By Amy Bostock and Nicole Di Tomasso
TORONTO — More than 200 foodservice-and-hospitality professionals gathered last Monday at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto for the eighth-annual Women in Tourism and Hospitality (WITH) Summit. A partnership between KML and Sequel Hotels and Resorts, the WITH Summit has become the meeting place for individuals and companies committed to advancing women in the tourism-and-hospitality industry while creating an inclusive and diverse workplace.
The afternoon kicked off with a luncheon keynote presented by Anna Blue, president of the American Hotel Lodging Association (AHLA) Foundation. The session, entitled Breaking Barriers: Challenging the Systems that Challenge Us, aimed to inspire women and men to understand the systemic barriers that hinder their professional growth. Blue explored the historical context of gender disparities and highlighted the crucial importance of women recognizing and confronting the structures that hold them back.
“Our entire society was built on very specific systems of oppression,” said Blue. “There are a number of them, but we’re going to talk about one of them and how these systems manifest even today. What’s happening is we’re all actively participating in them without realizing what we’re doing.”
First, Blue talked about language and meaning. She unpacked a number of problematic words that are used on a daily basis, such as girl, nag, bossy, abrasive, ditzy, catty, shrill, ball buster, career woman, man-eater, bridezilla, and feminazi. Then, she broke down the meaning of women’s empowerment.
“To empower means to give somebody power. If I have to give you power, what does that mean? Who owns the power? The only reason we need to empower women is because men took that power away from them,” said Blue. “How many other groups do we say this about? None. But this is a business and we’ve bought into this idea that we don’t have any power. We’re not saying that we’re all powerful, we’re saying it’s up to men to decide when and how we empower women. That’s broken.”
Then, Blue talked about the history of imposter syndrome and how society has built a massive billion-dollar industry around it. She said in 1978, two women did a study on high-achieving women in the workplace, coining the concept the imposter phenomenon.
“The entire corporate work system was designed for men. Women felt like a fraud and felt like they didn’t deserve to be there. We’ve come a long way, but what’s happened is somewhere along the line, the imposter phenomenon became the imposter syndrome. That’s a medical term,” said Blue. “It has a totally different context now and there’s no medical basis for that, but we’ve convinced a lot of people, primarily women, that this is something you have to treat. We are now the problem, not the systems that created it.”
Lastly, Blue discussed the importance of storytelling. “These shifts start with visibility. The power of storytelling is real. Those who tell stories rule the world because stories shape reality,” she said. “Our industry is missing a balanced narrative. Women are missing from the narrative of our industry, yet women make up about 60 per cent of hotel employees in North America.”
Winning Ways
Two awards were presented during the day’s gala luncheon: the Katie Taylor Economic Empowerment Award, named after the Summit’s Honorary Chair, Katie Taylor, former chair of the Royal Bank of Canada and former president & CEO, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, and the Gender Equality Award.
The Katie Taylor Economic Empowerment Award was presented to Anna Blue, president of the AHLA Foundation while Sysco Canada was named the winner of the Gender Equality Award. Blue brings more than two decades of social impact leadership to her role as president of the AHLA Foundation, the non-profit arm of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, driving meaningful impact in support of a stronger hotel industry workforce. Known for her ability to leverage collaboration and mobilize communities, Blue’s career has centered on building movements to advance deep-rooted systemic change in gender equity, inclusive leadership, youth activism, and human safety.
Sysco Canada was recognized with the Gender Equality Award for the various initiatives it has launched as the company works to create a global culture that’s decidedly diverse, equitable, and inclusive ─ one that fosters belonging through caring for one another and connecting the world through food and trusted partnerships. A key part of the company’s vision is to ensure that women representation is balanced in all management roles. In two short years, gender representation within management has grown from 37 per cent to 39 per cent women. This includes all manager, director and executive roles.
Pivoting from Day-to-Day Operations to Higher-Level Strategic Roles
In this afternoon workshop, Val Upfold, executive recruiter and HR specialist, explored how senior hospitality leaders can transition from day-to-day operations to a more strategic, visionary role, and one with more predictable working hours.
Upfold said it’s important to figure out your career goals when looking to pivot. She outlined a few simple questions that can help narrow down those goals, such as “What do you dislike most about your day-to-day responsibilities? What are some areas you love and want to learn more about? What role do you absolutely not want to step into?”
Upfold also touched on developing the necessary skills and mindset for strategic thinking and leadership; how to present this shift to the leadership team within your current organization; and best practices for recruiters and HR professionals in supporting leaders through this shift.
Combatting Human Trafficking
The afternoon breakout session on human trafficking, moderated by Irwin Prince, president & COO of Realstar Hospitality, focused on strategies for combating human trafficking in the hospitality industry. Panellists included Sandy Biback, founder of Meeting Professionals Against Human Trafficking; Lizzy Low, Business Events manager at Ottawa Tourism; and Julia Drydyk, executive director of The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking.
Key topics included the importance of training staff to recognize signs of human trafficking, such as exploitation for profit, sex trafficking, and slave labour. Drydyk highlighted that 94 per cent of sex trafficking survivors in Canada are Canadian women and girls, and six per cent of hotline cases involve law enforcement. Low discussed Ottawa Tourism’s action plan to increase awareness, training and auditing, while Biback emphasized the need for hotels to address human trafficking proactively and the role of event planners in raising awareness. The discussion underscored the need for comprehensive, coordinated national strategies to combat human trafficking effectively.
Members of the panel encouraged hotel operators to implement training programs for staff on identifying and reporting signs of human trafficking and to incorporate anti-human trafficking messaging and resources into event RFPs and destination marketing materials. Advocating for the implementation of mandatory signage and awareness campaigns in airports, hotels, and other transportation hubs across Canada was also highlighted. Improving co-ordination and data-sharing between law enforcement, anti-trafficking organizations, and the hospitality industry to better understand the scope of the issue and measure the impact of interventions was identified as one of the keys to eliminate human traffickers in hotels.
The Power Panel
The last panel of the day, moderated by Katie Taylor, former Chair, Royal Bank of Canada, and former president & CEO, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, featured Lydia Chen, president & CEO, InnVest Hotels; Shazma Charania, president, ZS Holdings; Keryn Houston, director of Catering and Club Restaurants, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE); and Susan Senecal, president & CEO, A&W Restaurants. Together, the panellists explored the multifaceted dimensions of female empowerment, leadership and collaboration in today’s rapidly changing world.
The panellists talked about some of their biggest challenges and how they’ve overcome them, and offered advice to their younger selves.
“One of the biggest struggles entering the business at a younger age even though I was educated in the business is that I was perceived as the owner’s daughter so what would I know?” said Charania. “The advice I’d give to my younger self is don’t tell yourself that story. Stick to the real. I put in a lot of hard work so don’t take it personally.”
The conversation switched gears to focus on technology and how the panellists are leading their teams through these tech transformations.
“Technology is one of the most critical forces shaping our industry right now and MLSE is all-in on tech,” said Houston, highlighting the recent multi-million dollar Re-imagination project at the Scotiabank Arena. “It’s a venue that’s technology enabled, but not necessarily technology led. But, on any given day, my team and I will work with no less than 10 systems that help us manage our business. With every new system we launch, there has to be a strategic roll-out plan, such as in-class learning or modules to help our team understand and move forward.”
Next, Senecal and Chen discussed how they approach the integration of work and life and what’s helped her show up as her best selves. Senecal said she makes sure that work is meaningful, not only to herself, but to everyone on her team, while Chen said that taking time for self-care is important to her.
The panellists also talked about overcoming barriers, celebrating achievements and fostering inclusive environments that elevate women’s voices.
Fireside Chat
The day wrapped up with a fireside chat between Rosanna Caira, editor/publisher, KML and Sandi Treliving, CAMH Foundation, Mental Health Advocate, director of CAMH Foundation, on the topic of mental health and the vital conversations surrounding mental well-being in today’s society. Treliving, a renowned mental-health advocate and director of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Foundation shared her personal journey, insights, and strategies for fostering resilience and emotional wellness.
“Like many Canadians, Sandy has been directly impacted by mental illness, which inspired her to dedicate her time and resources to various mental health initiatives,” said Caira by way of introduction. “In 2014, she became a director of CAMH Foundation’s board, and in 2020, she and her family became founding funders of CAMH’s Womenmind, a community of philanthropists committed to closing the gender gap in mental health.”
Her brother’s mental-health challenges and the lack of treatment options were a driving force behind her path. “It was a natural for me to get into the mental-health world,” she said. “It was not changing, it was not evolving or keeping up with the times. I was very dismayed, and I really didn’t want to jump in, but I realized I’ve got to use my voice. I’ve got to advocate for those that can’t.”
She stressed that the messaging to the public about mental health needs to be that “this is serious and if it’s in your family, don’t ignore it. If you had a broken arm, you would go and see a doctor, the doctor would be able to fix it. The brain is an organ, and organs get sick. If you have a kidney problem, you go see a kidney specialist. We need to acknowledge the fact that things go wrong and not to fingers at one another. Let’s just get to the root of the problem.”
CAMH is the largest mental health hospital in the country, with 500 beds and a 24-hour emergency room. It’s currently in the process of a $500-million campaign raise, which Treliving co-chairs to build a research center on the campus at the hospital.
“We train the majority of the psychiatrists in the country, clinicians in the country. We are in charge of public policy, so government will reach out to us before they issue a statement on mental health,” she said. “Our volumes are unbelievable at 37,000 patients prior to COVID that we were treating as inpatient on an annual basis.”
She said the biggest challenge to changing the perceptions of mental health is misinformation. “We have a long way to go yet, because we haven’t spent enough money in research on the brain. If we had a portion of the funds going to cancer research [dedicated to] mental health and brain research, we would be further along than we are now.”
Click here for more coverage of the WITH Summit.
