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Exercise Your Proxy Vote Right

DID YOU KNOW....

  • In the Fortune 500 companies in the fourteen regions in the United States, women hold between 12.6 percent and 20 percent of all board seats.
  • In the fourteen regions, the percentages of companies with boards on which women comprise 25 percent or more of all directors range between 0 and 29.4 percent. 
  • Conversely the percentages of companies that have no women directors range between 8 percent and 50.6 percent. 
  • Women of color comprise an extremely small percentage of  directors throughout the United States. They hold between 0 percent and 3.3. percent of the board seats of the companies in their respective research pools. (Data obtained from research by InterOrganization Network (ION)). 

Here are 5 steps you can take today to leverage proxy votes for more gender equity in boardrooms: 

  1. As an investor in publicly held companies, exercise all of your rights as a shareholder.
  2. As an investor in mutual funds, read their proxy voting guidelines on board elections and on shareholder resolutions. 
  3. Draft an open letter to companies and mutual funds that have little or no female presence in the boardroom or executive suite seeking the advancement of women to their leadership teams. 
  4. When making investment decisions whether to buy or to sell shares in a particular company or mutual fund, factor in the composition of its leadership as well as its performance. 
  5. Encourage your colleagues, friends and neighbors, and alma maters to join in taking action!