Raising women’s participation in musicians’ union leadership and membership in Latin America has proven to be an enduring challenge. FIM, the international representative organisation for musicians, asked me to devise strategic directions on gender equality in the region. In order to develop policies and actions to foster equality within the sector, I raised funding to organise a regional women-only training and brainstorming event and conduct a survey of participating trade unions. The resulting Declaration and Action Plan on Gender Equality in the Music Sector was unanimously adopted by FIM’s regional members and has subsequently been used as a template by the Mayor of Bogota, United Nations and the International Labour Organisation for their gender-equality work in the region.