Despite representing 51 percent of the US population, earning 60 percent of all master's degrees, and contributing an estimated $26 billion in labor each day to the nation's GDP, only 6 percent of CEOs and 26 percent of board seats are held by women. Global nonprofit Catalyst is looking to change that.

In 2017, on International Women's Day, the firm launched Catalyst CEO Champions for Change, with a mission to better represent the population in the makeups of leadership and corporate boards. Today, the group includes more than 70 CEOs from major companies, representing 10 million employees and over $3 trillion in revenue globally. These CEOs are pledging publicly to advance more women, particularly women of color, into leadership roles and senior positions.

The group's affirmation of support for the goal states, in part:

"We believe in the power of diversity and inclusion. As business leaders we know that making room for everyone to succeed at work is not only the right thing to do, it's the smart thing. It improves innovation, boosts corporate performance, and energizes employee engagement…As senior leaders, we hold ourselves and our teams accountable to make change happen and accelerate diversity, inclusion and equality of opportunity within our organizations. We won't rest until we can all succeed together."

The CEOs, which include companies like Honeywell, Whirlpool, Pfizer, KPMG, Deloitte, Merck, BCG, Accenture, PwC, Protiviti, Genpact, and dozens more, are pledging on behalf of their organizations to work to:

  • Accelerate progress in the representation of women, particularly women of color, in executive/senior level positions.
  • Maintain (where strong) or accelerate representation of women, particularly women of color, on the Company's Board of Directors (or equivalent).
  • Strengthen the pipeline of women through an annual review of internal diagnostics and leverage leading practices to address any identified issues.
  • Benchmark and track inclusion and improve the culture of inclusion within my organization.

Furthermore, the pledge includes a personal commitment by the CEOs to use their positions of leadership to advance goals including:

  • Actively sponsor women, particularly women of color.
  • Role model positive change internally and externally through my words and actions.
  • Drive and embed inclusivity as part of my organization's culture, helping to empower women in their careers.
  • Visibly hold myself and the leaders in my organization accountable for progress.
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