This International Women's Day, WomenCorporateDirectors Endorses Global Push for Racial and Gender Board Diversity

NEW YORK, March 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- #IWD2021 – Endorsing the surge in support for boardroom diversity from some of the most powerful names in the financial sector – most recently from Norway's $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund (the world's largest), the Carlyle Group, and Nasdaq – WomenCorporateDirectors Foundation (WCD), CEO Susan C. Keating has issued the following statement:

"Boardroom diversity is no longer simply nice to have – it has become a driver of global business success. As the world's largest community of global women board members, WomenCorporateDirectors applauds the tsunami of support for gender and racial board diversity from financial institutions around the world.

"Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the Carlyle Group, and Nasdaq are only the latest in a growing list of industry leaders incorporating boardroom diversity into their business and investing models. BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard are other powerful forces in the movement to accelerate gender and racial diversity on boards, threatening to not invest in companies, or to vote against their directors who fail to act.

"These institutions have been explicit in linking diversity to a company's performance and good governance. In its position paper just released, Norway's fund stated: 'As a long-term global investor, we are…concerned that companies with boards that are not diverse will not be able to maintain the trust of their customers, investors and society at large over time.' Vanguard has expressed the same, stating in a report that if there is a lack of commitment to progress on diversity, 'We become concerned that long-term shareholder returns may suffer.' 

"The growing show of support from these heavyweights – bolstered by Goldman Sachs' push for board diversity prior to taking companies public – reveals unstoppable momentum.

"This movement is about writing a new chapter in corporate governance – visionary in its goal to capture expertise from an underrepresented group of highly qualified professionals to effectively respond to the increased complexity businesses are facing today. 

"There is a pipeline of exceptionally qualified women filling C-level and comparable positions today – including women in racial, ethnic, and other minority groups – who are eager to help boards fulfill a greater vision for 2021 and beyond. WCD alone has a network of 2,400 members – directors of public or large privately-held companies – from dozens of countries around the world.

"The steps we are all taking toward assuring greater board diversity are critical and necessary. Looking back in history, progress often seems inevitable. But inevitability usually disguises the true decades of hard work and advocacy, failures and re-tries, and using everything you've got to make just some of the gains you envision."

"We honor the trajectory and the movement and are proud to be a part of it."

For more information, please contact Davia Temin, Suzanne Oaks Brownstein or Trang Mar of Temin and Company at [email protected] or 212.588.8788.

About WomenCorporateDirectors Education and Development Foundation, Inc. 
The WomenCorporateDirectors Education and Development Foundation, Inc. (WCD) is the only global membership organization and community of women corporate directors. WCD members serve on numerous boards of large private and family-run companies globally. A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, WCD has 76 chapters around the world. The aggregate market capitalization of public companies on whose boards WCD members serve is over $8 trillion. For more information visit www.womencorporatedirectors.org or follow us on Twitter @WomenCorpDirs, #WCDboards.

SOURCE WomenCorporateDirectors Education and Development Foundation, Inc.

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