Ilaria Resta, President of Firmenich Parfumerie Monde, has been awarded the CEW Achiever 2022 prize by the professional organization Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW). The CEW, which has 10,500 members from 3,500 beauty companies worldwide, awards this prestigious prize each year to celebrate the most outstanding female achievements in the industry.
Formerly of Procter & Gamble, Ilaria Resta was appointed in March 2020. She is the first and only woman to hold the position of World President among the major fragrance houses. An active member of Firmenich's Executive Committee, she has led a major transformation program in the fragrance sector. Her new vision, "Positive Perfumery", is to make fragrances a positive force for the well-being of consumers and the health of the planet. It has made diversity and women's leadership one of its top priorities. Firmenich is the seventh company in the world, and the first in the fragrance industry, to be certified globally as a Gender Equality Employer by EDGE, the leading global standard for corporate certification of gender equality in the workplace.
Gilbert Ghostine, CEO of Firmenich, said: "I am absolutely delighted that Ilaria has received such a prestigious award. She achieves remarkable results thanks to her clear strategic vision, deep understanding of distributors and inspiring organizational leadership. A true pioneer, she is a passionate advocate of supporting and promoting women in business, a cause particularly close to her heart. Ilaria has been the driving force behind the great steps Firmenich has taken to ensure that its workplace enables women to flourish and reach their full potential, and she personally makes diversity and belonging a priority."
Ilaria Resta has put in place a number of strategies to enable women to take on leadership roles:
- It has recently recruited several talented new women to its management team, including Robin Mason, VP Fine Fragrances, North America; Patricia Nogueira, VP Fine Fragrances, Latin America; and Levenza Toh, VP Fragrances, Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea.
- She has created a formal mentoring program in which she personally supports the Group's young talent.
- She sponsored an employee wellness program and personally shared her experiences of managing mental well-being.
Ilaria Resta commented: "I am honored to receive this award in recognition of my professional achievements and my impact on talent development. I have great respect for CEW, an organization dedicated to removing barriers to women's advancement and equal opportunity. I'm humbled to join the many inspiring women who have won this award before me, and I'd like to congratulate the talented women honored alongside me this year. I'm proud to work at Firmenich with an accomplished team of creatives, scientists and business leaders from around the world, and I'm excited about what lies ahead. We're transforming the future of fragrance, creating a new product portfolio focused on health, wellness and sustainability, built on a foundation of creativity, innovation, data and technology. I want to contribute to the creation of a new ecosystem, which includes our strategic partners and suppliers, and together produce a greater impact on equality and inclusivity."
The award will be presented at the Live Women's Leadership 2022 Awards Luncheon, a ceremony organized by the WEG in New York on June 2, 2022.
