In an effort to promote diversity within the packaging industry, interpack is promoting women with its own event during the trade show. Being held for the first time, “Women in Packaging” will take place on May 8, and will feature a panel discussion with top female speakers in the industry in addition to networking opportunities.

Like many other industries, the packaging and processing industry is predominantly male, with women in leading positions being especially rare. Despite this, companies benefit from more diversity, new impulses and different perspectives. “Women in Packaging” at interpack will draw attention to barriers and focus on the sector as an attractive place to work for females.

About the speakers:

Nadia Taylor is the co-founder and Director at tna solutions. After emigrating from Egypt to Australia in the 1960s, Nadia Taylor founded the company with her husband and business partner, Alf Taylor, in 1982. Today, tna is a globally leading manufacturer offering integrated solutions for food processing and packaging with more than 40 years of experience in the industry and 14,000 systems installed in more than 120 countries. During the course of her career, Nadia has already received multiple awards and honors. In 2018 she and her husband earned the “Australian Ethnic Business Award”, one of the most sought-after business awards in Australia. In addition, Nadia has been active for more than 20 years supporting disadvantaged children through the Nadia and Alf Taylor Foundation.

Dr. Afsaneh Nabifar is the Group Leader for the global market development of biopolymers at BASF, where she manages global public affairs and sustainability measures for the biopolymers sector. She is a trained chemical engineer and holds a PhD in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Canada. Afsaneh joined BASF in 2012, where she held different positions in the areas of research and development, market and business development for different BASF business areas which supply materials to the packaging industry. Aside from her work with several associations for plastic and paper packaging like EUROPEN, CEFLEX and 4evergreen, Afsaneh is a board member of the European Bioplastic Association (EUBP) and the British Bio-based and Biodegradable Industry Association (BBIA).

Valentina Aureli is the CEO of Aetna Group, one of the world’s leading companies in packaging with more than 1,800 employees. In the past 20 years, she has led the company towards constant growth at the global level with their main brands Robopac and Ocme. The global growth targets were achieved organically as well as by several strategic acquisitions in Italy and abroad. The group’s production today consists of 10 international factories: six in the Italian Packaging Valley and one each in the USA, Brazil, China and Germany. Previously, Valentina Aureli completed her studies at the Luigi Bocconi University in Milan and gained professional experience in the international finance sector at Rothschild Banking.

Marjo Halonen has been the Vice President Communications at Metsä Board Corporation in Finland since 2017. She is responsible for marketing and global business communications. Her vision is to support companies building their own brand identity and to foster active participation by stakeholders.. Before joining Metsä Board, she held different positions within the communication department at Outokumpu, the world's leading manufacturer of stainless steel. Previously, she was head of the PR and communications department of the optical chain store, Specsavers, in Finland. She has a Master of Science degree in economics and business.

Gabi Bauer is Head of Marketing & Communication at Uhlmann Pac-Systeme, the leading system supplier for packaging pharmaceuticals with 19 companies and 2,600 employees worldwide. As a communicator with a gift for organization and an agile mindset, she is responsible for the global marketing, communication and PR strategy, as well as for adaptations to each national market and the entire business area's digital transformation. Previously, she headed Marketing and Communication at GEZE, the world’s leading supplier of solutions for windows and doors, and was in the same position at IBM, the world’s leading supplier of information technology. The trained hotel manager holds a diploma in business economics and has more than 30 years of experience across widely different industries, as well as in the hotel sector and consulting.

The discussion will be moderated by Nerida Kelton, the Executive Director of the Australian Institute of Packaging and the Vice President of Sustainability & Save Food for the World Packaging Organization.

To learn more about the discussion, please visit https://www.interpack.com/en/Women_in_packaging.