Today we attended Network 2000’s annual release of their influential and highly anticipated annual Census of Women Board Directors in Maryland. The event was held at the Center Club and was as usual, well attended by some of the region’s most influential women in business including Carol Coughlin, Ellen Yankellow, Sheela Murthy, Jane Brewer, Suzanne Thompson and many more. 
Sharon Pinder, the incoming Director of Baltimore’s Mayor’s Office of Women and Minority Owned business development presented this year’s Business 2000 award to women led CIDEX. MyCity4Her’s major partners Katz Abosch were also recognized along with Mefast, Inc, Constellation Energy and a few others. The 2012 Business Census Chair Nancy Sloane, who is the Director of Membership and Marketing at the Center Club presented the 2012 results.
Highlights from the report included a mixed bag of progress and decline, thankfully with progress being the dominating trend. Statistics released included the following:
Five of the six new companies that joined this year’s census had at least ONE woman board member while the majority of those that dropped off this year’s census had no women.
There was a substantial increase in the number of companies (9) with at least one woman board member and one woman is in the executive suite (+11%).
The number of board seats held by women at the F500 companies exceeded the national average and was UP nearly 3% over last year.
Sadly…
The number of Maryland public companies included in this census declined to 84.
The number of women of color continues to be flat, representing less than 20% of the total board seats.
With only 10.2% of the total board seats being held by women and 42% of total companies having an all male board of directors, there is still much need for improvement.
7 page report also identifies:
Percentage of board seats held by women in Maryland
Percentage of women in the Executive Suite in Maryland
The percentage of companies with NO women in either the Boardroom or the Executive Suite. This fact is supported by the actual naming of names of such companies.
The key note speaker was Dianne Mooney, Vice Chair of the Governance & Nominating Committee, Sanderson Farms.
Ms. Mooney very candidly discussed the hot topic of women on corporate boards, citing such exemplary companies such as Alcoa and Time Warner Cable who are “leading by example, enlightened and get it.” She also discussed how Sanderson Farms, a publicly-traded company in the deep South and the fourth largest poultry producer in the country, works to create and maintain its diverse board of directors.
It was encouraged that women who are desiring to be considered for corporate board appointments visit the web site of Diverse Director DataSource.
Network 2000 is a private, non-profit 501(c) (3) membership organization founded in 1993 with the mission to promote the advancement of women in professional and executive positions. The exclusive group has approximately 80 members most of which are high level executives, partners and shareholders in larger firms with some independent women business owners, government and educational professionals as well. For more information about Network 2000 please visit their web site at: http://www.network2000md.org