DALLAS-- August 16, 2022 -- Mary Kay Inc. continues its support of women’s entrepreneurship, empowerment and thought leadership as a sponsor of the 2022 International Women’s Forum (IWF) Cornerstone Conference. Taking place on 17-18 May in Santiago, the Conference convened global decision makers who explored the most pressing challenges to progress on gender equality for the Latin American region.

For the first time ever, IWF commissioned groundbreaking research as part of its annual conference programming with funding by Mary Kay. Conducted by the Latinobarómetro founded by Marta Lagos, this research, titled “Latin American Women: Democracy & Society from a Gender Perspective,” is the first-ever analysis of a quarter of a century (1995-2020) of public opinion and attitudes towards and by women on gender equality issues in 18 Latin American countries.

“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,” said Stephanie O’Keefe, CEO of International Women’s Forum. “We are truly proud to share these important findings with the world thanks to our partnership with Mary Kay.”

“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,” said Deborah Gibbins, Chief Operating Officer at Mary Kay Inc.

Not only does this research reveal the most important changes in the opinions, attitudes, and behaviors of Latin American women over the last 25 years, but it also looks at the barriers to 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.