Closing the Gap in Women's Health: The Key to a Healthier, More Resilient Workforce
Webinar Registration
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In the last year, Canada’s productivity has been called a slowdown, a challenge, a problem and a crisis. If analysts can’t agree on the best word to describe the state of Canada’s productivity, there is at least universal acknowledgement that it must improve – and fast.
Yet no debate about how to boost productivity will yield optimal results without considering one factor that is so often overlooked in business and elsewhere: women’s health. According to a 2024 McKinsey report, nearly half of the women’s health burden occurs between the ages of 20 and 64 – nearly the entire span of a woman’s working years. Resilience aside, the symptoms and presentations of conditions – endometriosis, ovarian cancer, menopause and many more – directly interfere with a woman’s ability to thrive at work. Ignoring these challenges doesn’t just hurt employees—it costs businesses in lost productivity, retention and innovation.
Women are driving change, tackling these issues head-on. From the rise of Femtech to forward-thinking workplace policies, companies and leaders now have a chance to close the gap in women’s health and build a healthier, more resilient workforce.
On Thursday, March 6 at 1 p.m. (ET), join Smith Business Insight for a free, 60-minute International Women’s Day webinar, where industry experts will break down the vital link between women’s health, business success and economic growth.
Participants will learn:
- The many aspects of women’s health and why it matters in today’s business world
- How investing in women’s health helps both women and the workplace
- How technology and innovation are addressing women’s health challenges
- Practical strategies for employers and employees to support women’s health in the workplace.
Session Participants
Liza Vityuk
Liza is a recognized leader and practitioner who leads McKinsey’s thinking on digital, analytics and gen AI topics in the retail sector. She has more than 15 years of experience in the consumer space. Since joining McKinsey in 2012, she has focused on helping clients with commercial and growth strategies, building digital businesses, and improving customer experience with retail, consumer goods and direct-to-consumer clients globally. Liza also also chairs the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee in Canada which oversees programs and efforts for more than 850 McKinsey colleagues and is a passionate advocate and change leader in women’s health.
Laura Williams
Laura has built two highly respected firms, Williams HR Law LLP and Williams HR Consulting Inc., which respectively provide proactive Human Resources law and consulting advice designed to minimize workplace challenges, maximize employee engagement and achieve team and organizational objectives. As an established business leader, proactive HR lawyer, strategic HR and EDI consultant, workplace investigator, educator and keynote speaker, Laura is a leading voice and highly sought after expert whose mission is to help leaders recognize that human-centric people-management strategies will produce game-changing results. Laura has been appointed as an equity advisor to numerous institutions and corporations across industries and sectors, and has many years of service on various Boards of Directors.
Dr. Elspeth Murray
Elspeth Murray is an associate professor, director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Social Impact and CIBC Fellow in Entrepreneurship at Smith School of Business, with expertise in strategy, the management of change and entrepreneurship. She is the co-author of the bestselling book Fast Forward: Organizational Change in 100 Days, with Peter Richardson. She advises a number of tech companies and is working on a number of digital transformation projects focused on creating an analytics culture. Prior to joining Smith, she worked for several firms including IBM and Canadian Tire.
