Mary Kay Highlights the Importance of Women’s Leadership and Private Sector Engagement in Conservation

Sep 14, 2023 10:00 AM ET

Mary Kay Inc., a global advocate for corporate sustainability and signatory to the UN Global Compact Sustainable Ocean Principles, continues to play an important role in ocean conservation. Earlier this year, the beauty brand launched a groundbreaking, user-friendly platform offering valuable guidance, decision-support tools, and practical knowledge for marine practitioners. Following the announcement, Mary Kay participated at the 10th World Ocean Summit and Expo 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal, organized by Economist Impact.

The World Ocean Summit is an annual global event that brings together the widest cross-section of the ocean community, from business and finance to governments, national and international policymakers, civil society, and academia. Over 1,500 attendees from more than 100 countries attended the three-day summit, where 188 speakers addressed some of the most pressing challenges facing the ocean, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

Mary Kay Portugal's General Manager, Sandra Silva, was one of the distinguished panelists at the summit's "Putting Coral Reef Restoration at the Heart of Ocean Conservation Action" discussion, where she joined other notable speakers including Yabanex Batista from the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (United Nations), Tom Moore from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Saudi Arabia), and Deborah Brosnan from Deborah Brosnan & Associates.

The World Ocean Initiative transforms the momentum and focal point of the World Ocean Summit into a year-round program on the ocean that powers the full capabilities of Economist Impact, combining the ingenuity of a think-tank with the creativity of a media brand to engage a globally influential audience. The World Ocean Initiative seeks to enlighten, motivate, and cultivate better collaboration between businesses, policymakers, investors, scientists, and NGOs to seek solutions to the most pressing ocean challenges and opportunities.

Mary Kay has been working to elevate ocean health and coral reef awareness through its partnership with The Nature Conservancy for over 32 years. One of the key projects Mary Kay supports is called "Super Reefs," which identifies, protects, and grows a global network of highly resilient coral reefs that can survive in a warming ocean.