Op-Ed: Only 2% of San Diego boards are equal numbers men & women

San Diego Union Tribune shares Op-Ed about Mine The Gap’s latest project, All Our Talent: Women on Boards and Commissions.

All Our Talent: Women on Boards & Commissions

GROUNDBREAKING INITIATIVE FOCUSES ON INCLUSIVE, GENDER-BALANCED LEADERSHIP 

New research by San Diego Regional Chamber Foundation finds gaps in regional corporate, nonprofit, and government boards and commissions; provides roadmap for improvement

 SAN DIEGO (June 23, 2020) – Promoting equity and inclusion is critical to our progress as a society and to making the San Diego region the best place to live and work. This starts with looking at who is leading our companies and organizations and ensuring that leadership is diverse and gender balanced. This is the focus of a new initiative – All Our Talent: Women on Boards and Commission – launched today by the San Diego Regional Chamber Foundation, in partnership with Mine The Gap.

“We are in a unique time to carefully evaluate how we rebuild the workplace. A critical piece is taking stock of our leadership and ensuring that our boards and commissions are diverse and gender balanced. That diversity and gender balance benefits our businesses and our community as a whole,” said Jerry Sanders, Chamber President and CEO. “Through All Our Talent we are creating a better workforce today and also making a long-term commitment to a more competitive region in the future.” 

Studies show that organizations perform better, are more successful, and have a competitive advantage when they are driven by a diverse and gender-balanced leadership. Credit Suisse conducted a six-year global research study showing that women on boards improve business performance for key metrics, including stock performance; companies with women directors on their boards outperformed shares of comparable businesses with all-male boards by 26 percent. Likewise, a 2016 study by Morgan Stanley Capital International found that American companies with three or more female directors reported earnings that were 45 percent higher than those companies with no female directors.

“The success of our region depends on ensuring that we have diverse voices at the table leading our businesses and governments. Recent events have put a glaring spotlight on deeply entrenched social disparities and the need for all of us to be intentional about making the changes we want to see,” said Chamber Board Chair and SDG&E Chief Operating Officer Caroline Winn. “That’s why I am excited to help lead this groundbreaking initiative to leverage all of our talent in the San Diego community and support the women interested in serving on local boards and commissions.”

In the San Diego region, the greatest gap exists on corporate boards, while nonprofit boards and government boards and commissions generally have a better balance. 

According to the research conducted through the All Our Talent initiative, of the 88 public companies headquartered in San Diego, 23% of the board seats are held by women. And, of the 27 largest private companies headquartered in San Diego only two have female CEOs. This is compared to nonprofit boards where of the 51 largest nonprofit organizations, 34 have male board chairs, 14 have female board chairs, and 3 were unspecified. On City of San Diego-appointed boards and commissions, 53% of board seats are held by men and 47% by women. Sixty-five percent of county board and commission seats are held by men and 35% are held by women.

“Businesses measure and track what is most important to their bottom lines. That the San Diego Chamber of Commerce is tracking women’s leadership on boards tells you how crucial diverse leadership is to the success of California companies,” said First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

Recognizing gender diversity as a competitive advantage, the All Our Talent initiative outlines five key gaps and makes recommendations for addressing these to build more gender-diverse leadership. 

1.     Awareness-building & data collection

·       Recommendation: integrate research about the benefits of gender-diversity into educational and training efforts, and encourage the tracking of demographic data of leadership teams.

2.     Network access and expansion

·       Recommendation: broaden access for women to the networks that actually make decisions about who is considered for board or commission seats with a focus on making the bridge between diverse networks of talent and decision makers.

3.     Regional coalition building

·       Recommendation: develop a resource hub and coordinate regional efforts to advance women on boards and commissions, and identify gaps in training and support networks.

4.     Identifying and connecting talent

·       Recommendation: build a database of women interested in serving on boards and commissions and assist companies and organizations with access to the database, with particular attention paid to women of color.

5.     Building women’s confidence

·       Recommendation: Encourage business, nonprofit, and government leaders to advocate for women in their organizations to serve on boards and commissions, and connect interested women with training and support networks.

“Our report shares that while San Diego has made important progress to include women on boards and commissions, there is still a long way to go to realize the contributions of women from all backgrounds in our region. This pioneering effort by the Chamber and our partners has set the stage for meaningful, intentional, and measurable change,” said Jessica N. Grounds, Co-Founder Mine The Gap and All Our Talent Project Lead.

 In the coming months, the All Our Talent initiative will work to address these gaps and put the recommendations into action by designing a database of women interested and available to serve on boards and commissions. Women interested in serving and companies and organizations looking to diversify their boards can sign up to learn more about the program. The initiative will create training to prepare women for board service, and also training for businesses and organizations to ensure their boards are ready to receive these new members and work effectively.

To view the All Our Talent: Women on Boards and Commissions report and dashboard, visit www.sdchamber.org/foundation/all-our-talent.  

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On International Women's Day -- Let's Move from Words to Action

Originally posted on Medium by Jessica N. Grounds, Co-Founder Mine The Gap.

International Women’s Day is a day to reflect and appreciate the advances we have made as women. Whether we’re talking about women in political leadership, awareness about the wage gap, or access to education; we can all agree that much has been accomplished. When I think about the 20 years I’ve been working in this space (and I’m not even that old!), I can’t help but believe that we’re at a powerful inflection point — and it’s exciting to be a part of the action!

It is often referenced in the press that we have stagnated in advancing women leaders, especially at the top. This is unfortunately true. In a number of sectors women have closed the gap significantly in managerial roles, but when it comes to the executive teams — C-Suites and leading companies, organizations, and governments — women just aren’t there. And we can’t quite figure out how to push that number up.

Years ago, when I was the Executive Director of Running Start, a women’s political leadership organization that I helped to found, I traveled around the world to talk with both women’s advocates and regular people about strategies to advance women into leadership roles. With that work came my first-hand exposure to quotas and mandates — something I had studied closely and knew countries had championed for women in leadership in both politics and business. For me, like many Americans, I saw quotas as something other countries did, not something that was likely in a meritocracy like the United States. Even while I saw their value in changing structural impediments, I didn’t see them happening here — until they did.

In 2018, the California legislature passed Senate Bill 826, a law signed by former Governor Jerry Brown that requires California-based companies to have at least one woman serve on their board, with an increase in that number over time dependent on the size of the board. This law is a game changer, and smartly has been presented to the public based in fact and research. The frame is not about equity, it is about results. Research shows (decades of research mind you!) that companies with more women in board leadership perform better financially. The numbers speak for themselves. Companies with more gender diversity on their boards are driving innovation, show increased profits, and improved workplace cultures for everyone. More research needs to be done, but we also see improved safety and employee satisfaction when the leadership reflects our world makeup.

And with this kind of legislation, we are seeing the action that we have been seeking for years. This year my company Mine The Gap is leading a critical effort with the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce Foundation to help companies add women to their boards, but also help companies — and the public — understand why this matters for our future workforce to thrive.

This initiative, All Our Talent: Women on Boards & Commissions will highlight why more women serving with men on boards helps a company’s bottom line. We will not only support private sector boards in our region, but also highlight the need for more women on nonprofit boards and government commissions. Our effort will provide resources to women interested in serving on boards and support companies who want to do the right thing. We will even develop a database of women (think big binders here!) who are ready to serve on boards and commissions tomorrow.

I am deeply excited about this time in history. We are moving beyond the barriers and challenges, and we are proposing solutions and support. And while these efforts start with a policy requirement passed by law, we know that the companies and organizations will quickly see that this is exactly what they need to do stay competitive and relevant in today’s competitive global economy.

Transforming the Workplace for Women: Course open to public February 28, 2020

We’re excited to be once again be teaching a course on women’s leadership in the workplace on Friday, February 28 at Georgetown School of Continuing Studies. Public attention around the #MeToo movement, diversity and inclusion programs, and heightened awareness about the lack of women in leadership positions has sparked critical conversations about building gender-inclusive work environments.  Our interactive course will examine the current reality of where women stand in leadership across industries, expose participants to cutting-edge research to illuminate how and why these gaps exist, and give participants a better understanding of practical ways to address these gender gaps. 

Sign up here!

Our Forbes Interview: Why Women Leave Work

We know that women and men are essentially recruited in the same amounts out of college, or in entry level jobs, yet only 6.6% of women are Fortune 500 CEO’s (as of 2019). 

Employers complain that women leave before they can be promoted, taking the employers’ investment in recruiting, training and developing their talent with them. 

Why are women leaving? It’s well, complicated.

Read Kristin’s interview with Forbes.

Listen to Kristin’s podcast.

Free Webinar: Women's Leadership in the #MeToo Era

Join women's leadership expert Jessica N. Grounds, co-founder of Mine The Gap and Running Start, to hear her discuss cutting-edge research about gender dynamics in the workplace. She will share insights from her research on workplace culture including the impact of #MeToo. Jessica will share key strategies to foster more gender diverse organizations and companies where women thrive and advance into leadership.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand major barriers impacting women advancing in business

• Learn about cutting-edge research on #MeToo at work

• Consider ways to grow gender-inclusive work environments for yourself and others

Sign up here!

Presenting at Engage Summit

Mine The Gap presented their original research about women advancing in the corporate sector at the second annual Engage summit in Washington, DC. Engage is a bipartisan initiative to focus attention on women’s economic security.

Upcoming Summer Workshop: Learn to Tell Your Story

Telling Your Story is one of the most powerful tools you can develop as a leader working in any industry. Telling Your Story helps you to connect with your audience, project authenticity, and persuasively explain what you are good at and why. This is particularly important for women leaders who continue to struggle with conveying credibility and authenticity in the workplace.

This two and half hour workshop will help you understand the power of your story, give you a framework to build and tailor your story, and help you identify your go-to story. You'll even start to practice! Don't miss this opportunity to begin to build this core competency to Tell Your Story.

This workshop is led by leadership expert and Mine The Gap's co-founder, Jessica N. Grounds.

Get your tickets HERE.

Women Entrepreneurs at CampaignTech East

Mine The Gap shared the stage with other women entrepreneurs working in the political campaign and tech space. Co-Founder Jessica N. Grounds talked about the challenges to start and grow a business, giving insight about the unique dimensions facing women founders to a packed crowd.

Learn more about Campaigns & Elections conference circuit HERE.