By José Ángel de la Paz
Erika Abigail Falfán Mayer, an EGADE MBA graduate who is considered to be one of the most successful businesswomen in the retail sector in Mexico, was awarded the “Premio Mujer Tec 2020”, in the category of “Poder Transformador” (Transformative Power).
Within the context of International Women's Day, this award recognizes the innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship of women who are part of the Tecnológico de Monterrey community.
The category of 'Transformative Power' awards women who are not just decision-makers but who excel at working towards diversity and team development, and who take action to transform society.
With nearly two decades of experience, Falfán Mayer currently leads Sam's Club México's e-commerce business unit, where she manages a team of more than 100 people located in Mexico, India and the United States. She is responsible for Sam's Club's digital strategy, operations, web technology launches and digital applications.
Considerada como una de las mujeres de negocios más exitosas en el sector retail en México. Desarrolló y lanzó la primera app de e-commerce en México. Ella es Erika Falfán, ganadora de Premio Mujer Tec 2020 ???? #sororidad #mujereslideres #igualdad #metoo #she4she pic.twitter.com/ihbGzA8xZV
— Premio Mujer Tec (@PremioMujerTec) March 5, 2020
“In this era in which technology is rapidly changing, and our lifestyles and consumer habits are shifting, it is a great time for women to occupy positions that put us on the same level as our male colleagues,” said the winner of the award.
Falfán Mayer noted that although women make up 51% of the population in Mexico, only 2 out of 10 women manage to reach managerial positions in tech-related areas.
In light of this, she pointed out the need to keep on creating spaces so that more women can participate in industries that have traditionally been occupied by men, and thus contribute to the redesign of more just and equal societies.
Committed to promoting and paving the way for more women in leadership positions, Falfán Mayer is part of the Diversity Committee at Walmart, where she promotes initiatives such as extending maternity leave. She is also a member of the Accelerated Pipeline Experience Group and International Women in Leadership, both groups within Walmart.
“Incorporating female talent results in greater productivity and diversity of ideas, which contributes to more agile and inspiring decision making for everyone,” she said.
With the help of her team at Sam's Club, she developed and launched the first e-commerce application in Mexico that integrates offline and online shopping for a multichannel shopping experience.
“We achieved this goal thanks to the accumulation of talent diversity, not only in terms of gender but also in terms of culture,” she said.
Throughout her career, Falfán Mayer has worked as Finance Director for Sam's Club and Senior Finance Director of the Self-Service division at Suburbia, where she oversaw the process of Liverpool buying Suburbia, among other relevant projects.
Before joining Walmart, Falfán Mayer worked for 12 years at Danone, with her last position being CFO of the Bonafont division.
El #PremioMujerTec da visibilidad al talento y liderazgo de mujeres extraordinarias que transforman vidas, establecen nuevos paradigmas y dan resultados. Felicidades a las ganadoras de la edición 2020, su liderazgo transforma el mundo por todos los rincones, por eso ¡gracias! pic.twitter.com/f1mTqAIHXj
— Salvador Alva (@Salvador) March 11, 2020
During the ceremony, which took place at Tec de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara, Salvador Alva, president of Tecnológico de Monterrey, stressed that: “Women in our society have different identities and contexts that must be heard and taken into account so that they can thrive and grow.”
For this year’s call out, students, graduates, collaborators, professors and managers from the entire Tec de Monterrey community (Tec de Monterrey, TecSalud, TecMilenio, Sorteos Tec, Enlace+ and Zona Ei) registered and participated. A total of 377 applications were received and 23 winners from 8 categories were selected by a jury.
The 8 categories of this award are Transformative Power, Citizenship, Art and Culture, Science and Technology, #She4She, Entrepreneurship, Health and Sports, Life and Work Balance.