Low Numbers of Women , Executives Spark Renewed Resolve among Diversity Advocates

Nashville, Tenn. – September 19, 2013 – ION is releasing an Executive Summary of its Tenth Annual Status Report on the status of women in the boardroom on Friday, September 20, at the fourth annual Global Conference on Women in the Boardroom in Washington, D.C. The summary provides an analysis of data on Russell 3000 companies in the 18 states¹ represented by ION’s 17 Member Organizations. Key highlights include:

• Percentage of board seats held by women in Russell 3000 companies: 12.1 percent
• Percentage of Fortune 500 companies with two or more women board members: 65.3 percent²
• Number of women CEOs in Russell 3000 companies: 60
• Total number of companies included in census: 2,030

“It’s time to renew our resolve and focus on the ‘demand side’ of the equation. It’s unfortunate that we’re still fighting for corporate gender diversity in 2013, but the simple truth is this: there are thousands of highly qualified women ready to fill board seats and executive positions. Now we need to show investors why their corporations need these women to help boost financial performance, bring more collaborative conversations to the table and facilitate a more productive environment,” said ION President Sarah Meyerrose.

The conference is sponsored by Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Center for Transatlantic Relations. As an invited advisor to the conference’s closed-door CEO roundtable, Meyerrose will discuss with heads of business organizations, government and institutional investors, search firm executives and international experts the root causes and cultural barriers at play – and how ION can help highlight gender stereotypes to spark change and accelerate the selection of qualified women for corporate board service.

For its Tenth Annual Status report, ION formed a strategic alliance with GMI Ratings International to provide the key statistical data for all Russell 3000 companies in ION-represented states, among other research support. Detailed state-by-state data will be available in late 2013 at www.ionwomen.org

1. The 18 ION States are Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin

2. Fortune 500 results reported in the ION summary are for Fortune 500 companies in ION states that are also listed in the Russell 3000.

About ION

Formed in 2004, ION is a national nonprofit network of 17 regional M across the United States representing more than 10,000 executive-level women from a wide range of disciplines. ION gives its members an increasingly important platform to advocate for the advancement of women to positions of power in executive suites and on boards of directors of publicly traded companies.