Corporate Game Changers Advancing Women On Boards To Be Honored By Women's Forum Of New York At Biennial "Breakfast Of Corporate Champions"

NEW YORK, Oct. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Women's Forum of New York will host its third biennial Breakfast of Corporate Champions honoring S&P 500 and Fortune 1000 companies with at least 20 percent female representation on their corporate boards next month [November 19, 2015].  The event will bring together an audience of over 500, including CEOs and Board Directors along with business leaders, government officials, thought leaders and influential media to give special recognition to a select group of game-changing CEOs and Directors.

"Our goal is gender parity in the boardroom by 2025," said Janice Ellig, Co-CEO of Chadick Ellig and Chair of the event.  "This year we are giving special recognition to companies who are really getting there with at least 40% of board seats held by women. We salute all our game-changers who make gender parity a priority and urge their peers to do the same." 

The highest honor, the Muriel F. Seibert Leadership Award will be presented to Terry J. Lundgren, Chairman & CEO, of Macy's, Inc. The award, named for a founder of the Women's Forum and the first woman to hold a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, recognizes companies and CEOs that have made a distinguished difference in advancing women's leadership at the Board level.

"I am intensely proud of the inclusive nature of the Macy's, Inc. board because we believe that diversity of thought at the highest levels results in better decisions for our customers, associates and shareholders," said Lundgren.  "We salute the Women's Forum for its advocacy in encouraging board participation by the many women who are leaders in business and society. I encourage my fellow CEOs to access the incredible pool of talented board ready women out there and see what a positive business contribution they can make."

The awards presentation will be followed by a CEO panel discussion on why and how top US companies should strive for gender parity. This year's breakfast has expanded to a follow-up symposium co- sponsored by the Committee for Economic Development of the Conference Board.  The Symposium will be a true "call to action" for all CEOs, and Nom/Gov Committees to accelerate the number of women into the board room by providing insights from the Board, Investors and other global influentials.

The symposium will close with a luncheon keynote by Securities and Exchange Commission Chair, Mary Jo White, introduced by Michael Fucci, Chairman of the Board, Deloitte LLP.

Panelists participating in the Breakfast and Symposium include:

• "How CEOs Can Champion Change" Moderated by Judy Woodruff of PBS NewsHour with special remarks by Honorary Co-Chairs Maggie Wilderotter, Executive Chairman of Frontier Communications and Richard Davis, Chairman, President and CEO of U.S. Bancorp
  • Ken Chenault, Chairman & CEO, American Express
  • Ilene Gordon, Chairman, President & CEO, Ingredion Incorporated
  • Mindy Grossman, CEO, HSN, Inc.
  • Muhtar Kent, Chairman & CEO, The Coca-Cola Company
  • Rob Martin, Chairman & CEO, Voya Financial, Inc.
  • Glen Moreno, Chairman, Pearson
• Board Perspective: "How Nominating and Governance Committees can Accelerate Change" Moderated by Moira Forbes of ForbesWomen with a special introduction by Steve Odland, President and CEO of the Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board
  • Rosalind Brewer, Nom/Gov, Lockheed Martin Corporation
  • Charlynn Goins, Former Chair, Nom/Gov, Fannie Mae
  • Catherine Kinney, Chair, Nom/Gov, MSCI, Inc.
  • Shelly Lazarus, Chair, Nom/Gov, GE
  • Gary Retelny, President & CEO, ISS
  • Diana Taylor, Chair, Nom/Gov, Citigroup
• Investor Perspective: "How Gender Diversity Creates Value" Moderated by Cyrus Sanati of Fortune.com with a special introduction by Adena Friedman, President of Nasdaq
  • Barbara Byrne, Vice Chairman, Investment Banking, Barclays
  • Michelle Edkins, Managing Director, BlackRock
  • Eve Ellis, Principal, the Matterhorn Group at Morgan Stanley
  • Peter Gleason, President, National Association of Corporate Directors
  • Denise Nappier, Connecticut State Treasurer
• Global Perspective: "Is the US Leading or Lagging?" Moderated by Susanna Schrobsdorff of TIME magazine with a special introduction by Peter Grauer, Chairman of Bloomberg LP
  • Lord Davies, Chairman, Corsair Capital, UK
  • Matthew Barzun, US Ambassador to the UK

At the event, the audience of CEOs will also be encouraged to nominate women to the Women's Forum of New York CEO-Sponsored Database, a national database, accessible free of charge to Board Nom/Gov Committees and search firms. This will encourage other CEOs to welcome CEO sponsored women into their boardrooms as directors. Taking measure of how many CEOs sponsor women following this event, and which boards/search firms used the database, the Women's Forum seeks to honor more companies at their next Breakfast of Corporate Champions in 2017.

The Breakfast and Symposium will be held at Cipriani 42^nd Street in New York City on November 19, 2015, from 7:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. For more information on the Women's Forum of New York or to learn more about the Women's Forum CEO-Sponsored Database, please visit https://www.womensforumny.org/.

About the Women's Forum of New York
The Women's Forum of New York is the city's premier organization of women leaders. The invitation-only membership of more than 500 women, representing the highest levels of achievement across all professional sectors from finance to fine arts, is dedicated to the advancement of women's leadership through programs which enrich members lives personally and professionally, through The Education Fund which enables talented women whose potential has been disrupted by extreme adversity to resume their education, and through the Corporate Board Initiative, which extends and expands the contribution of women leaders through corporate board participation. Founded in 1974, the Women's Forum of New York is the flagship of the International Women's Forum, a global organization of nearly 6,000 outstanding women leaders in over 74 Forums around the world.

Media Contact:
Tara Mullins
646-520-6468
[email protected]

SOURCE Women's Forum of New York

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https://www.womensforumny.org