Get Konnected! Celebrates its 9th Anniversary, Honors Greater Boston's 15 Companies with the Most Racial and Gender Diverse Boards

BOSTON, March 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- When it comes to gender and racial diversity on corporate boards, 15 Massachusetts- based companies are outpacing the national statistics by almost 30% (nationally, gender diversity is 19% and racial diversity 7%).  More than 300 Boston business and civic leaders were on hand last night to honor the GK15: Greater Boston's 15 Companies with the Most Racial and Gender Diverse Corporate Boards.  The event marked the 9^th Anniversary of Get Konnected! Boston's premier inclusive business networking event and was sponsored hosted by Mintz Levin, one of Boston's leading law firms.

Each year on its anniversary, Get Konnected! honors and spotlights corporations, institutions and individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to diversity and inclusion.  In 2016, it created the historic GK100 – Greater Boston's 100 Most Influential People of Color. 

"In 2017, we decided to look at corporations and business leaders who impact the community equally behind the scenes — people who sit on corporate boards; quietly but decisively guiding some of the Commonwealth's leading and most influential companies," says Colette Phillips, President and CEO, Colette Phillips Communications and Founder of Get Konnected.  Phillips added, "Despite research that shows that companies with greater gender and racial diversity outperform their competitors, women and people of color are still largely underrepresented in both the boardroom and C-Suites. With more global, public, and privately-owned companies finding homes in the Commonwealth, we wanted to spotlight the top 15 companies whose boards comprise of at least 50% people of color and women."

In creating the GK15 list, Get Konnected! research followed several similar efforts including a study called the Missing Report of Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 boards by the Alliance for Board Diversity in collaboration with Deloitte and release in February 2017; Census of Women Directors and Executive Officers of Massachusetts Public Companies by The Boston Club with Bentley University released in December 2016 and The Boston Globe Spotlight Team report,  Women, minorities have few seats in Mass Boardrooms, published in December 2015. 

The methodology used my Get Konnected! was similar to those used by the aforementioned studies and was performed by Colette Phillips Communications staff in collaboration with journalistic research and content provider Trains, Planes & Automobiles LLC of Duluth, Minn. Data was compiled through a survey of more than 50 companies requesting the information the information from companies directly, examining publicly available board rosters and photos, and researching individual board member biographies in company materials and other sources such a number of director directly, examining publicly available board rosters and photos, and researching individual board member biographies in company materials and other sources.  While the three aforementioned surveys looked largely, if not exclusively, at public companies, the GK15 adds in its listings several private companies and nonprofits that are particularly influential as large employers and/or significant economic drivers in Massachusetts.

The GK15 differs from previous surveys in that it emphasizes companies that show the broadest combination of gender and racial diversity, both of which are vital in achieving a true representation of our increasingly diverse marketplace, region, and world.  The GK15 companies are: American Tower, Avid Technology, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; Bright Horizons Family Solutions; Care.com; Eastern Bank; General Electric; iRobot; Juniper Pharmaceuticals; Leader Bank; Massachusetts Mutual Life; Staples, Inc.; The TJX Companies; Tufts Associated Health Plans and a special mention of Meridian Bancorp Inc with 47%  gender and racial diversity).

"GK15 is a great way to applaud companies in Boston that are leading the way in diversity and inclusion, and inspiring others to do the same," said Mayor Martin J. Walsh. "In Boston, now more than ever, we make it known that our diversity is our strength. That's what Get Konnected is all about - forging new connections between people from all different backgrounds, and building strong relationships. The organizations included in the GK15 recognize that we will meet our hardest challenges by working together, and I thank them for leading by example when it comes to being inclusive."

About Get Konnected!
Founded as a Social Impact Venture in 2008, as the brainchild of Colette Phillips, President and CEO of Colette Phillips Communications, Inc. Get Konnected! is Boston's premier inclusive bi-monthly business networking event that brings together urban and international professionals, C suite executives, business leaders, small business owners and entrepreneurs of all cultures across industries and sectors. Get Konnected is the creator of the historic GK100, Boston's first comprehensive list of the 100 Most Influential People of Color, you can read about it in the Boston Globe.  Named Boston's Best Multicultural Business Networking Event, Get Konnected! positively impacts corporate partners brand, bottomline and their diversity and inclusion employment pipeline.

Contact
Colette Phillips
617.357.5777 
[email protected]

SOURCE Colette Phillips Communications