StojanOne of the barriers to women’s advancement in their professional careers is a shortage of suitable networking opportunities, with existing systems in most industries still being dominated by men, which can make women feel unwelcome. Seeing the need for more networking avenues for female professionals, Cathryn Dhanatya, PhD, co-founder and President/CEO of Growing Good Inc., will be one of the featured speakers at the inaugural Wine, Women & Wisdom event on September 28, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Wine, Women & Wisdom is organized by Megumi Calver, sommelier and founder of Merobebe, a media company that uses wine as a conduit for bringing women together and empowering them by fostering strong personal and professional networks. The upcoming event, which will be held at a private residence in Beverly Hills, is the first of a series where women can make meaningful connections while discovering exceptional wines from woman-owned wineries. Calver says that networking is hard enough for most men, but it’s even more challenging for women – and the statistics support it. American women are 28% less likely to have a strong network compared to men, and 46% of women feel excluded from informal networks at work, such as golf.
Dhanatya will hold a talk on inclusive leadership, how to build inclusive organizations, and why doing this in your business makes sense. The wine tasting will be led by sommelier Sheila Donohue, CEO and Founder of small-production wine importer Vero. There will also be various structured networking sessions, linking individuals from various generations, as well as fireside chats with women leaders around various business topics.
According to Dhanatya, despite women making up half of the population, they are still very much behind in terms of leadership roles held, access to mentorship, and networking opportunities. In recent years, several organizations have emerged, including two that she has joined: Chief, a network of senior women executives, and The Authentic Asian, which focuses on Asian-American women. However, there is still a need for more organizations in the women’s space, as shown by the existing professional networking gaps.
She believes that there should be more discussion and action to address women’s issues in the workplace, several of which she has personally experienced. These include discrimination and harassment, unrealistic expectations, and the uneven burden women bear due to childbirth and raising a family.
“As a woman of color, I always had to perform better,” Dhanatya says. “Performing at par isn’t enough. We have to perform exponentially better at our job just to get the same recognition and opportunities as a man. With the social and political climate taking a turn for the worse when it comes to women’s rights, there must be more spaces for women to network and come together, discussing the various issues we face and lifting each other up in the face of adversity. I look forward to meeting a diverse collection of women professionals at Wine, Women & Wisdom while enjoying fantastic wine and conversations.”