BSR Insight | Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom
A new group of institutional investors, governance experts, and executives from U.S.-based companies including Campbell Soup and the Hopgood Group launched the 30% Coalition last week to promote the idea of securing a minimum of 30 percent women on Fortune 500 company boards by the end of 2015.
Charlotte Laurent-Ottomane, president of InterOrganization Network, the nonprofit organization that is leading the group, said “progress has come to a halt” in diversifying corporate boards.
According to Catalyst’s 2011 census of Fortune 500 companies, women held just 16.1 percent of board seats in 2011, compared to 15.7 percent in 2010.
“We have a historical system in the United States, wherein the same men are constantly recycled into board positions. Further, there is the thinking that board members have to be sitting or retired CEOs. If a board is diverse in experience and qualifications, we [should] have a large selection of qualified women to fill those slots.”
—Charlotte Laurent-Ottomane, president, InterOrganization Network (February 23, 2012)
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