The FT Calling for 30% Women on Boards

YES! It is another sign. Just today we are putting the final touches on a discussion paper that I have been working on for a very long time with the National Council for Research on Women looking at reasons and solutions for why there are so few women managing money. We pull the lens back on the issue in to a more general context on the lack of women in positions of leadership and power at financial services firms more generally and issue a "Call to Action." One of our calls if for responsible institutions to adopt a voluntary "Critical Mass Principle", which sets as a goal 30% women on their boards and in senior leadership roles. The Financial Times issued the same call in an OPED published today. We see the time as now to boldly move forward and are launching the paper on June 24 th at Bloomberg. As far as we know it is the most comprehensive work ever done on the topic and we hope it will get lots of media attention.

According to the FT - "If there is ever a time for women to make a decisive breakthrough in corporate boardrooms, it is surely now. Many boards, especially in financial services, are in flux after the testosterone-fueled excesses that led to financial disaster. There is a desperate need to rebuild trust, more easily achieved if boards better reflect customers and the public."

Amen. Amen. Amen.

We are still looking for partners to assist in the launch of this important discussion paper so if you are interested please contact me orTeresa Bagly at the National Council for Research on Women.

I already crafted a response to the editor and I hope you will too! To send a letter to the editor letters.editor@ft.com .