Equilar, a source of corporate leadership data, announced a partnership with Third Arrow Strategies. The Third Arrow Strategies Japan Board Diversity Network (JBDN), recently launched with the support of 21 global influential leaders as charter members. The JBDN intends to be a powerful force in raising Japan to board gender diversity standards in the west through aggregating and elevating global female talent for Japan.
Despite the global focus on board gender diversity, the Japanese Gender Equality Bureau Cabinet Office reported that only 6.2 percent of board director seats are held by women as of July 2020. Many high-profile investors, including State Street Global Advisors, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and LGIM have directly engaged with portfolio companies about the lack of female representation on their boards. Companies often express difficulties in identifying qualified female board talent.
Creating board gender diversity
The JBDN intends to be a solution for companies seeking to identify qualified female talent for their boards. JBDN will invest in their senior female leadership to create a pipeline of future board candidates.
“The positive support from both charter members and the global community amazes me. Each charter member was selected for their unique accomplishments, board skills, leadership, influence, and a firm belief in the mission,” said Tracy Gopal, founder and CEO. “Charter members include several of the first female board directors appointed in Japan, recently appointed board directors, lawyers, startup founders, business leaders, financial professionals, investors, non-profit leaders, diplomats and politicians. With this powerhouse group of women and advisors, we are positioned to provide great resources and opportunities to make real progress in advancing board gender diversity in Japan and beyond.”
Charter members:
- Masako Arakawa
- Suzanne Basalla
- Andrijana Cvetkovik
- Masako Egawa
- Amy Guarino
- Debbie Howard
- Kumi Ito
- Naomi Koshi
- Aiko Lane
- Kahori Matsui
- Kathy Matsui
- Kaoru Matsuzawa
- Sawako Nohara
- Jenifer Rogers
- Catherine O’Connell
- Naoko Okumoto
- Susie Roos
- Kaori Sasaki
- Ako Williams
- Tasha Yorozu
- Emi Yoshikawa
Commitment to Japan
In partnership with Equilar, Third Arrow Strategies Japan Board Diversity Network will be part of the Equilar Diversity Network (EDN), a resource to companies and recruiters seeking to identify diverse talent. All JBDN members separately identified under the Third Arrow Strategies Japan Board Diversity Network on the Equilar BoardEdge platform.
“The Equilar Diversity Network has always had a global mission. With this new partnership with Third Arrow Strategies Japan Board Diversity Network, we are taking the first step toward expanding our reach to Japan,” said David Chun, founder and CEO of Equilar. “We are in full support of the JBDN mission and look forward to partnering closely to further the international expansion and our commitment to global gender diversity efforts.”
EDN is a consortium of more than 40 leading organizations focused on advancing diversity on boards for underrepresented groups. Across the 40+ partner organizations, Equilar has aggregated a pipeline of thousands of qualified, diverse board candidates. EDN partners and members are featured in the Equilar BoardEdge platform that contains more than one million senior executive and board member profiles. Since its founding, more than 2,000 members have been placed on corporate boards.
The JBDN welcomes applications for membership from both Japanese and non-Japanese current board members. They also welcome senior professionals who desire to elevate their board leadership skills and opportunities. JBDN will continue to contribute to global thought leadership exchange in alignment with the JBDN mission. For more information, visit www.thirdarrowstrategies.com.
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