5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Conference Registration and Exhibits

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Welcome & Networking Reception - Welcome to Mexico
Valeria Jimenez, President of OWIT-Monterrey
Lilia Navarrete, OWIT President & CEO

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Breakfast & Opening Plenary Session Welcoming Remarks
Lilia Navarrete, OWIT President & CEO
Alejandro Paez, Secretary of Economic Development

International Trade: Advancing the Global Economic, Environmental, and Social Agenda

Break

Coffee break & Exhibits

10:15AM - 11:15AM

Session 1 / Plenary session
Economic, Environmental, and Social Trends in International Trade 
Mary Anderson, President, Importers & Exporters Association of Canada
Bruno Ferrari, Director General, PROMEXICO
Moderator: Dr. James Graham, Lobo-Graham Asociados

The global marketplace is changing rapidly and it is challenging to keep pace. This session will explore some of the major environmental, social, and economic trends that are affecting the world trade community, and how to take advantage of them.

Break

Coffee break & Exhibits

11:30 AM-12:30 PM

Session 2

Track 1 

So, what’s your company’s corporate sustainability strategy?
Donna Chung, Sandler & Travis Trade, & Labor Compliance Advisor
Antony Henshaw, CEMEX, VP Sustainability
David Robillard, Kroll, Deputy Regional Managing Director
Moderator: Dr. Gerardo Lozano, ITESM/EGADE
 
Learn to assess corporate sustainability practices and understand how sustainability is impacting businesses. This session will engage into the thought that sustainability management is a top-line issue and not just a compliance issue. Innovation and the key to a sustainable strategy.

Track 2 

The Social Side of Trade: How Women are Changing the Way We Conduct International Business.
Rosalind Wilson, Director, Canadian Pacific Railways
Carmen Graham, President, Universidad del Pacifico, Peru
Emily Rodriguez, Senior Consultant, The Results Group
Moderator:

This session will explore how women are impacting the way business is done around the world. What issues are they bringing forward? How is their non-traditional approach challenging the status quo? How are their concerns not only impacting the social bottom line, but the environment and economic as well.

12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Lunch & Plenary Session, Keynote speaker
Josephine Cooper, TOYOTA
"Triple Bottom Line in an Era of Change"

Break

Coffee break & Exhibits

2:15 PM - 3:30 PM

Session 3

Track 1 

People and their impact on profit. Building an international workforce.
Melissa Magder, MCB Solutions

Companies know that without good staff and leadership, running and expanding an international operation is extremely difficult. So how do you build an effective international workforce? This session will explore how companies are being creative in attracting and retaining a workforce, that in some cases is geographically, culturally, and linguistically diverse.

Track 2 

Best practices in international trade logistics and the triple bottom line
Griselda Hernandez, Mexico Director, United Parcel Service
David Eaton, VP for Corporate Affairs and Right of Way Protection, Kansas City Southern Mexico
Slawek Amanowicz, Gerente, Recinto Fiscalizado Estrategico de San Luis Potosí
Moderator: C.P. Leticia Hervert, Instituto de Contadores Publicos del Noreste

This session will explore environmentally sustainable best practices and how to manage your supply chain while considering the impact on the triple bottom line. Aligning your suppliers with your CSR strategy, CERES principals, and major multi-nationals.

Break

Coffee break & Exhibits

3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

Session 4

Track 1 

So, what’s all this talk about "Fair" trade?
Michelle Bonn, Founder & President, Expedient Trade
Mauricio Alquiciras, Director de Desarrollo de Mercados, Comercio Justo Mexico
Moderator: Janelle Brittain, Dynamic Performance Institute

This session will explore the definition, models, and practice of “fair trade”. What is it? Why is this concept growing in significance? What companies are leading the movement? What are the opportunities for businesses? How can we use fair trade as a tactic to grow our businesses and organizations? How are fair trade practices inextricably linked to our own CSR policy?

Track 2 

CSR as a tool to Sustainability in your company
Luis Enrique Portales, ITESM/EGADE

The changing world in which we are involved and the fact that many companies go out of business during their first three years questions about what can a company, in Mexico, do so it can survive? What practices should this company change to stay in market for many years? In this presentation, you will find a 5-dimension-model that will help your company to be sustainable.

7:00 PM - 10:00 PM

President's Dinner & Awards Ceremony
This dinner recognizes the recipients of the OWIT Woman of the Year, Member of the Year, and Chapter of the Year.

Special recognition to:
Marian Duntley "Lifetime contribution award"

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Breakfast & Plenary Session
Networking Workshop – Leap start Presentation
Join networking experts and co-authors, Gayle Hallgren-Rezac & Judy Thomson at this high-energy kick-off session to learn the absolutely essential tips to maximize your networking opportunities at the 2008 OWIT World Conference. Gayle and Judy spoke at the 2006 OWIT World Conference and this testimonial from that conference says it all:
"Their presentation transformed the whole dynamic of the conference! Hundreds of women were empowered to network with confidence and network with a purpose – ‘how can I help and connect others?’ In addition to all of the practical tips that really work, the networking focus of helping and connecting others resonated with these women. It changed our mentality of networking from something I need to do (because it's good for my career) to it's something I have a great opportunity to do (because I have something to offer to others). There were no wall flowers at this conference" - Taunya McLarty Painter

Break

Coffee break & Exhibits

10:15 AM-11:15 PM

Session 5

Track 1 

Global Markets: Good Enough for Men but Made for Women
Susan Baka, President, Bay Communications

Hear the motivations, strategies, and inspirations of Canadian women entrepreneurs who have taken the leap onto the international stage. Hundreds of women business owners have been interviewed and, in this presentation, reveals the 10 keys to success for expanding globally. Recommendations of some unique resources for women entrepreneurs, developed in Canada, but with tips and strategies that transcend borders.

Track 2 

Emerging global economies- Providing opportunities for all
Diane Gray, Deputy Minister of Finance, Manitoba, Canada

Regional trading blocs are changing the way countries, and therefore companies are doing business. As trade barriers breakdown, and markets increase, so do opportunities. This session will explore some of the hot new emerging markets for international traders to look at, including a discussion of how many are addressing sustainability in a positive manner as a part of their strategy going forward.

Break

Coffee break & Exhibits

11:30 AM-12:20 PM

Session 6

Track 1 

Financing your “Green Business” as you go International
Beth Gordon, Senior Manager Global Client Stategies,Royal Bank of Canada
Laura Dorling, Formerly Senior Advisor, Canadian Executive Director's Office IADB

Financing plays an essential role in international trade. “Green” businesses are becoming more prevalent internationally. This session will explore the growing number of financial vehicles available for the international trader interested in expanding their operations internationally.

Track 2 

Technology and Intellectual Property
Lauren Perez, VP Regulatory Matters, Sandler & Travis
Mayra Nunez, Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial
Adela Giral, Unysis
Moderator: Dr. Myrna Garcia, Centro de Investigacion de Tecnologias Juridica y Criminologica Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon

As the global economy continues to expand, so do budgets for innovation, research and development, in particularly if you are involved in the information technology or pharmaceutical industries. Intellectual property rights are established to help protect innovation; however, not all countries respect or protect the same principles. This session will explore how companies are dealing with the range of protection they experience as they expand their operations into new, and sometimes challenging new markets where intellectual property rights are not as sophisticated.

12:30 PM-2:00 PM

Lunch & Plenary Session, Keynote speaker
Canadian Consul General, Bertrand Desjardins

2:10 PM - 3:15 PM

Session 7

Track 1 

Compliance and Regulations in a New Trade World
Fanny Euran, Asesora, Subsecretaria de Ingresos, SHCP

Track 2 

Corporate Social Responsibility Regulations and Standards: Effective tools for International Women Traders
Concepcion Landa Garcia-Tellez, Consultant on Corporate Social Responsability

Multinational corporations face many challenges in their attempts to operate responsibly in global economies. Chief among their concerns are building and maintaining trustworthy relationships, not only in the company's own operations, but also among local suppliers and stakeholders. AA1000, SA8000, ISO26000, UN Global Compact, OCDE Guidelines, Global Reporting Initiative, NMX-SAST-004-IMNC-2004 and the Mexican norm for genre equity, are a number of (instruments) standards designed to develop better sustainability strategies among organizations based on the Triple Bottom Line. These tools are useful as parameters of the organizational behavior in all areas: business ethics, labor relationships, human rights, work environment, information access, (anti-struggling) anti-corruption, consumer rights, environmental consciousness, genre equity. By complying with these standards, enterprises become globally competitive as well as accountable for a better life and environment quality.

3:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Workshops

Workshop A: 

Learn how you can prepare your organization for 10+2 readiness & create competitive advantage while you are at it…

Speakers: 

Beth Peterson, BPE, President
Matt Gersper, Global Data Mining, President

Our objective today in this educational workshop is to help you understand why 10+2 readiness requires an overarching strategy and provide you with information you’ll need to build the business case for your leadership…

• Current Status of the 10+2 Importer Security Filing Rule
• Why it’s Strategic and not Tactical
• 10+2 Readiness
  • Data Strategy
  • Collaborative Assessment
  • Project Strategy
  • Application Functionality
• Bringing it all together
• Creating Competitive Advantage with 10+2 Readiness

Best-in-class companies are funding cross-functional teams to develop a strategic enterprise-wide solution, using 10+2 as a catalyst to optimize currently inefficient processes, and creating competitive advantage in the process.

Join our workshop. It will be fun, informative, and immediately applicable

Workshop B: 

How we educate future leaders on the importance of sustainability.

Speaker: 

Shireen Musa, Professor, Dept of International Trade & Marketing, Fashion Institute of Technology, NY

There are many tools that can be used in the education of sustainability. This workshop will review educational topics that include: global trends in sustainability, the Global Compact, international business ethics, designing for the environment, Life Cycle Assessment, Codes of Conduct and social and environmental labeling programs.

Shireen Musa a Professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York. She teaches various International Trade and Marketing courses including, "International Corporate Responsibility". Students enrolled in "International Corporate Responsibility" study the sustainability movement, and how ethical, social and environmental issues are being addressed by multi-national corporations. Through the review of current case studies, the course examines the role of fashion businesses in creating socially responsible and eco-friendly global supply chains.

4:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Workshop C: 

Building Collaborative Global Teams to Assure the Triple Bottom Line

Speaker: 

Janelle Brittain, President, Dynamic Performance Institute, Chicago

Anyone who has ever managed international operations knows you're only as good as the team you have in the field...and their cooperation and communication with headquarters.

Imagine how much more your international leaders could contribute if they learned how to work together as a team, rather than as independent fiefdoms.

Are you having problems with:

• Conflicts between corporate strategies and local implementation?
• Strong minded people running overseas locations?
• Different priorities on societal, economic and environmental sustainability?
• Field adherence to Branding Strategy?
• Having the same focus and commitment to the mission?
• Field providing accurate information in a timely manner?

The last thing you want in a global operation is the kind of "surprises" that these challenges can create. Learn how to not only improve communications but increase understanding and buy-in to better collaboration. These practical strategies and approaches can set a team on a new collaborative path.

Workshop D: 

Innovacion y Emprendimiento Corporativo (Innovation & Corporate Entrepreneurship)

Speaker: 

Alejandro Huesca Marino, Director, Direccion de Educacion y Liderazgo Empresarial

"Innovacion y Emprendimiento Corporativo" es el termino con el que se identifica la estrategia empresarial de las organizaciones competitivas y ganadoras, que explicitamente deciden desmitificar la innovacion y hacen de ella, un sistema estrategico y operativo, que hace del capital humano una fuente inagotable para el desarrollo de innovaciones y ventajas competitivas de alto valor agregado, que fortalecen en forma significativa la sustentabilidad operativa, de mercado, financiera y tecnologica de la empresa. El participante se dara cuenta de la enorme factibilidad de implementacion de esta estrategia en la empresa, asi como, de los beneficios que genera.

5:30 PM

Conference Adjourns

Download Conference Agenda (pdf)

Download Conference Speakers(pdf)