The group 2020 Women on Boards annually tracks the number of women on boards of Fortune 1000 companies to create the Gender Diversity Index. The recently released report indicates that, in 2016, women hold 19.7% of board seats, an increase from 18.8% in 2015, and from 14.6% in 2011.
2020 Women on Boards is a nonprofit organization running a national campaign dedicated to increasing the percentage of women on corporate boards to 20% by 2020. The group’s guiding principles are stated as “We believe that diversity of thought is essential to good corporate governance and that corporate boards of directors should reflect company stakeholders: their customers, employees, and shareholders.”
The report also found that “of the 120 companies that added women, 70 (58%) did so by increasing the total number of board seats to accommodate a new woman appointee, without replacing men.”
Companies named by 2020 Women on Boards as “W” companies – having women as at least 20% of board members – are listed on the 2020 website.