About

About PublisHer

PublisHer is a call to action by female publishing leaders to address their industry’s entrenched gender imbalances and drive an international agenda for change.

PublisHer is an empowered community seeking creative, viable solutions to the many gender-based inequities that have long characterized world publishing and the other creative industries. PublisHer emerged on the sidelines of international literary events and book fairs, where it drew international attention to the issue and inspired a growing base of supporters.

DOWNLOAD the PublisHer Diversity and Inclusion Guidelines

Executive Board

Bodour Al Qasimi

Bodour Al Qasimi

Vice-President, International Publishers Association (IPA)

Tracey Armstrong

Tracey Armstrong

President and CEO, Copyright Clearance Center

Ana Maria Cabanellas

Ana Maria Cabanellas

President, Grupo Claridad

Caroline Fortin

Caroline Fortin

Vice-President, QA International

Bibi Bakare-Yusuf

Bibi Bakare-Yusuf

Co-Founder and Director, Cassava Republic Press

Trasvin Jittidecharak

Trasvin Jittidecharak

Founder, Silkworm Books

Emma House

Emma House

Independent publishing consultant

How PublisHer started

In 2018 Bodour Al Qasimi and fellow women publishers decided to change their industry by tackling its long-established gender disparities, especially at the top. Bodour and Maria Pallante, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Association of American Publishers, consulted with a peer group at London Book Fair in March 2019, then again in Nairobi, Kenya at the International Publishers Association’s second Africa Seminar, in June 2019. The consultations centred on complex, systemic gender diversity and inclusion challenges, such as:

  • How exclusion and gender bias affect women day-to-day and over their careers
  • Impacts on the content and diversity in books
  • How diversity and inclusivity should be industry and company-level priorities
  • How individuals can support female colleagues
  • Increasing diversity and inclusivity in international bodies like the International Publishers Association (IPA), the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations (IFRRO), and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
  • Supporting diverse authors to write more books, getting publishers to publish them, and encouraging bookstores, libraries, and schools to stock them

Issues PublisHer addresses

PublisHer stages consultations on the margins of international book events to develop a global perspective on the big diversity and inclusivity challenges women face in publishing. Common issues to have emerged from these sessions include:

  • Lack of career progression and mobility, particularly at executive level
  • Gender biases and related pay gaps
  • Limited access to female mentors and role models
  • Lack of spaces for publishers to discuss policies, programs, and best practices for making progress on diversity and inclusion
  • Career-life balance and associated issues like suitable facilities and flexible working
  • Resources for women to learn about job, board, and speaking opportunities
  • Government interventions to improve labour policies and employer practices

Initiatives PublisHer is considering

PublisHer is a platform for new ideas and initiatives to catalyze progress, partnerships, and action. PublisHer aims to be a point of reference for new approaches to diversity and inclusivity.

Some creative ideas gleaned from PublisHer consultations that are under consideration are:

  • Developing and sharing gender diversity and empowerment good practices
  • Helping publishers to improve recruitment policies, facilities, and professional support for women
  • Starting career mentorship and coaching schemes
  • Harvesting and sharing data to underpin advocacy work and support changes in employer practices
  • Aggregating publishing job, board, and speaking opportunities for women
  • Identifying, celebrating and rewarding gender diversity champions
  • Advising educational institutions and providing career path information to persuade more women to enter publishing

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