AALEP Women in Government Relations (AWGR) works to increase women’s presence in the public debate. AWGR is about advancing and empowering women at all career levels in government relations, public affairs and public policy advocacy. As more women enter our field , there is strength in numbers. So it’s important to encourage other women to let their voices heard.

Broadly speaking, public affairs work combines government relations, media communications, issue management, corporate and social responsibility, information dissemination and strategic communications advice. Practitioners aim to influence public policy, build and maintain a strong reputation and find common ground with stakeholders. There may often also be some aspects of public affairs and policy work associated with working in public relations, press and media relations and crisis communications.

The Women's Forum Brussels was created to bring together women members of the European Parliament and women from European business, to debate on how trust is being reshaped in Europe "Reshaping trust in Europe with women's vision".

Three topics will be discussed:

This listing is the first attempt ever at providing a Who’s Who of Women occupying leadership positions in the field of public affairs within the European Union and is by no means exhaustive. TOP means a leadership position that implies determining the strategic direction of the firmy. The research was limited to PA consultancies only either Brussels-based or in EU member states and also relied on consultancies that are members of the Europan Public Affairs Consultancies Association.  Positions that were below the ‘Director’s level i.e.

According to a research carried out by AALEP, there are less than 100 women who occupy leadership positions in the field of Government Relations and Public Affairs in Brussels-based consultancies. A leadership position equates with executives who are charged with determining the strategic direction of the company. The research considered the 17 largest PA consultancies and those firms with annual revenues of € 3 million or more. Positions that were below the ‘Director’s level’ i.e. middle and low level positions where women are predominant were not taken into consideration.

AALEP is pleased to announce that the women MEPs here below are supportive of AALEP's initiative of 'Women in Government Relations'. We are deeply grateful for their positive endorsement and are counting on other women MEPs to rally the cause.

Although women remain significantly under-represented in today’s parliaments, they are now looking beyond the numbers to focus on what they can actually do while in parliament, how they can make an impact, whatever their numbers may be. They are learning the rules of the game and using this knowledge and understanding to promote women’s issues and concerns from inside the world’s legislatures. In so doing, they are not only increasing the chances of their own success, but they are also paving the way for a new generation of women to enter the legislative process.  

Women have been a growing factor in the world of the political influence industry. Their number has been increasing but despite these gains, there is still a substantial gap and the full potential of women in the field of government relations has yet to be tapped.  Seldom do women climb to the pinnacle of the lobbying profession. Yet, policymakers take female lobbyists seriously.

Female representatives have been expected to spur engagement with politics among other women. Female politicians may thus function as true role models, inspiring other women and girls to be politically active themselves. As the term “role model” suggests, female politicians can inspire younger women who are still learning about the political world and their place within it.

Empowerment is a process, though the result of the process may also be termed empowerment. More specifically, the outcome of empowerment for women should manifest itself as follows: