<< KNOWLEDGE BANK HOME

GET ON A BOARD



Women (Not) on Board

Women certainly aren't congregated in large numbers on corporate boards. What can be done about it? ION knows.

While there is now, for the first time in U.S. history, a woman with a good shot at becoming president, corporations have made ridiculously little progress since the 1970s, when people first began to comment on the absence of women and minorities in corporate boardrooms and executive suites at the nation's largest public companies. Today there are only 13 women CEOs of Top 500 companies, and corporate leaders are still predominately white and male. But there are plenty of women in the pipelines for the top positions, which typically come with a seat on a company's board. So how can you help women who are qualified to fill the seats?

The InterOrganization Network (ION), a consortium of women's business organizations from across the country, just launched a shareholders guide to help women investors influence corporate behavior around boardroom diversity. Its programs are raising national consciousness about the slow pace of change in this arena. Each year ION's member organizations publish reports that track the number of women in corporate leadership positions and report on their findings. But the reports alone aren't making a big enough impact, so ION is now asking for your help – and that of every investor in the country who believes diversity in corporate leadership is not only fair but critical to business success.

This year ION has begun to educate shareholders about strategies for exercising their influence at the companies in which they invest. Most importantly, ION wants women to learn how to make the most of their vote proxies, tedious and often complicated procedures that many skip over for lack of time and patience to deal with them. So ION has posted a letter template on its websites that allows stockholders to simply fill in the blanks – and make a big point.

At the same time, ION is introducing its "Where Are the Women" Shareholders Guide – with easy-to-understand instructions on other ways shareholders can influence corporate behavior. The guide is available free at ionwomen.org.

 

ION currently has members in eight states. To learn more about its programs, log on to ionwomen.org or e-mail info@ionwomen.org.