TORONTO — Marriott International’s Women’s Leadership Development Initiative – a program aimed at empowering and supporting women across the organization – marks its 25th anniversary in 2024.

In celebration of this year’s International Women’s Day theme, Inspire Inclusion, the company is sharing some of the ways Marriott Hotels of Canada promotes a culture of inclusion and diversity, with the goal of inspiring future generations of women to pursue careers in hospitality.

Here’s a look …

Benefit of Balance – Your Work. Your Life

A new flexibility program which was created to help get women back into the workplace after the pandemic. The program – Benefit of Balance – Your Work. Your Life – allows associates the opportunity to choose between flexibility of place or time, including flexible arrangements for both salaried and hourly staff.

Representation matters

Marriott International is also focused on high representation of women on its Worldwide Business Councils in Canada. These councils are collections of General Managers and associates from across all hotel brands and business functions in a specific market or region that come together to work on common challenges that they can collectively address for a stronger community impact. Five out of seven Business Councils in Canada are chaired by women.

Marriott Canada’s WILL Leadership Development Program

Marriott Canada’s WILL Leadership Development Program is geared to high-performing women associates. There’s also the Women Supporting Women Afternoon of Engagement initiative that provides manager and director level associates from managed and franchised hotels the opportunity to engage and learn from the experiences of women executives throughout the organization.

Gender representation parity

Marriott is working towards its goal of achieving gender representation parity for global company leadership. At the end of 2022, 47% of Marriott’s global executive leadership team were women. In 2023, women represented 29.6% of full-service General Managers and 43.7% of on-property managers in Canada.

Bridging the Gap

Marriott’s Bridging the Gap multifaceted owner incentive program aims to assist historically underrepresented ownership groups including Black, Native American/First Nation, Hispanic/Latino, and women owners in the U.S. and Canada overcome specific obstacles to hotel ownership. At year-end 2022, there were more than 1,800 open diverse or women-owned hotels in the U.S. and Canada, and nearly 940 are in the pipeline.

A helping hand

Support for women-owned businesses such as Torn Ranch – a certified minority and women owned business supplying specialty food items like dried nuts, fruits and chocolates to Marriott properties across the US, Caribbean, Latin America and Canada for the past 30 years – is another focus for Marriott International. At the end of 2022, global spend for women-owned businesses totalled over $239 million.

“IT HAS HELPED OUR FAMILY FIND BALANCE”

Knowing about Marriott International’s initiatives is one thing; hearing them impact real lives is another.

Three members of Marriott International’s global team – all working for Marriott International properties right here in Canada – are sharing their stories on this International Women’s Day …

Lindsay Webster, Director of Housekeeping, Delta Hotels Toronto

“My husband and I met working in hotels and have both worked in the hospitality industry ever since. We have two children and as they grew, we have faced struggles trying to work around schedules for after school activities, teacher’s meetings, summer camps and even doctors’ appointments. With the Benefit of Balance program, I can work a 4-day week, which enables me to be there for my two now-teenagers – to drive them across the city for rugby camp, or just to be there to pick them up from drama class. It has helped our family find balance and helps to manage the mental load that many mothers face.”

Maria Romero, Sales Executive, Westin Edmonton

“As we celebrate International Women’s Day and Marriott International’s 25th anniversary of the Women’s Leadership Development Initiative, I reflect on how the company has helped empower me. The Benefit of Balance – Your Work. Your Life program has allowed me to balance my life as a Sales Executive and a mother of a two-year-old toddler. The flexibility offered by this program has been a game-changer, allowing me to work from home twice a week. This flexibility allows me to strategically manage my work priorities and enables me to spend irreplaceable time with my family. Marriott Canada’s commitment to programs like these truly fosters a culture of inclusivity and diversity, inspiring women like me to thrive in the hospitality industry.”

Salima Ladha, Director of Sales, JW Marriott Parq Vancouver & the DOUGLAS

“With two young children and a long daily commute, the Benefit of Balance is exactly what I needed to stay in an industry that I love.  Life is busy and very dynamic as a parent as kids grow up through their various stages, and having flexibility around working from home allows me to be more present and mindful for them and their needs. This flexibility also nurtures me to be creative, engaged and productive professionally.”

For more information about Marriott properties worldwide see marriott.com.