FROM THE 30% CLUB
The 30% Club, a group of Chairs and CEOs committed to better gender balance at all levels of their organisations through voluntary actions, announced its official launch in the United States today. Peter Grauer, Chairman of Bloomberg L.P., will serve as founding U.S. Chair. The organisation launches with 24 Founding Supporters.
The 30% Club will focus on improving representation of women at all levels of U.S. organisations, with a near-term focus on female representation in senior leadership. The Club first launched in the U.K. in 2010 with an aspirational goal of 30% women on FTSE-100 boards by the end of 2015. There are now 92 members of the 30% Club in the UK and the FTSE-100 has moved from 12.5% women directors in 2010 to 20.8% as of March 2014, with the 30% Club as a driving force behind the change. Club Supporters in the UK have focused on creating better gender balance by targeting talent management practices, executive search firms, shareholders, schools and universities and others.
“Gender imbalance at senior levels is a global phenomenon, and so I’m thrilled to launch in the U.S. There is no better time to focus on developing a pipeline of female talent in U.S. organisations,” said Helena Morrissey, CEO of Newton Investment Management and Founder of the 30% Club. “There are many excellent company efforts and networking groups addressing this issue, but we still need to do more to elevate the visible commitment of senior business leaders, who are mostly men. With Peter and our Founding Supporters, we have a fantastic group of senior U.S. leaders committed to real change in gender diversity.”
“This is a business issue as much as it is a diversity issue,” said Grauer. “Businesses do better when they avoid ‘group think’, and better gender balance is a key factor in business success. That said, we have a lot more work to do in the U.S. to improve female representation, and senior business leaders have to drive that change. I’m looking forward to working with Helena and our great group of Founding Supporters to achieve a better gender balance in the workplace.”
The U.S. Founding Supporters include:
- Dominic Barton, Global Managing Director, McKinsey & Co.
- Wayne Berson, CEO, BDO USA & Global Chairman, BDO
- Warren Buffett, Chairman & CEO, Berkshire Hathaway
- Dominic Casserley, CEO, Willis Group Holdings
- William S. Demchak, Chairman, President & CEO, The PNC Financial Services Group
- Irene Dorner, President & CEO, HSBC USA
- Pat Fili-Krushel, Chairman, NBCUniversal News Group
- Susan Gilchrist, Group CEO, Brunswick Group
- Gerald Hassell, Chairman & CEO, BNY Mellon
- Stephen R. Howe, Jr., Americas Managing Partner, EY
- Larry Fink, Chairman & CEO, BlackRock
- Kenneth M. Jacobs, Chairman & CEO, Lazard
- Tom King, Co-CEO: Corporate & Investment Banking, Barclays
- Ellen Kullman, Chair & CEO, DuPont
- Bob Moritz, Chairman and Senior Partner, PWC
- Clarke Murphy, CEO, Russell Reynolds Associates
- Sheila Penrose, Chairman, JLL and Co-Chairman, Corporate Leadership Center
- Punit Renjen, Chairman, Deloitte
- Michael Roth, Chairman & CEO, Interpublic Group
- Conrado Tenaglia, Partner, Linklaters LLP
- Kent Thiry, Chairman & CEO, DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc.
- Sandy Thomas, Global Managing Partner, Reed Smith
- “Tiger” Tyagarajan, President & CEO, Genpact
- John Veihmeyer, Global Chairman of KPMG and Chairman & CEO of KPMG in the U.S.
More information about the 30% Club can be found at www.30percentclub.org