Lend Your Voice, and Your Platform

Today marks International Women’s Day, an occasion to celebrate women’s achievements while raising awareness of and mobilizing action against gender inequality in whatever form it may exist.

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is “Break the Bias,” a call to envision and realize a gender equal world. I am proud that today also marks the five-year anniversary of our Fearless Girl campaign, State Street’s statement that turned Wall Street’s and the broader world’s attention to the vital importance of increasing gender diversity on corporate boards.

In the five years since the statue first stood tall in New York City’s financial district, many companies have made demonstrable strides toward correcting this longstanding and damaging imbalance. Today, 948 (more than 60 percent of the 1,548 companies) we identified with previously all-male boards have added at least one woman director[1]—with every company listed in the S&P 500 this past year having at least one woman on their board.[2] Today, the iconic Fearless Girl on her fifth anniversary has come to embody an enduring symbol both of good corporate governance and, even more importantly, the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of women and girls everywhere.

Looking ahead to this year’s International Women’s Day, the right question to ask is how to raise the bar in advancing the aims that Fearless Girl symbolizes. In January, State Street Global Advisors, the investment management arm of State Street Corporation, issued additional stewardship guidance to the companies in which it invests: beginning in this year’s proxy season, we expect each company in which State Street invests—regardless of market, index, or industry[3]—to have at least one woman on its board. Moreover, in its annual proxy voting agenda letter, Global Advisors made clear its expectations that corporate boards maintain at least 30 percent female directors for companies on major indices in the U.S., Canada, UK, Europe, and Australia starting in next year’s proxy season. This change should result in boards with three or four female directors on average, which translates into as many as 3,000 to 4,000 additional female directors across covered indices.

We are not stopping here. In our own organization we have various efforts to better support women in our workforce at all levels. These include: Professional Women’s Network (PWN) mentoring circles and sponsorship groups; Kahilla Women’s Development Digital Platform; PWN and Black Professionals Group Cohort, where 20 EVPs are each supporting a LatinX or Black female; the Boston Women’s Workforce Council social initiative to eliminate the gender wage gap; support of Conferences for Women; and Workplace of the Future efforts to support caregivers in the hybrid working model. We look ahead, knowing that gender diversity is only one piece of the diversity conversation, and that the boardroom is only the beginning.

The reason for this push for greater diversity is clear: empirical evidence demonstrates that companies with diverse boards perform better over time than companies with boards that lack diversity. Greater inclusion and diversity creates value by including a range of voices and perspectives, in turn spurring innovation by eschewing “group-think.” And a more inclusive, diverse, and equitable workplace fosters a more vibrant and engaging professional culture during a time when talent has never been more highly sought after.

One way to break the bias is by listening. As much as I am a fervent supporter of International Women’s Day, I recognize that this is not my day. Rather, I would prefer to yield the podium and have readers of this post hear directly from two inspiring State Street leaders: Constanza Cabello, Ed.D., State Street VP of Equity Programs; and Sue Thompson, Executive Vice President at?State Street?Global Advisors and Head of Americas Distribution for SPDR ETFs.

In the spirit of working together to create true gender parity in our industry and other professions, I would urge other male business leaders to show their allyship by joining me today in lending their platforms to women across their organizations. It is their stories that light the way, inspire us, allow us to celebrate all we have achieved, and appreciate all that remains to be done. I wish you a happy International Women’s Day, and I look forward to continuing this work together.

[1] State Street Global Advisors, as of February 2022.

[2] Green, J. (2021, Jun 4). After Pressure, All-Male Boards Have Now Vanished From S&P 500, Bloomberg.com.?

[3] Prior to this, the policy had applied only to companies included in major indices in select markets around the world.