During the event the Irish Chapter welcomed An Garda Siochana as its 300th member while it also announced plans to further expand its Irish network through the addition of an Investor Group, whose aim is to bring together asset management and investment intermediaries to use their influence for positive change with regard to gender balance, as part of creating sustainable businesses.
Former UK PM Theresa May with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the 30% Club's 9th Annual Chair and CEO Conference in Dublin on 2nd Feb. Background: Chair of the Ireland Chapter of the 30% Club, Northern Trust's Meliosa O'Caoimh
Theresa May spoke of the critical role of diversity in “encouraging the next generation of female decision makers” adding that “every single male CEO who looks around his boardroom table and sees nine out of ten male faces staring back at him to ask themselves what they are doing to make their business one in which their daughter or grand-daughter can progress.
“We must ask what senior leaders are doing to ensure that they are drawing on as broad a range of opinions and experience as possible? Part of that must be thinking creatively in terms of recruitment - to not just look at those people who fit a traditional career path, but to open up opportunities to others and so ensure a proper pipeline of talent into the future. This doesn’t just apply to businesses in the private sector but across all organisations.”
Meliosa O’Caoimh, Country Chair, 30% Club Ireland and Country Lead, Northern Trust, speaking on the conference’s theme of ‘Building a Sustainable Agenda’ said sustainability extends beyond climate action measures. “Building a sustainable business is about building a survivable business, and that is strongly dependent on diverse talent. We need to think about how we ensure, as a business community, that we fully integrate gender balance into our climate and eco efforts, as well as how to mobilise the power of the investor as a catalyst for change? Our continued focus needs to be on changing the culture of organisations, rather than the men and women that work within them.’ she said. (See more here: Irelands funds innovation story).
Cultural change was a topic of a panel discussion hosted by Futurewise’s Peter Cosgrave with ISIF’s Mary McNamara outlining the effort the NTMA has put in to addressing gender balance in the organisation, particularly at senior management level. She said it was important that the agency addressed this first, so that it had the authority to challenge investors on their own Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) strategies. ILIM’s Kathy Ryan spoke on the incoming ESG directives and legislation, such as SFDR, and highlighted ILIM’s role with the companies that they invest in, to ensure investment is linked to key ED&I and ESG targets. Bank of America’s Vicario outlined how ESG policies have been embedded in the culture of Bank of America and his work as a member of the bank’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Council, an area he plans to prioritise under as chair of FIBI (see story on page 6).
Addressing the conference on Ireland’s progress to date around gender equality and diversity the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar said “While we have made significant progress on these issues in Ireland in recent years, and we continue to move forward, it is clear that much more needs to be done. I am here today to support those endeavours and the work of the 30% Club. We have a long way to go to achieve gender equality and we are an unfinished republic until we do.”
The 30% Club is a global campaign committed to achieving better gender balance at leadership levels and throughout their organisation, for better business outcomes. Established in 2015, the Irish chapter is supported by the leaders of over 300 leading Irish businesses and organisations across all business sectors, representing more than 600,000 employees.