Summary – Call 2 

Sabina Mehmood (Bloomberg): The Gender Equality Index (GEI) is based on companies’ disclosure and data excellence performance score. There are 5 pillars which build the average data excellence performance score: female leadership & talent pipeline, equal pay& gender pay parity, inclusive culture, sexual harassment policies, pro-women brand. The aim of the index is firstly to provide information to the investment community. Secondly, to help companies to see where they stand and where they can improve. Sabina Mehmood observes that there is a trickle down effect; the more there are women on board, the more there are women in executive positions. Therefore, the efforts put in the diversity of board composition are relevant and should be pursued.

Laura Whitcomb (30% Club): 30% Club is a global campaign to increase women on boardrooms and executive management through voluntary practices, which started 11 years ago in England. The 30% Club aims to improve the pipeline of women in leading positions thanks to mentoring programs, such as the cross company mentoring program. The membership to the 30% Club is free.

Waithera Mwai-Ieri (Nairobi Securities Exchange): The NSE seeks to reach 30% of women on boards and is willing to get support from experts in the field. Currently, there is no mandatory law in Kenya, but in the meantime NSE promotes voluntary ways to guide companies to better sustainability practices. According to Waithera Mwai-Ieri future work should be done to reduce gender pay gap, flexibilize work organization, and to promote more women in CEO and chair positions. NSE recently joined the 30% Club and partners with the UN Women empowerment initiative.

Sara Lovisolo (Borsa Italiana): There is still a glass ceiling in Italy despite the good ranking of Borsa Italiana. Most women in the board have independent positions so they do not come from the inside. Sara Lovisolo also underlines that there is especially a low participation of women in the market and in politics. To bring more women to the top, Borsa Italiana issues corporate guidelines and partners with a leading gender diversity membership organization which develops capacity building training. Once expired, there will not be a mandatory quota of one third in Italy. However, the Corporate Governance Code of Borsa Italiana is aligned with the quota and is currently adopted by most of the listed companies with a “comply or explain” rule.

Loty Salazar (IFC): The program Women on Board and In Business Leadership project started 3 years ago. IFC works on gender mainstreaming, leadership training and on developing training and capacity building programs to create more opportunities for women. IFC not only partners with regional actors, but also with global and local actors. Loty Salazar insists on the momentum for all actors of the investment community (companies, regulators, etc.) to join efforts in order to promote sustainability and inclusiveness.

• Webinar slides