Why should more women be on corporate boards? Read the astonishing results of studies that indicate business does better, MUCH better when women are included.

1. 2020 Women on Boards will help raise
the percentage of women who serve on
corporate boards in the United States to
20% or greater by the year 2020.
Register your support on our website:
www.2020wob.com
The National Conversation
November 20, 2014

2. WHAT DOES YOUR BOARD LOOK LIKE?
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3. GENDER DIVERSITY ~ WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
“While most CEOs recognize the importance of appointing directors of different ages
and with different kinds of educational backgrounds and functional expertise, they
tend to underestimate the benefits of gender diversity.” (HBR Blog Network Why
Boards Need More Women by Yilmaz Arguden | 11:10 AM June 7, 2012)
There are several benefits to appointing more women on boards. When Fortune-500
companies were ranked by the number of women directors on their boards, those
in the highest quartile in 2009 reported a 42% greater return on sales and a 53%
higher return on equity than the rest, according to a recent study conducted by
Lois Joy, Nancy Carter, Harvey M. Wagner, and Sriram Narayanan.
Experts believe that companies with women directors deal more effectively with risk.
Not only do they better address the concerns of customers, employees,
shareholders, and the local community, but also, they tend to focus on long-term
priorities. Women directors are likely to be more in tune with women’s needs than
men, which helps develop successful products and services.
After all, women drive 70% of purchase decisions by
consumers in the European Union and 80% of them in
the United States
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4. A FINANCIAL ISSUE AND A SOCIAL ISSUE
Research by Catalyst — a not-for-profit that seeks to expand
opportunities for women — shows a strong link between the
presence of women on boards and corporate reputations. Female
directors serve as role models, and therefore, improve female
employees’ performance and boost companies’ images.
Several rating agencies and investment funds, such as CalPERS and
PAX World, use the extent of gender diversity as one of their
investment criteria.
Studies show that the presence of at least three women is necessary
to change boardroom dynamics. In fact, an analysis of FTSE-listed
boards found that operational performance and share
prices were both higher in the case of companies where women
made up over 20% of board members than those with lower
female representation. (HBR Blog Network Why Boards Need
More Women by Yilmaz Arguden |11:10 AM June 7, 2012)
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5. Financial costs are reduced
» (That’s the finding from a new paper (Levi, Li, and Zhang, 2013) by Maurice Levi and Kai Li of the Sauder School of Business at the University of
British Columbia and Feng Zhang at the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah.)
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Companies that have
more women on their
boards of directors
make fewer bids for
mergers and
acquisitions
And pay less for
acquired companies.

6. Why are women better in M&A negotiations?
» Past research has shown that men and women behave differently
when faced with uncertainty in terms of how overconfident they are.
» Everyone is overconfident — we always think we are better than our
true selves — and when men and women are dealing with knowns they
tend to be fairly similar in that regard as well.
» But when they are looking at unknowns, or when feedback is delayed
or uncertain instead of specific and immediate, women demonstrate
less overconfidence than men.
» So the M&A setting is an ideal setting in terms of how it amplifies
gender differences in responding to uncertainty with overconfidence.
» (HBR Blog: Boards with More Women Pay Less for Acquisitions
» by Sarah Green | 8:00 AM December 20, 2013)
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7. Where are women on boards?
» Cranfield School of Management shows that the percentage of women
in FTSE 100 companies has risen slowly from 6.9% to 12.5% over the
last decade. The percentage of women directors seems to be
correlated with geography.
» Scandinavian nations having over 20+% women among board
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members;
» U.K., Ireland, and Netherlands being in the low teens (10% to 12.5%)
» Germany, France, Luxembourg, and Belgium in the high single digits
(7.5% to 9.7%)
» Mediterranean countries such as Spain, Italy, and Greece reporting low
single digit (2% to 6.5%) representation
» United States 16%

8. 2020 Women on Boards 2013 Honor Roll
Companies
» The 2020 Women on Boards Honor Roll
Companies for 2013
» 256 companies have been on the Winning "W"
Company list for three consecutive years, 2011,
2012 and 2013.
» 2020 Women on Boards 2013-honor-roll-companies
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9. Breakdown of women directors by year (2020wob.com)
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10. Even more Financial success..
» A Credit Suisse report found that, overall, companies with a market cap
greater than US$ 10 billion that have at least one woman on the board of
directors outperformed those that had no women at all by
» +26% for large caps over the six years leading up to 2011.
» "Importantly, this mix of companies would also have outperformed global
equities as measured by MSCI’s ACWI," write Credit Suisse analysts Julia
Dawson, Richard Kersley and Stefano Natella.
» In other words, this is a global phenomenon.
» From 2012 to June 2014, companies with at least one woman on the board
have seen a 5% outperformance on a sector neutral basis.
» That amounts to a compound excess return since 2005 of 3.3%.
» Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/stocks-with-female-directors-outperform-
2014-9#ixzz3Fb9LcxMC
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11. The following charts show performance
effects with women on boards
1. Greater performance globally
2. Greater performance in APAC
3. Greater performance in US
»(Business Insider: MARKETS More: Women And
Leadership Credit Suisse, “Companies With Women On The
Board Crush Companies That Are Only Men”
»ELENA HOLODNY SEP. 24, 2014, 5:25 PM
»Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/stocks-with-female-
directors-outperform-2014-9#ixzz3FbHOe4QF)
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12. Together we can make it happen!

13. Together we can make it happen!

14. Together we can make it happen!

15. Why aren’t MORE women on boards?
» Three key themes :
• “Women had to be more qualified than men to be considered for
directorships. Women also seemed to pay a higher personal price
to become board members than men did.
• Although boards say they like diversity, they don’t know how to
take advantage of it. We found a stark disconnect between
female directors’ experiences and their male colleagues’
perceptions. Women told us they were not treated as full
members of the group, though the male directors were largely
oblivious to their female colleagues’ experience in this regard.
• Great talent alone is not enough to create a well-functioning
board. Boards need formal processes and cultures that leverage
each individual member’s contribution as well as the directors’
collective intellect.”
» (HBR: Dysfunction in the Boardroom by Boris Groysberg and Deborah Bell
http://hbr.org/2013/06/dysfunction-in-the-boardroom/ar/1)
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16. Portrait of the Female Director
(HBR Dysfunction in the Boardroom June 2013 by Boris Groysberg and Deborah Bell)
» The female directors tended to be younger than the male directors—probably because, on
average, the women had joined boards relatively recently, whereas the men had served on
boards longer. Seventy-six percent of the female directors (versus 69% of the male directors)
were employed in an operational role; 68% (versus 51% of the male directors) were in a lead
role, like CEO, president, or partner.
» These findings suggest that to receive invitations to boards, women might need to be more
accomplished than men. They also contradict the popular belief that female board members
have mostly nonoperational or support-function experience.
» Another distinction we discovered between the backgrounds of female and male directors was
that by and large, the women on boards worked for private corporations, not public ones. A
majority of the male board members worked for private corporations as well, but a higher
percentage of the men worked for public companies—likely a reflection of the fact that fewer
women occupy the C-suites of public companies.
» The data also indicate that female board members may have made different trade-offs on their
way to the top. In comparison with male directors, fewer female directors were married and had
children. A larger percentage of the women were divorced—suggesting they may have incurred
greater personal costs.
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17. Together we can make it happen!
Summary
1. Having women on boards is a distinct and significant financial advantage.
Women help organizations perform better by adding diversity of thought,
background and experience.
2. Women prevent “over-confidence” in negotiations which can make with
better deals for the organization
3. There need to be 3 women on boards for the full effectiveness to be
demonstrated in results, but even one can make a difference.
4. Women need help to get there, demanding greater ability and overlooking
competent women is a mistake.

18. What can I do?
• NATIONAL: Join 2020 Women on Boards at (click on grey links below)
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• CHICAGO: Learn more about the issues on November 20, 2014
WOB National Conversation November 20, 2014
Chicago, IL Sub-Zero/Wolf Showroom:
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Special Guest: Adela Cepeda, Founder and President of A.C.
Advisory Inc.; Board of Directors: BMO Financial Corp.
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• LOCAL: Locate women for your board membership
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19. » Dr. Terri Friel
www.2020wob.com