The issue of women's leadership in corporations is of widespread concern. We believe America's leading companies must move faster to improve the representation of women in positions of leadership. At a time when public companies have drawn intense scrutiny for lapses in corporate governance and failures in leadership, they can ill afford to ignore the talent and perspective available in half the population and nearly half the work force. Learn how you can take action to advocate for women on boards.

Despite their increasing economic power, women are vastly underrepresented on the boards of directors and in the executive suites of Tennessee's publicly traded companies. The study, sponsored by ION member Nashville CABLE and conducted by Lipscomb University College of Business, was based on fiscal year 2008 SEC filings, and showed no significant progress since the previous report from 2006. Key findings from the report revealed that more than 91 percent of the 618 corporate directors were men at a time when women made up 51.9 percent of the Tennessee work force. Out of the 73 public corporations, 47 percent had no women directors at all, and there were no women CEOs in the state. Read the CABLE news release and the full report.

France's Assemblée Nationale (the lower house) approved a draft bill to require boards of the nation's public companies to appoint women to 40 percent of boardroom seats by 2016. This measure will counter France's corporate history of predominantly male Boards of Directors. Currently, women account for slightly more than ten percent of board seats in France's 650 largest public companies. If the bill is approved by the Senate, France will join the ranks of Norway, Spain and Belgium, who have also introduced similar bills and quotas -- 40, 40 and 30 percents, respectively. Read the Times Online (UK) article.

Fort Washington, PA - December 28, 2009 - The InterOrganization Network (ION) was recognized in the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission's (SEC) December 16, 2009 ruling requiring enhanced information to be provided to shareholders to enable them to more easily evaluate the leadership of public companies. ION sent an opinion letter to the SEC in September 2009 supporting the proposed rule that would enhance corporate governance disclosures. Along with member organizations the Board of Directors Network (Georgia), The Boston Club and The Forum of Executive Women (Philadelphia) that also send letters, ION was recognized in the footnotes of the official SEC document. Download the news release and the complete SEC Ruling.

Palo Alto, CA - November 19, 2009 - The Forum for Women Entrepreneurs & Executives (FWE&E) and UC Davis have released their annual report on the number of women in the executive suites and board rooms of California's top 400 public companies. The study shows that only 10.6 percent of California's largest public companies have women in the C-suite or on their Board of Directors. Additionally, 118 (29.5 percent) of those organizations have no women board directors or executive officers and only 15 out of 400 have a woman CEO. Read the full report and the FWE&E news release. View media releases, videos, major press coverage, blog posts and additional PDFs.