In 2011, a small group of women from a number of agencies within Publicis Groupe in Paris began to discuss setting up an internal women’s network. At the time, women were not getting a go, especially in advertising. Women faced specific challenges and they needed support.
VivaWomen!, Publicis Groupe’s business resource group for women and their allies, was born that September.
By 2014, women were just beginning to realise they had to stand up for themselves to ever achieve anything close to equality and men were just beginning to realise that they would have to allow it to happen – if not be seen to actively support it. VivaWomen! launched the initiative, There’s a Good Girl, an exhibition celebrating women’s creativity that was ignited by Saatchi & Saatchi creative director, Jo Wallace, and encouraged all women to show that we have what it takes to “reach for the stars”.
Now VivaWomen has launched in Australia. More than 1,000 women working for the Publicis Groupe in Australia stand to benefit with the local launch of the Groupe’s global VivaWomen! initiative.
The Australian arm of VivaWomen! was created by a group of women from various Publicis Groupe brands, Sarah Palmer and Melinda Geertz from Leo Burnett; Shelby Robinson from Sapient Razorfish; Julie Dormand from Mercer Bell; and Pauly Grant from Publicis Media. Their aim was to ensure that VivaWomen! champions a positive, progressive voice for women and helps drive real outcomes that support and enable all women in the Publicis Groupe to thrive.
Melinda Geertz, chief executive officer, Leo Burnett Australia, commented, “VivaWomen! is an accelerator for change, and I’m so proud to be part of the team bringing this initiative to Australia. There’s a grass roots momentum driving progressive conversations about diversity and gender, and there’s a growing expectation that organisations step up and meet the challenges. It’s an exciting time for change, and we have a responsibility to make the most of it for every woman working in our Groupe.”
Julie Dormand, managing director of Mercer Bell, stated, “We consulted with a broad group of women to make sure that VivaWomen! in Australia drives real outcomes – with programs that genuinely support and enable the 1000+ women in our Groupe to thrive.”
As its first initiative, VivaWomen! has driven the development and launch of a new parental leave policy. The policy, which is rolling out across the Groupe this year, addresses a number of aspects of parental leave, including industry-leading parental leave payments, as well as flexibility and increased support during the return-to-work months.
Sarah Palmer, head of talent for Leo Burnett Australia, noted, “Many of us have children, and we know firsthand how important it is to have the right financial, workplace and cultural supports in place. There’s nothing easy about balancing family and work. We saw it as imperative to create a parental leave policy that went well beyond the basics, so Hugh Wilson (Head of Talent at Publicis) and I consulted broadly to get this right.”
In addition, this month, VivaWomen! launches its Mentoring in the Mid-Years program. 170 women from 13 different brands will participate in events and workshops in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The program recognises the particular challenges of women in their mid-careers and aims to help them build the confidence, tools and motivation to step up into senior roles in their agencies.
Other priority programs in 2018 will focus on pay equality, unconscious bias and sexual harassment and bullying.
“VivaWomen! must be a program of action and outcomes,” Geertz added.
“We are all deeply committed; we see how much everyone – women AND men — in our Groupe want this from us. I’m proud that our Groupe values fairness and equality, and that they stand behind us in our efforts to support and promote our amazing women.”
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