Women’s Foundation Eschews Investments in Companies Without Female Directors
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 13, 2012
CONTACT: Laura Penny (520)-622-8886
Women’s Foundation Eschews Investments in Companies Without Female Directors
Investments in publicly-traded companies that do not include at least one woman on their Boards of Directors will not be part of the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona’s portfolio of investments. The decision recently was made by volunteer members of the Foundation’s Investment Committee. The Foundation has approximately $1.75 million in investable assets.
“In 2012, it is unconscionable that these companies are excluding women from the boardroom,” said the Foundation’s Executive Director Laura Penny. “Women account for more than 50 percent of all stock ownership in the United States and half the private wealth in the country. They make 80 percent of consumer spending decisions. Yet as of December 2011, 56 of the Fortune 500 companies had no female directors.”
“Our mission is to foster equity and opportunity for women and girls, and we will invest our assets in companies whose board composition represents our values,” Penny said. Since 1993, the Foundation has awarded more than $1.7 million to 173 southern Arizona organizations that serve women and girls, recently awarding grants for programs that increase economic self sufficiency for women and girls.
For more information about companies have no women on their Boards of Directors, go to: http://www.catalyst.org/etc/Census_app/11US/2011_Fortune_500_Census_Appendix_3.pdf
For more information about the work of the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona, go to: http://www.womengiving.org/ and find us on Facebook.