Faire Savoir! Highlights from Milan
The International Expansion Committee (IEC) continues to advance its mission to connect, inspire, and lead women around the globe. In early February, our committee hosted a packed event at MIDO featuring some of the industry's most influential female leaders.
Our panel, Breaking Optical Barriers: Women Who Conquered the Climb to Success, was facilitated by Megan Molony, OWA Vice President and Senior Vice President at National Vision. She was joined by an exceptional panel featuring Malika Azrine-Bouferquene, Vice President of Human Resources at EssilorLuxottica; Barbara Salimbeni, Managing Director of Italy and Vice President of Global Trade Marketing at Marchon; and Sara Osculati, Chief Brand and Marketing Officer at Thélios.
We had the honor of having Lorraine Berton introduce the event. As the President of MIDO and the first woman to serve as President of ANFAO (The Italian Association of Optical Goods Manufacturing), her presence and words were especially meaningful. An excerpt from Lorraine Berton’s introduction captures the spirit of the event:
“But what does the empowerment of women really mean? It means giving all women the possibility to choose, to express their talent, to have access to the same opportunities. It means acknowledging diversity as the driver of growth for businesses, for the market, and for society.”
We are incredibly grateful for her generosity in sharing her time and resources to support the OWA’s efforts in building international networks and fostering new opportunities abroad.
Throughout the panel, each speaker shared compelling and candid stories about navigating male-dominated industries. One particularly memorable takeaway came from Sara Osculati, who outlined her 'Three Keys to Success' (saved in my Notes app—apologies to Ms. Osculati if I misquote the French!):
Faire – To do: Women know how to get things done. This is where many of us excel.
Faire déléguer – To delegate: This can be more challenging. It often feels easier to do the work ourselves than to train others. However, true leadership requires us to delegate effectively and invest in developing those around us.
Faire savoir – To let others know: This resonated deeply with the room. Being your own advocate and sharing your accomplishments is crucial, especially in larger organizations. While we may wish for our work to speak for itself, the reality is that we need to communicate our successes and often we might need to be our own PR rep.
In the spirit of faire savoir, we want to celebrate and share the hard work the IEC team is doing to expand the OWA’s core mission beyond the United States. We are committed to fostering global connections and will continue to host more international networking events. Keep an eye on the OWA events page for future opportunities!
Our key objectives remain clear:
Create a Global Community: Build a network where women in the optical industry worldwide can connect, collaborate, and support one another.
Support Women's Leadership: Empower women to step into leadership roles across all sectors of the industry.
Facilitate Cultural Exchange: Promote understanding and learning through cross-cultural engagement.
Provide Resources and Training: Offer educational and professional development tools to women around the world.
We are excited to be part of expanding the OWA globally and are continually inspired by the wealth of knowledge and experiences we all have to share.
Written by: Gilda Mehraban
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