Forbes Women’s Summit 2023: Inspire, Empower, Network
For the first time since 2019, the Forbes Women’s Summit took place as a physical event. With more than 220 guests, outstanding speakers and strong partners, the Summit not only came to life, but became a huge success. And, according to attendees, provided three main qualities: “inspiration, empowerment, and networking”.

In an instant, the entire room went silent. Only a familiar melody, namely “Habanera” from the opera “Carmen”, was audible. Then, the room filled with a clear voice, singing the corresponding lyrics. As opera singer Siena Licht Miller started her performance, it also meant that the Forbes Women’s Summit 2023 had finally begun. For the first time since 2019, over 220 women gathered in a physical space to discuss entrepreneurship, diversity – and the challenges and opportunities that come with both.

When asked to describe the Summit in three words, speakers and guests alike kept choosing versions of these three terms: “inspiring, empowering, networking”. And that’s exactly what we had hoped to deliver after a three-year streak of hosting the Forbes Women’s Summit virtually. Because there just is a unique quality to meeting people in person, feeling the energy in the room – and listening to a professional opera singer.

What came after was no less impressive. Sessions and speakers covered a wide range of topics, but kept coming back to large trends that will affect all of us in one way or another. Discussions included titles such as “Technology For Good”, “Hiring For Attitude”, “Women Facing War” or “Understanding Gen Z”.

Hiring For Attitude
Diversity in decision-making was a prominent theme, as emphasized by the first speaker of the day, Nora Wilhelm. The founder of Collaboratio Helvetica and The Well and Forbes Under 30 list maker said that “if we want to change a paradigm, we need everyone’s perspective.” Shortly after, Sophie Chung (CEO and Founder of Qunomedical) struck a similar tune in her panel with Tünde Lukacs (EY). Speaking on “Technology For Good”, Chung remarked: “While tech may become a commodity, humans may not.”

Workforce shortage and new approaches in recruiting dominated the rest of the morning, especially during a panel with insights from Vanessa Gentile (Salesforce), Bettina Schaller (Adecco Group), and Jenny Mathias (EY). “We are still recruiting like we did twenty years ago,” noted Gentile. New solutions are needed.

Such solutions were discussed in the afternoon, as participants were able to join four simultaneous breakout sessions. The topics of these interactive workshops were: “Starting A Social Business”, run by Madina Katter (Bulletproof Ukraine) and Anna Gracia Herbst (Buy Food with Plastic); “Negotiate Your Worth”, hosted by Marcel Dévény (MoonShot Negotiations) and Anna Cajot (Schranner Negotiation Institute). Vanessa Gentile and Jenny Mathias picked up the discussion from their panel and led a dialogue on recruiting with an emphasis on hiring for attitude and training for skills; and Christina H. Henkel (founder of Skyadvisory) provided insights on becoming one’s true self in her session on the topic “Imagine”.

The Future Generation
The afternoon focused on younger change makers, mostly made up of Forbes Under 30 list makers. Yaël Meier demonstrated that having small children doesn’t keep you from speaking onstage, as she simply brought them along for her speech. Meier highlighted that while Gen Z may not yet dominate the workforce (with an anticipated share of 27% by 2025), their impact on the industry is substantial: “Companies need to talk to young people instead of about them,” she said.

Khalil Radi and Anna Gracia Herbst then shared their story of founding their social business “Buy Food with Plastic” that provides hot meals to people in emerging countries – in exchange for plastic bottles.

The Best
As a fitting closing for a day full of inspiration and motivation, Dilek Gürsoy talked about her way to the top. Gürsoy became the first woman in Europe to transplant an artificial heart and made the cover of last year’s Forbes Women issue. After leaving her hospital, Gürsoy has decided to branch out on her own and found her very own private clinic. Regarding her approach to recruiting, she said: “I hire women not because they’re women, but because I want to hire the best people.”

It goes without saying that this Summit would never have come to life without strong partners. The support of Salesforce, EY, The University St. Gallen, Vitra, The Boardroom, Wenger Plattner as well as Start Global, Neoh, Influence Vision and Forbes Global Properties made sure that the return of the Forbes Women’s Summit to the physical world and to the Park Hyatt Zurich was a huge success. Stay tuned for next year!