We exist to improve diversity in senior leadership. Whilst still pursuing our initial focus on supporting women into non-executive board roles, we have evolved to also work extensively with our corporate partners on supporting diverse talent to reach their potential and building inclusive cultures.

Our Women on Boards membership network of thousands is predominantly female, and highly diverse across other demographics and professional disciplines. We are proud to be supporting one member a day (on average) into a board position, and work with recruiting boards to provide diverse candidates for board searches from our network through our Bespoke NED Search service.

As WB Directors, we work with many leading firms on their professional and leadership development strategies. Our work is gender-neutral and fully intersectional, as we support leaders to create effective and inclusive working cultures.

In 2011, the Davies Review found that women made up only 9.5% of members on the boards of FTSE 350 companies.  Subsequent UK monitoring of board diversity by the government-backed Hampton-Alexander Review in 2016 reported 23% of FTSE 350 board members were female. Today that figure is 40%. 

This has largely been achieved through diversifying non-executive director positions. It is proof that business-led targets, with appropriate monitoring and scrutiny, can be effective in driving change.

Yet, there remains more to be done.  Diversity in executive teams remains low and outside the FTSE350, in smaller listed firms, there is less diversity.

We firmly believe talent and ambition are evenly distributed across genders, so positions of seniority should follow accordingly. There is also a significant body of evidence showing a strong correlation between diversity and better business outcomes.