Flight Centre to make senior leadership team 50% female by 2020

By Alexandra Coulton

Flight Centre has wrapped up its annual Womenwise event with a bang, promising women will make up 50 per cent of its senior leadership team by 2020.

The event saw 480 women converge in Brisbane on an all-expenses-paid incentive where the company announced a slew of internal promotions and external recognition via some kew award wins.

According to an announcement from Womenwise, the event offers women working within Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) “access to structured support and the skills to strive to develop their leadership potential”.

Womenwise co-founder and global head of Peopleworks for FCTG, Carole Cooper, is the woman who oversees the production of this event and has seen the movement grow from a small group of female senior leaders having a chat over a bottle of red to the major event and global initiative it represents today in Australia, Asia, UAE, South Africa, and the Americas.

“What started as an idea to provide a forum for our women to feel supported has turned into a flourishing global initiative across all of our varied businesses,” she said.

“We are incredibly fortunate to be able to put on this event and it provides a valuable opportunity for our women to network among peers and hear from some incredibly talented and inspirational keynote speakers.

“While the agenda is enjoyable, the themes we discuss have big-picture significance so we take this event – and our Womenwise movement – very seriously.

Women currently represent 48 per cent of FCTG’s senior leadership team and about 70 per cent of the company’s Australian employees.

Along with the end of year event, the Womenwise committee also regularly hosts walking groups, movie nights, and partners with charities to provide its women with opportunities throughout the year to network and build confidence.

This year’s theme focused on “the inspirational women who support you” and the speaker line up included cancer advocate and Love Your Sister founder, Samuel Johnson, former Flightie executive and founder of Goddess in the Boardroom, Rachel O’Brien, and ultra-marathon runner, Turia Pitt.

The event was held at Howard Smith Wharves in Brisbane and follows the success of the brand’s first-ever leadership course for women; the Womenwise Leadership Summit in August this year where the group’s senior female leaders shared their tips and tricks for developing leadership skills.

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