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Well, female representation in the bordroom almost tripled since twenty ten, with most gender diverse companies delivering higher shareholder returns compared to male dominated boards. This is according to some research from Bloomberg Intelligence.
You have the numbers, Carol, Yeah, listen, check this out. Everybody, Women made up twenty six percent of boards in twenty twenty three. That's up from nine percent and twenty ten, so thirteen years. Highlighting how regulations in Europe, US and Asia that compel change are impacting global corporations. This is a again from a Bloomberg Intelligence report that was put out in December.
Heather Spilsbury is chief operating officer of Fifty to fifty Women on Boards. It's a global nonprofit that looks to create a gender balance on corporate board she joins us here in the Bloomberg Interactive Broker's studio. It's good to see you.
Go to see you too.
You were here a year ago with Carol. Yes, I was the Chief Meling Officer.
Now I'm the CEO.
Oh oh oh yes, changing in the Google doc.
Great.
So you were here a year ago.
Yes, and a lot has changed.
A lot has changed since then. I'm just curious what the world looks like to you right now.
You know, it's interesting because obviously we're an organization that's committed to elevating women in the pipeline to corporate board service, and we're committed to positively impacting corporate governance because it's
good for business. And we've always said that we've never used really the acronym of D, E and I. So when we get into these conversations, especially with corporations, right, we've noticed that the language needs to change so that they understand and really what we're here to support and why we're here to support it. Women still don't hold
the same amount of seats as men. The research from our standpoints shows that women hold thirty point two percent of the seats as of Q four, twenty twenty four. Which means that we have ways to go just from a gender equality standpoint. And this isn't about representation or equality. It's about making sure that you have talent in the pipeline that is being looked at that maybe under networked they may not have the same opportunity.
Well, the pushback that we are seeing, certainly from the administration, whether it's an academia, whether it's across corporate America, whether it's across the government, the pushback are we going to see, Like what are you hearing as you talk to corporations. Are they saying, yep, we are going to change what we do or are they going to continue business as usual with these DEI initiatives but just not talk about it.
It's a little bit of both. I would say that the environment just depends on the corporation.
And some are pulling back.
Some are pulling back. Some are also saying we can do this, but we're going to be silent partners. Some are also saying we can do this, but we need to reframe how we're going to partner with you and
the type of language we can use. And so US as a nonprofit, you know, we rely on corporate sponsorship to ensure that we can still run our programs and events for women like fifty women to watch for boards, like our board readiness workshops, like distributing research, like you know, any of the programs that we have to offer women and to men. Frankly, you know, because these events are an opportunity to network with directors.
Do you have to water down your message our messaging?
You know?
I was it's hard when you're you know what the company's called, you know.
And when it's called.
But again, it's fifty to fifty. So we're not asking for men to be eliminated from the equation. We just want to ensure that we're looking at other talent, which includes women, which includes people of color. And again it goes back to those under network groups that maybe don't have the same opportunities as white men have had in the past, especially when it comes to securing a board seat in board governance.
But is that something we can talk about right now, Like it seems like if you were to say that.
In an environment.
Now, it's as volatile as is.
Like, yeah, it's it's like your persona on grata, It's like, you know, it's like it's a it's a four letter work.
Yeah, it is.
Well yeah, and it's it's the acronym in and of itself that I think is being weaponized. And we're talking about merit and and when you look at the composition of a board, everybody that's appointed to a board seat should be viewed at it from a from a merit standpoint. Do they have the expertise, do they have the skills?
You know?
Is that board also succession planning? Are they doing the right thing? So that's when we when we look at governance, we really need to look at that holistically.
Heather, One thing I do wonder, because women are now what more than a third right right of board members, and non white directors I think are more prevalent as well.
Does that ultimately help.
Women going for women going forward because the composition is more just diversity in general.
It does. There is also some other research that shows that women are leaving boards much sooner than they used to, which means they may not have a voice on that board seat. There's more research on our end that needs to be done there, but there's also other things to look at. Right, So, even though they're attaining board seats, the amount of time that they're spending on that board is something that needs to be reviewed. I would say that it does help because women end up supporting other
women like men end up supporting other men. I mean, it's just natural, right, It's in our own bias. But I think what we've seen from our research is when women are pointed to boards, they are committed to diversity. And that's not a bad thing because when you're looking at your company, who are you serving as customers clients?
Are you a global organization?
Do you need that expertise and experience?
So reached out to Jeff Green, who covers these issues here at Bloomberg. He made the point to me that women are now more than a third of board members, but there are some questions. He pointed out about forty percent being some sort of level of resistance at least, you know, in terms of what the workforce looks like right now, maybe until we see more retirement from baby boomers. Do you see that is there a resistance when you get to forty percent of women on boards? I don't.
I don't know we can get to fifty.
I think we can get to fifty. I think it's
going to take time. I think, especially in the climate we're in right now the numbers that we previously said that we'd reach gender parody by you know, by twenty fifty, that may take longer, which is unfortunate because you know, you would think that in today's age where we've all you know, grown and evolved as humans and people and it as businesses, because really most businesses are global in some way, shape or form, especially corporations that are publicly listed,
you would just think that the natural thing to do would be to include talent that has that expertise that comes from a different background or experience than someone else does. And that's not just about race, and it's not just about gender. Again, it goes back to expertise ease. You know, what life experience do you have? What qualities do you add to the board that someone doesn't have, and they might give you a different perspective.
I am also curious when company is a global company, right, and they operate in global markets, right, that may still embraced EI initiatives.
That is a really good point.
How does that work out?
Yeah?
And they do and I and you know, we have a couple of clear examples. I won't name those companies, but they are global companies and they are sponsors of ours.
So they've said to us, well, we're going to lean in more on the international side, where you have other chapters outside of the US, which is Mexico, Toronto, London, Tokyo, Nairobi, things of that nature, where they want to get involved because they know nothing is changing there and they're still supportive of what we're our mission is and what we're doing.
Do they have to be did they did we quiet about this? Now? Did they used to sort of talk.
About their supportive issues such as this and now maybe they're still supporting but they're not advertising yet.
Correct. But it's not.
It wasn't so much as as at a regional level, to be frank, it wasn't like, oh, we're going to support the US in this way and then international regions in this way from where we're based. It was more of holistic conversations about supporting women on boards. I think now we're seeing more of a shift with those global companies specifically who are saying, let's put more of our dollars into this part of the business where you have
events and where you're supporting women through educational programs. But then that tips the scale in a very different way.
S then what does it you look like? What does the environment look like in the US right now? Exactly? Because that's when we'll start to see the effects of.
This, and that's where I think globalization is so important and is key. We cannot look at ourselves as a country that's separated from other countries because we're not. We're all so intertwined.
From a perspective of a for example, a head of state, we are separate from that. We're a country that has never had a female head of state. True, and a lot of you know, our quote unquote peer countries have.
But think of companies like Apple. I mean they rely heavily on China for their products and to be able to get that at a decent price, and so having a manufacturer that here in the US creates a huge divide for US as a nation where we have to now bring this all in house. That's a lot of infrastructure to build that we don't currently have and doesn't exist.
Well. Last question twenty seconds what is this environment due to your mission? Does it slow it down a little bit?
No?
We are leaning in and I know in other organizations are doing the same thing. I think it's really important for us to stay committed to what we're doing. We're committed to elevating women in the pipeline to corporate board service with allyship from men, also supporting men on their journeys. Of course, if they, you know, they're welcome to come
to our events and meet corporate directors. We just want to ensure that corporate governance is positively impacted, because again, it's good for business, and so it doesn't do us any good to keep quiet and sit back.
Have you called the White House?
Are they taking a meeting?
No, they have not.
Okay, TVD, TVD. Heather, thank you so much, so thanks for having me get check in with you. Heather Spillsberry, she's the chief executive officer. Fifty to fifty women on boards joining us at studio. Thank you so much.
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