"No form of equality can endure, or prove effective once achieved, unless it has a sound economic base." These words, which still ring true today, were spoken by the IFBPW founder Dr. Lena Madesin Phillips, on the eve of a first of its kind gathering of international business and professional women in Geneva in 1930. It was there that the International Federation for Business and Professional Women was born.

As one of its initial steps, the IFBPW established firm relations with the International Labour Office (ILO). In 1946 it was the first among a small group of organisations to achieve consultative status with the United Nations. IFBPW was instrumental in the setting up of the Commission on the Status of Women in 1972, after a year of lobbying the UN. Thereafter it succeeded in convincing the UN to convene the First World Conference on Women in Mexico in 1975.

Today, 66 years after its birth, the IFBPW has grown to include over 100 countries across the globe with a membership of over a quarter of a million, and new links are being added every year. One of the world's most influential organisation, the IFBPW promotes its objectives without distinction as to political beliefs, race, language or religion. It is recognised voice of gainfully employed women from all professions and occupations.