Panel will examine the importance of women’s roles in driving solutions to combat the global pandemic of rising obesity rates

Media Contact: Barbara M. Fornasiero; EAFocus Communications; 248.260.8466; barbara@eafocus.com

Auburn Hills, Mich. – October 18, 2017 – Anne Doyle, a global speaker, change agent and author of Powering Up! How America’s Women Achievers Become Leaders, now out in its third edition, will moderate a panel discussion on spiraling global obesity rates at the International Women’s Forum World Leadership Conference, which takes place in Houston on Oct. 25–27.  Doyle currently serves as the President of the Michigan chapter of the preeminent global network for women of achievement from 37 countries and is often sought out for her public speaking skills.

According to a recent Gates Foundation funded study, 10 percent of adults globally and 40 percent of American adults are now clinically obese.  All data points to our food and the way in which we consume it as contributing factors of increasing heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease and other health disorders.  How can women—as consumers, parents and business people—change this unfavorable global picture?

“The Foundation study’s authors noted that no country has been able to control the food environment to date,” Doyle said. “I see this as an opportunity for women to band together and lead in the effort to manage and counteract this epidemic, given that we are often the primary decision-makers in purchasing and preparing food for our households.”

During the “Feeding Frenzy” breakout session, scheduled for Friday, Oct. 27 at 11 a.m., the panel will explore the importance of women and their role in driving regulation, education and innovation in response to the growing consumption of inexpensive, nutrient poor, calorie-dense packaged foods.

Doyle’s sought-after insights come not only from her experience in leadership hot seats and journalistic research in the United States, but globally, as she has addressed leading corporations and universities throughout the U.S. and in the Mideast, the Caribbean and Europe about women’s leadership, gender issues, communication skills and changing media trends.  She was instrumental in Detroit winning the privilege of hosting IWF’s Global Conference in October 2020, the first time in the organization’s 45-year history. The conference will bring 1,200 women leaders from every continent except Antarctica to the Motor City three years from now.

One of the lessons Doyle teaches in her book is the importance of women leveraging collective power to accomplish change.  “It is time for women to regain our sense of urgency and reach across generational, economic, racial and political differences to begin lifting one another into leadership roles.  My goal is to inspire women not to leave it for future generations, but to make it the work of our watch.”

About IWF World Leadership Conferences

Featuring the induction of The Honorable Hillary Clinton into the IWF Hall of Fame this year, the World Leadership Conferences are conducted annually by the International Women’s Forum and draw women from more than 50 countries who are the world’s leading architects, advocates, catalysts, and pioneers of change—the women who are re-drawing the map for how we’ll live, work, produce, and maintain healthy communities in the coming years.  As our global economies restructure and reshape business, politics, environments, access and opportunity, IWF’s cutting-edge conferences harness those must-have conversations in order to educate, inform and inspire our women leaders and our partners to be out ahead of the change that is needed. For more information, visit http://iwforum.org/.

About Anne Doyle and Powering Up Women

From journalist, corporate executive and public servant to author, global speaker and commentator, the trajectory of Anne Doyle’s entire life has been toward empowering women.  A trailblazing TV news and sports broadcaster, Doyle was inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame for her role in opening sports locker rooms to women reporters.  She earned her business stripes with Ford Motor Company, where she rose to Director of North America Communications and was named one of the “100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry.” Doyle also entered public service as a four-year member of the Auburn Hills City Council from 2009–2013, and by invitation, participated in the U.S. Department of State’s International Speaker & Information Programs. The author of Powering Up! How America’s Women Achievers Become Leaders, Doyle is the founder of Powering Up Women, LLC, a leadership consulting practice. To learn more about Anne Doyle or to purchase Powering Up! How America’s Women Achievers Become Leaders, click here.

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