A group of chairmen and CEOs working to achieve a better balance of men and women in the boardroom has expanded its efforts to the U.S.
The 30% Club, an initiative founded by Helena Morrissey, CEO of Newton Investment Management Ltd. based in London, aims to get more women into all levels of organizations through voluntary actions.
The club, which launched in the U.K. in 2010, aims to achieve 30% representation of women on FTSE 100 company boards by the end of 2015. The 30% Club now has 92 members in the U.K., and the percentage of female representation at director level in the FTSE 100 has increased to 20.8% as of March this year, up from just 12.5% in 2010.
The U.S. venture launches with 24 founding supporters, including Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.; Laurence Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock Inc., and Gerald Hassell, chairman and CEO of Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
The role of founding U.S. chair has been taken by Peter Grauer, chairman of Bloomberg LP.
“Gender imbalance at senior levels is a global phenomenon, and so I'm thrilled to launch in the U.S.,” Ms. Morrissey said in a news release. “There is no better time to focus on developing a pipeline of female talent in U.S. organizations.”
