

corporate boards

This past summer, I covered the 7th G(irls)20 Summit. As the Official Global Correspondent I learnt about the G20 and how it operates. I worked with high potential young women from around the world to develop and formulate a detailed communiqué, which was presented to G20 Leaders before they met in China.
Canadian companies have the potential to become more competitive if their boards are comprised of directors who are the most qualified in a greatly-expanded pool of potential directors. But to do this, we need increase the pace of change to achieve board diversity and gender parity.
When making predictions about economic success, it is impossible to know what the future holds. Yet the corporate investment in women certainly isn't a hedge. Beyond simply a moral obligation towards equal opportunity, there is fiscal value in utilizing a previously undervalued resource.
When a regulator advises a board of corporate directors that progress on gender diversity is "simply not good enough," that is code that the status quo will not continue and that more regulation may result. And the second wave of regulation is often worse than the first.
Strikes, picket lines and other forms of protest that require significant labour resources are ineffective against corporations that can use automation or outsourcing as significant bargaining chips. If this is the case, how are activists meant to effect real change? One way is in the corporate boardroom.