GBTA Foundation’s 2024 WINiT Summit and Gala Illuminates the Strides Individuals and Allies Are Making in Leading the Journey Toward Gender Equity in the Business Travel Industry
GBTA WINiT’s 10th anniversary events also celebrated industry leaders advancing women’s careers, commitment to the UN’s Women Empowerment Principles and showcased new GBTA research on gender equity in the business travel sector
Career development and advancement for women in the global business travel industry was at the forefront as GBTA WINiT celebrated a decade of commitment to helping women move forward in their careers yesterday at its annual Summit, Awards Ceremony and Gala held at the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport in New York City.
GBTA WINiT (“Women in Travel”), a program of the GBTA Foundation, brought together industry professionals and leaders for a day of education, collaboration and recognition with a focus on raising awareness and creating advancement around the challenges and successes women face in the global business travel sector. The Summit and Gala aimed to spark industry dialogue, promote learning and empowerment and celebrate the progress and achievements of women in the field.
The “Journey Forward” – A Day of Education and Collaboration
Through its 2024 theme “Journey Forward,” the Summit brought together 200 travel industry professionals at all levels – including WINiT members, mentors, mentees, alumni, advisors, committee volunteers and board members. Spanning leadership, innovation, mentorship and allyship, program discussions included trailblazing journeys of female CEOs to a high-energy networking session focused on leveraging everyone’s unique strengths to a think tank harnessing the collective, diverse expertise and experiences of the WINiT community to chart its future path forward.
The Summit also included the announcement of “GBTA WINiT Path to Gender Parity: Advocating for 50/50 Leadership by 2035,” a new initiative with the goal of achieving gender equity in the business travel industry over the next 10 years. Event delegates participated in an interactive workshop helping to create the path ahead across five pillars: inspiring change, shaping future leaders, engaging at every level, motivating change and recognizing achievement.
“The year-round mission of GBTA WINiT and initiatives like the Path to Gender Parity are in recognition that there is still more to be done in our industry to offer women equitable opportunities for growth and advancement in their careers,” said Delphine Millot, Senior Vice President, Sustainability, GBTA and Managing Director at the GBTA Foundation. “We’re actively working to make tangible, impactful progress… and showcasing the individuals and companies who are going above and beyond to join us.”
The GBTA Foundation announced it is now among the 10,000+ signatories of the United Nation’s Women Empowerment Principles (WEP), which offers guidance to businesses on how to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. As a WEP signatory, an organization’s leadership pledges to foster business practices that empower women, including equal pay for work of equal value, gender-responsive supply chain practices and zero tolerance against sexual harassment in the workplace. (Read GBTA’s profile here.)
Latest Research About Women in Travel Industry Leadership Positions
The GBTA Foundation also exclusively shared the results from its new survey called, “How Women are Shaping the Future of Business Travel,” which focused on the challenges and opportunities women face both as professionals working in the industry and as business travelers themselves.
The survey revealed that even though women make up the majority of professionals on both the buyer and supplier sides of the industry, this representation is strongest at mid-management levels and significant gender disparities remain in the most senior executive roles. In fact, according to the survey respondents, only 39% of vice presidents or executives at travel suppliers and travel management companies are women, compared to their higher representation at director levels, where they hold 66% of the roles.
Gala and Awards Pay Tribute to Trailblazing People and Companies
After the Summit, almost 230 attendees gathered for the WINiT Awards Ceremony and Gala to honor the commitment and accomplishments of individuals and organizations over the past year.
The GBTA WINiT Award winners for 2024:
Pinnacle Awards
- Outstanding Woman of the Year | Doreen Burse, SVP Worldwide Sales, United Airlines
- Most Innovative Trailblazer | Axita Bhalsod, VP Analytics and Data Science, Egencia/AmexGBT
Leadership Award
- Lifetime Achievement Award | Kristin Shovlin, retired, Delta Air Lines
Individual Awards
- Female Mentor Coaches
- Anna McConnell, VP Sales, Avis Budget Group
- Karly Theroff, Director of Account Management, FCM Travel
- Male Mentor Coaches
- Mike Guadagnoli, VP Business Rental Sales, Enterprise Mobility
- Larry Restiano, SVP, Global Business Partnerships, Amex GBT
- DEI Leadership Award | Linda Bekoe, CEO, APLBC
- WatchHER: Future of the Workforce | Nicole Slone, Product Marketing Specialist, Delta Air Lines
Company Achievement Awards
- Creating a Company Culture for Women to Advance and Succeed | Enterprise Mobility
Top 50 Women In Travel
- GBTA WINiT announced the Top 50 winnersearlier this month, which can be found here.
The event also kicked off a new scholarship fund that will support the GBTA Foundation’s mission of building and retaining a diverse pipeline of talents in the business travel industry. Donations continue to be accepted here.
Visit the photo galleries here for the 2024 WINiT Summit and the WINiT Gala.
Visit here to learn more about GBTA WINiT, and for more information about the GBTA Foundation, go to https://gbtafoundation.org/.
English 
Spanish 
French 
Portuguese