Mary Kay Inc., the multi-million dollar women's beauty company with millions of independent sellers in nearly 40 countries, once again demonstrated its continued support for women's entrepreneurship, empowerment, and thought leadership as a sponsor of the 2022 International Women’s Forum (IWF) Cornerstone Conference that took place in Santiago de Chile in May.

Thanks to the participation of this beauty firm in the event, an exclusive investigation on the progress of gender equality during the last 25 years (1995-2020) in 18 Latin American countries was revealed, a document that had the advice of global decision makers who explored the most pressing challenges to advancing gender equality in the region.

Cutting Edge Research

This became the first groundbreaking research that the IWF commissioned as part of its annual conference programming.

The study, entitled "Latin American Women: Democracy & Society from a Gender Perspective," is an analysis conducted by Latinobarómetro, a firm by Marta Lagos, which collected information from a quarter of a century on public opinion and attitudes towards and by women on gender equality issues in Latin America.

“Marta Lagos, one of the world’s foremost pollsters, revealed key findings from over 25 years of gender research by her firm Latinobarómetro. For decades she has had her finger on the pulse of Latin America, tracking shifts in attitudes on politics, society and culture. We are truly proud to share these important findings with the world thanks to our partnership with Mary Kay,” said Stephanie O’Keefe, CEO of International Women’s Forum.

Revealing Data

In addition to revealing the most important changes in the opinions, attitudes, and behaviors of Latin American women, the research also points out the obstacles that have been presented to prevent change.

“The latest data was gathered in October 2020 at the end of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and, therefore, reflects the initial impact of the pandemic and the rollback on gender equality progress which we have witnessed globally,” it is pointed out.

This is part of the technical sheet of the study:

• 453,817 interviews conducted over the last quarter of a century by Latinobarómetro in 18 Latin American countries from 1995 to October 2020.
• List of countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela.
• The study is available in Spanish and English.

Access the full study and executive summary here.

“Now, more than ever, the collection of gender data is crucial to inform advocacy and policy work. I am so pleased for Mary Kay to support this impressive compilation of research, ‘Latin American Women: Democracy and Society from a Gender Perspective.’ It is our collective and individual responsibility to learn from the experiences of women in Latin America and to use this data to keep pushing the needle to achieve gender equality in the region and around the world,” noted Deborah Gibbins, Chief Operating Officer at Mary Kay Inc.

About Mary Kay

Mary Kay Ash is considered one of the original glass ceiling breakers. She founded the dream beauty company of hers in 1963 with the goal of enriching women's lives.

As a business development company, Mary Kay is committed to empowering women on their journey through education, mentorship, advocacy, networking, and innovation.

It works with organizations around the world that focus on promoting business excellence, supporting cancer research, promoting gender equality, protecting survivors of domestic abuse, among other causes.

About IWF

The International Women's Forum (IWF), an invitation-only network of the world's most successful women, connects leading women across all professional sectors to support each other and strengthen the common mission of advancing women's leadership and championing equality around the world.

Established in New York in 1974, today IWF is made up of more than 7,500 preeminent women leaders in 33 countries and is the only organization of this scale in the world that builds meaningful relationships between C-level women from all sectors.