Ivanka Trump recently met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to talk about how the U.S. and Canada could work together on advancing women in business. Trudeau requested Ivanka Trump’s presence, considering she was spearheading her #WomenWhoWork campaign before her father became president.
This past Monday, Ivanka, President Donald Trump, and Trudeau met with a group of female business leaders from both countries to talk about ways to find solutions for women’s advancement in the workplace. This is when they officially launched the Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders. According to a White House official, women’s advancement is “not a women’s issue,” adding that “it’s good business.”
According to the official, Ivanka Trump stated that “women must be part of the solution” to economic issues. The business leaders, which included executives from GE Canada, General Motors, and Accenture, discussed what they felt were the biggest issues and roadblocks to women’s success in the workplace, which included access to money, how to keep women engaged, and “returnship” programs that help women who were out of the workforce for a long period of time (like many moms) return.
At this point, it’s not explicit what exactly the council will do in the future. However, the White House official noted that they’d “collect recommendations” for women’s economic empowerment and mentioned that there are many “opportunities for cross-border mentoring.” When it came to Trump’s child care plan, Ivanka apparently crafted a large portion of the proposal–so I’m curious what she has planned for working women and moms.
