A year ago, Ecco executive Ana Rojas, regional marketing manager for Latin America, queried human resources about the possibility of creating an internal women’s leadership program. Her timing was ideal.
As it turned out, Ecco Americas chief executive officer Neal Taylor, who had joined the company only a few months earlier, was exploring just such options. Rojas’ plan was quickly approved by leadership, and in August 2025, Women Forward debuted as a monthly series of content and programming that aims to empower and educate the women of Ecco Americas (spanning the U.S., Canada and Latin America).
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As Women Forward marks its first anniversary this summer, FN takes a deep dive into its origins, structure and lofty goals for making a lasting impact.
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Why It Was Needed
Rojas said she was motivated to create Women Forward after noticing a troubling statistic about the company. “In Ecco Americas, 60 percent of employees are women, and we found that most of them are in the middle management,” she said. “We see an opportunity to create this platform that can ensure that these women have access to the tools, the mentoring, the preparation, so they can have access to more senior opportunities in our organization.”
Ecco’s investment in the program comes at a crucial time.
McKinsey’s 2025 Women in the Workplace study reported that women remain underrepresented at every level of the corporate pipeline, especially in senior leadership, where they make up just 29 percent of C-suite roles. That number was unchanged from 2024, lending credence to arguments that women’s career advancement is stalling amid a shift in corporate America to deprioritize diversity and equity support.
Women Forward, though, aims to build a vital bridge for female employees at Ecco to reach the next levels in their careers, while also fostering a strong sense of community.
How It Works
It starts from the top. While Rojas founded the platform, its leadership is a collective, made up of several “champions” who are representative of the breadth of Ecco Americas’ departments and geography.
That was evident on a recent video call with FN, in which Rojas — calling in from Panama City, Panama — was joined by fellow champions Lisa Zahn, Ecco Americas director of marketing, based in Canada; and Jill Butler, Ecco Americas director of merchandising, based in the U.S. Additional members of the leadership include Martha Aristizábal, regional supply chain manager for Latin America, based in Panama; and Hilari Jensen, a field sales manager and 20-year company veteran, based in the U.S.
“One of the elements that makes this program very different from other ones that are outside is that [it is] built from the people for the people,” said Rojas. “Our idea is for this to be super custom made for our women employees. It has to understand the culture of the company and the needs of the employees so it can work.”
The three credited Ecco leadership for their support and encouragement in building Women Forward by consistently featuring it in town halls and companywide emails. “That’s helped the greater organization adopt this focus and opportunity,” said Butler.
Zahn also pointed to the community-building aspects of the platform as a key strength. “What makes this initiative really nice is that it’s not just about titles or hierarchy, it’s about creating this safe space and building your network, being exposed to people that you would normally not be exposed to at a global level,” she said.
The Big Pillars
The framework for Women Forward is based on Rojas’ experiences with other women’s groups in Latin America and was finetuned through conversations with mentors and leaders within the Ecco extended family.
It consists of four pillars: awareness, inspiration, mentoring/networking and education.
The awareness component consists of a monthly email series sharing the stories of female leaders across the region. “We think it’s super important to create that awareness within the company — not just for women but also for men and leaders at different levels — so they can understand the positive impact [of having] a more diverse leadership in our company,” explained Rojas.
The inspiration pillar features conversations with internal senior leaders — and from outside brands — to share their experiences and best practices. Rojas said its purpose is to help dispel any doubts women might have about their ability to reach senior positions by showing real examples of what’s possible.
For mentoring and networking, Women Forward organizes opportunities for employees to engage with female senior leaders across the region. Rojas emphasized that who you know can be just as important as what you know when it comes time to make a career move.
And in terms of education, the goal is to provide skills trainings by partnering with colleges and universities, and by tapping into Ecco’s existing global tools around training.
Positive Benefits
While Women Forward is still in its infancy, its leaders already are recognizing unexpected benefits of its initiatives, particularly the awareness component.
“I’ve received quite a few of these introductory stories, and there are women that I’ve known and worked with for years, but it’s always work. We talk about what we need to talk about,” said Zahn. “But when you learn more about them as a person and what they do outside of work, what motivates them, it’s really interesting — and it’s also a conversation starter to build a deeper relationship.”
Butler highlighted the fact that the monthly profiles showcase women at various levels in Ecco Americas — not just senior executives. “It’s building this community within our region that didn’t exist before, and I think that women are embracing it,” she said.
Rojas also pointed out that telling these stories can provide more credibility to female colleagues by highlighting their past accomplishments. And it can form bonds around the shared responsibilities that women have outside the office, such as motherhood and caregiving.
Year 2 & Beyond
In the short term, Women Forward is aiming to continue to extend the platform’s reach and impact across the Americas.
At the same time, it is serving as a pilot program for the global organization, gathering learnings from its various programming elements before presenting its results to other regional leaders for possible implementation.
Rojas is optimistic not only about the platform’s growth potential but about its ability to improve Ecco as a business. “We really believe that a more diverse organization will be a stronger organization,” she said. “To have more female leaders in different [roles] — with different points of view, types of leadership and types of conversation — will lead also to better discussions, better decisions and will prepare us as a company for the future.”
