GENDER EQUALITY DIALOGUES: FAQs

1. How often will we meet?

   Once a month over the course of a year, you will virtually attend and actively engage in a ~90-minute dialogue session. These meetings won’t be recorded and we’ll adhere to the Chatham House Rule. To get the most out of the program, we also recommend that you and or the members of your company consistently attend the meetings. 

2. What to expect outside of meetings?

   Outside of the meeting sessions, you’ll have a small amount of homework (about 1 hour a month), where you’ll engage in tasks that align with the group discussions and your company’s action plan for implementing gender equality commitments (for example, asking your company’s HR department to share parental leave policies). 

3. Who will be in my cohort?

   The cohort will consist of leaders of the seafood industry. 

4. How many total hours a week/month do I need to commit to best serve my company and the other members of the GED program?

   The monthly sessions will run approximately 90 minutes. We anticipate that approximately one hour of additional work to support your participation in the GED will occur outside of the monthly meetings.

5. Are the virtual meetings recorded?

   We intend for the Gender Equality Dialogues to be a space to discuss issues that can sometimes be sensitive. To build trust and encourage a willingness to share, we will not record the virtual meetings. Additionally, all participants must agree to adhere to the Chatham House Rule.

6. Is this a certification?

   No, the Gender Equality Dialogues is not a certification program but you will be able to share your commitments, activities, and progress publicly, which will send a strong signal that you care about this issue and are actively addressing it.

7. Will there be opportunities to share information or meet outside of the scheduled sessions for the group?

   Absolutely! We’ll set up a special, members-only Linkedin group to share information, ask questions, and encourage networking amongst members. We also hope to take advantage of in-person events, such as at the Boston Seafood Show, and provide opportunities for members to meet.

8. How many people from one company can attend?

   We request that two to three people, ideally a senior leader and a representative from your Human Resources team, from each company commit to meaningfully and consistently participate in the monthly meetings.

9. What if I can’t get sign-off from my CEO or leadership team to participate in the GED?

   This would be unfortunate. We request that the participants not only have the full support of their leadership, but also themselves have a high level of decision-making authority within their respective companies and organizations. Leadership must agree to publicly commit to gender equality and implement the actions that we’ll collectively define throughout this journey.

10. Will there be ongoing support to implement our commitments once the GED program has ended?

    Yes, it’s our intention that there will be support to implement your commitments. How that support will look will be determined throughout the course of the inaugural cohort.

11. What types of companies should attend the GED?

    The GED’s primary audience is leaders of the seafood industry, including corporate leadership with authority to create change within their own corporate office environment.

12. Can I attend the GED if I work in government or at a nonprofit?

    The main goal of the inaugural GED cohort is to support companies within the seafood industry on a journey to build gender equality in the industry.

13. Is the GED only focused on North America?

    The focus of the GED for the inaugural cohort is the North American seafood industry, who can participate comfortably from a North American time zone. A goal is to generate learnings from the pilot cohort that will guide us in how to further share and expand the GED with potential implementers in other important global seafood markets and regions.