For Anja Manuel’s full article, click HERE.

While you’re there, you can also check out the WPLA blog with Astrid Tuminez’s latest blogpost entitled ‘Kimchi Paradigm’ Offers New Insights Into Success at Asian Women Leaders Conference

Here is an introduction to the Oxfam India policy brief:

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been a great laboratory for poverty reduction, with major successes and frustrating failures. These fifteen years of experience provide us the wisdom to do better in a deeply changed world. This paper summarises the outcomes of consultations and studies around the question: what new framework will make a difference for groups in India that face acute poverty and social exclusion? The question brings several challenges to the forefront—addressing inequalities and exclusion; impacting on the politics of poverty in sovereign nations; financing the goals in a context where the role of aid is diminishing. The paper proposes to address these challenges in 10 goals that build on the current framework but will help make a difference for those at the very bottom.

This paper was written by Lucy Dubochet, Research Manager, Oxfam India, with contributions from Nisha Agrawal, Chief Executive Officer, Avinash Kumar, Director – Policy, Campaigns and Research; M. Kumaran, Programme Coordinator – Food Justice; Vanita Suneja, Economic Justice Lead Specialist; Anjela Taneja, Programme Coordinator – Education; Julie Thekkudan, Gender Justice, Lead Specialist; Deepak Xavier, Essential Services Lead Specialist.

Click here to download the policy brief.

Nisha Agrawal is the CEO of Oxfam India. Since her appointment in March 2008, she has successfully led a complex change of management process that integrated the programs and staff of the six Oxfams that had been previously operating in India. She also led a highly consultative process to formulate Oxfam India’s new strategy entitled “Demanding Rights, Creating Opportunities” that lays out its vision, mission, and programs for 2010-2015. The strategy provides a direction and focus to Oxfam’s work in the seven poorest states of India and with the four most marginalized social groups (Women, Dalits, Tribals, and Muslims). It also provides a thematic focus in the four areas of economic justice, gender justice, essential services, and humanitarian work. Oxfam India is a rights-based organization that funds about 180 NGOs that work at the grassroots level to empower communities and ensure a life of dignity for all

New Delhi, April 15^th, 2013– With important elections pending in key Asian countries and in the wake of a number of highly publicized acts of violence against women in the Asia-Pacific region, Asia Society convened its 4^th Annual Women Leaders of New Asia (WLNA) summit. Over 35 distinguished delegates from 14 different countries across the region and disciplines gathered to identify critical issues affecting women and to develop an action plan to address these concerns in a collaborative manner.

Over the course of two days’ of deliberations, the participants repeatedly underscored why it is imperative to invest more in efforts to change social attitudes and mindsets and how they might go about doing so.  Other key components identified that would be crucial in this endeavour include  providing opportunities for proper trainings and  mentorships;  advocating for the private sector to incorporate gender issues into their strategic planning; sharing their success stories; preventing  career pipeline leakages; and exchanging best practices from across the region.   Astrid Tuminez, Regional Director, Legal and Corporate Affairs, Microsoft Southeast Asia, and author of last year’s WLNA report Rising to the Top? A Report on Women’s Leadership in Asia will also be releasing a follow-up later this year on the role of men in mentoring and empowering women.

As President Emerita of Asia Society and Special Advisor for Global Affairs at Columbia University, Dr. Vishakha N. Desai, said, “It’s not just about women having a seat at the table – it’s changing the shape of the table.”  Delegates agreed to take forward a number of concrete activities towards this, including setting up a regional chapter of WLNA in Pakistan to take forward the women’s agenda there, starting a mentorship programme for women across ages and regions (in collaboration with the Asia Society’s Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative), and rolling out a campaign that leverages the extensive corporate, government and social sector networks of the delegates to shape mindsets for gender parity.

The summit was launched with a public program featuring: Dr. Desai; Governor of Rajasthan, Margaret Alva; Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute of Women, Peace and Security, Melanne Verveer;,Bangladesh Minister of Women and Children Affairs, Shirin Chaudhary; and Singapore Member of Parliament, Penny Low, who suggested that we need to develop a global shapers community that cuts across regions, disciplines and ages, to keep women linked and working towards a progressing path. Further, she said that we need to find the “killer app” to implement inclusive policy.

While the participants felt that the moment is ripe for pushing the agenda for women’s empowerment and gender equity, they were  mindful that changes will come in increments.  They also acknowledged that change will only be possible when the policy changes go hand in hand with changes in social attitudes. Vishakha Desai said that “There is a mismatch between policy and social norms – to change an attitude takes not only courage but generations. It is easier to change infrastructure than mindset or culture. It is a work in progress, we have to be relentless.”

Click here for the list of participants.

Link to the Asia Society India Centre page.

About Asia Society

Asia Society is the leading educational organization dedicated to promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among peoples, leaders and institutions of Asia and the United States in a global context. Across the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, the Society provides insight, generates ideas, and promotes collaboration to address present challenges and create a shared future.

Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Asia Society is a nonpartisan, nonprofit institution with headquarters in New York, centers in Hong Kong and Houston, and affiliated offices in Los Angeles, Manila, Sydney, Mumbai, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, and Washington, DC.

The film was followed by a panel discussion with the producer and special guests, including Holly Gordon, Executive Director of 10X10; Shabana Basij-Rasikh, Co-Founder and Managing Director of SOLA, School of Leadership Afghanistan; Su Balasubramanian, Program Officer of UN Foundation; and Zoe Timms, Executive Director of Women’s Education Project. Moderated by ABC News’ Emmy Award-winning journalist Juju Chang. Introductory remarks will be delivered by Tom Nagorski, Asia Society Executive Vice President.

To learn more about the event, click here.

WHEN: Friday, April 12th, 2013, 6.30pm, registration begins at 6.00pm

WHERE: India International Centre, Multipurpose Hall, #40, Max Mueller Marg, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi, DL 110003.

RSVP REQUIRED: asiasociety@asiasociety.org.in

This program commences Asia Society’s 2013 Women Leaders of New Asia conference.

Women of Asia: A New Women’s Revolution in the Making?

While the Asia Pacific region has made great strides in narrowing the gender gap in recent decades, significant disparities remain within individual countries and across the region. Why in this day and age, are women still subjected to unimaginable violence, systemic discrimination and barriers that stymie their potential and progress? What explains the dichotomy between societal demands to redress discriminatory cultural practices versus the political will to address legal challenges and initiate structural reforms, both in Asia as well as in the West? In the rapidly changing Asia, what opportunities are available for women as they endeavor to lead economically, politically and socially? How do we ensure that policy is actually put into action?

Margaret Alva is the Governor of Rajasthan and former Governor of Uttarakhand. She is a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and was Secretary General of the All India Congress Committee..She has previously served as Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development and Chairperson of the Committee on the Empowerment of Women. She has also been a Member of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Shabha.

Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury is the State Minister of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. She is a Member of the 9th Parliament of Bangladesh, from the Bangladesh Awami League. She is also a member of the Central Committee of Bangladesh Awami League. She is a member of the Standing Committee in the Parliament relating to Rules of Procedure. She is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.

Melanne S. Verveer is the first United States Ambassador-at-Large and Director of the State Department’s office for Global Women’s Issues. She is also Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. She is the former Chief of Staff to First Lady of the United States Hillary, Rodham Clinton, and Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of the Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international non-governmental organization that supports global women’s leadership.

Penny Low was first elected to Singapore’s Parliament in 2001, as one of the youngest female MPs in Singapore. Amongst many public portfolios, she has chaired the Government Parliamentary Committee for the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts, and has had oversight over the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of National Development and the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources. A passionate advocate for social entrepreneurship, in 2006, she founded Social Innovation Park Ltd.

Vishakha Desai is President Emerita of Asia Society. She is an Independent Director at Mahindra & Mahindra, Special Advisor to the President at Columbia University, and a Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She previously served as Asia Society’s Senior Vice President of Museum and Cultural Programmes, and as President of the Association of Art Museum Directors.

To submit your questions in advance for the speakers, please email asiasociety@asiasociety.org.in

The Women of Asia series promotes the collaboration and leadership of accomplished women through a range of informative and network building forums that facilitate the sharing of best practices, critical issues and personal experiences. Our series of International Women’s Day events has included a discussion on Violence and Women: The Way Forward, and the India Premiere of Salaam Dunk, a film about the first women’s basketball team at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani.

To learn more about upcoming programs, please visit www.asiasociety.org/centers/india

Aliza Knox

DESTINATION: BOARD DIVERSITY
Driven by the benefits of a more diverse board, companies around the world are actively working toward gender inclusion at the highest levels of their business. Glimmers of diversity on corporate boards are slowly, but steadily, appearing. The issue of board diversity is now garnering the attention it deserves, and together, we can find new ways to build on this increasing momentum.

WHERE DOES BOARD DIVERSITY STAND?
Let’s take a look at some statistics.

In the US, almost 90 percent of S&P 500 companies have at least one woman board member. However, there are far fewer female directors at smaller companies, with only 60 percent of the companies in the Russell 3000 index having at least one woman director, and half of the small cap companies in the Russell 2000 Index with no female directors at all. In addition, while 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies have at least one female director, less than 20 percent have 3 or more women serving together.[1]

In Europe, a McKinsey study of 235 companies suggests that the majority of large businesses are devoting significant resources to resolve the gender imbalance at the board level, making progress with diversity, recruitment, and promotion processes. Indeed, 63 percent of the companies have at least 20 different initiatives in place as part of their gender diversity programs. And in eight out of nine countries, there are now more women on corporate boards–for example, 20 percent of board members in France are women, up from 8 percent in 2007, and 19 percent in the Netherlands, up from 7 percent.[2] However, despite the growth, the relatively low percentages suggest there’s still a ways to go on board diversity.
Companies in APAC are behind on the board gender diversity curve. In a sampling of the largest companies in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Singapore, only twenty-two out of 700 boards had more than two female directors.[3]

There are positive developments in the APAC region. According to the Australian Institute of Corporate Directors, the proportion of women on Australia’s boards rose from 8 percent in January, 2010 to 14 percent in July 2012, meaning that almost 30 percent of all board vacancies over that period were filled by women.[4] A McKinsey review also noted broader awareness around diversity and talent development within some APAC companies. South Korean executives, who stated that they expect to accelerate diversity measures in their companies, were particularly notable in their acknowledgement of the importance of gender diversity initiatives.[5]

Interestingly, in Pakistan, women make up 30 percent of boards (where the majority are family owned companies, and founders have learned that their daughters, more than their sons, want to help run the company).[6]

It will take 158 more board seats held by women to reach 10% female representation on SGX Boards

Singapore is lagging in its corporate board diversity: 60% of SGX-listed firms don’t have a single women on the board. Globally, Singapore’s female participation in boards ranks second to last, just ahead of India. Growth of female representation in boardrooms is heading in the right direction, but is slow, with 6.6% of SGX boardroom positions held by women in 2008, up to 6.9% in 2010.[7]

WHY DOES BOARD DIVERSITY MATTER?
Why should we care about diversity at the highest levels of business? Because gender diversity on boards is proven to deliver competitive advantage, help boards relate better to customers, and aid with corporate growth and talent acquisition.

Diversity improves financial performance
In the US, companies with gender diverse boards delivered markedly better results. For example, Fortune 500 companies who had at least three women on their boards of directors found that:

• Return on equity increased by at least 53 percent.
• Return on sales increased by at least 42 percent.
• Return on invested capital increased by at least 66 percent.[8]

In Europe, 89 European companies with more than two women on the board outperformed, on average, their  sector in return on equity (11 percent vs. an average of 10 percent),  operating result (EBIT of 11 percent vs. 6 percent), and stock price growth (64 percent vs. 47 percent).[9]

In Australia, board diversity affected ASX 500 corporate performance as follows:

• Companies with women on the board delivered a higher return on equity (ROE) than those without women on their board.
• Over three years, companies with no women directors delivered a -.1 percent ROE, vs. almost 7 percent for companies with women directors; over five years, the respective numbers are .5 percent vs. just over 9 percent.
• Companies with women on the board outperformed companies with no women on the board in 8 of 10 sectors.[10]

Last, in an extensive study of SGX-listed companies, gender diversity on boards–noted for bringing about a greater exchange of ideas, improved group performance, and new insights and perspectives–was found to have a strong, positive association with firm performance.[11]

Diversity enhances organizational performance
A McKinsey study examined differences between leadership behaviors based on gender and looked at behaviors that positively affect organizational performance. The study found that the leadership behaviors more frequently exhibited by women improve organizational performance by strengthening three dimensions:

• Accountability (via expectations and rewards behaviors)
• Leadership team (via role model and people development behaviors)
• Work environment and values (via people development and participative decision making behaviors)

In contrast, leadership behaviors frequently exhibited by men strengthen other dimensions:

• Coordination and control (via control and corrective action)
• External orientation (via individualistic decision making)[12]

Female directors were also found to have better attendance records than male directors, male directors have better attendance on more gender-diverse boards, and women are more likely than men to join monitoring committees.[13]

Having both men and women on a board ensures a more balanced set of skills and behaviors to govern the organization.

Diversity breeds innovation
Diversity is tied to stronger problem solving and creativity. The London Business School found that innovation improves with gender mix, peaking when there is close to a 50:50 proportion of men and women on teams.[14]

The sentiment that diversity benefits innovation is shared by key thought leaders: Alan Lafley, the former CEO of Procter & Gamble, said “Diverse organizations will out-think, out-innovate and outperform a homogeneous organization every single time.”[15]

Diversity brings you closer to your customers
Consider another reason to prioritize board diversity, this time from the perspective of effectively catering to your customers. Many companies serve audiences of myriad ethnicities, nationalities, cultures, languages, and genders. Yet, company boards don’t always represent the customer base they serve, despite the fact that a board’s primary mission is to understand its customer base to build the business.[16]

Simply put, how can we expect to serve our customers if we can’t relate to them?

AutoNation, the largest auto retailer ($4.6B market cap) in the US, recently added to its board Alison Rosenthal, a woman with experience in social, growth, international, and mobile. Mike Maroone, AutoNation’s President and COO, said “We looked at our board [and realized] it’s male dominated, while women make over 50 percent of the purchasing decisions in our business.”

Also, consider LuluLemon, which recently added Facebook local and mobile executive Emily White to its board. Christine Day, CEO of LuluLemon, stated “We wanted a board member who understands how our target guest thinks, is a leader in the world of digital innovation and social, and understands steep growth. Emily is part of a new generation that is going to change the game.”[17]

John Donohoe, CEO of Ebay, who added Facebook product marketing exec Katie Mitic to their board, stated “We were looking to add people who understand the web of the future and our consumer (50 percent of whom are women), and who are product and tech savvy.”[18]

And when I asked Deborah Ellinger, CEO of The Princeton Review, for her thoughts on gender diversity, she said “There is no question that having a woman on board helps, especially in companies where the customers are predominantly women. We see things from a different angle, and therefore are able to provide a very different perspective.”

Recent Asian examples of female leaders who bring a different perspective to corporate boards include Wei Christianson, CEO and managing director of Morgan Stanley, on the board of Estee Lauder; Ying Yeh, vice president and chairman of Nalco, on the board of ABB/Volvo; and Jennifer Li, CFO of Baidu, on the board of Philip Morris.

Diversity aids recruiting
Finally, don’t forget about board diversity’s impact on a company’s ability to attract talent. Over half of university graduates worldwide are women, which represents a significant future talent pool for businesses everywhere. To attract these graduates, you’ll need some recruiting firepower on your board for your outreach efforts.

In a recent New York Times profile of Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and the first woman on Facebook’s board of directors, one industry professional referred to Sheryl as “radioactive plutonium when it comes to a recruiting weapon within Facebook,” saying “Young women really want to be her and learn from her.”[19] Imagine the recruiting benefits of having someone on your company’s board who’s surrounded by that much magic.

Women on a board can be also be role models for current employees, serving as real-life examples that women can succeed at the highest levels of a company and industry. In a recent gender diversity survey of 13 large companies in Asia, one respondent said: “Women in high positions encourage junior women. It shows by example that there is an opportunity. I am the first female director to take such a position… In Japan, when hiring new employees at an organisation job fair, this can increase the number of female candidates. It gives a good public image.”[20]

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO DIVERSIFY BOARDS?
Designing and improving diversity programs at the board level can take shape in any number of ways. While there’s no single solution to the problem, there are no boundaries, either. That means we can all look to our teams, partners, peers–even our governments–for guidance. We can embrace the opportunity to rely on our own creativity in making the right changes for our companies. And we can take cues from other pioneers in the industry who are well on their way to enviable levels of diversity on their boards.

1. Create motivation
Governments can set legally binding quotas for the proportion of women on corporate boards. For example, because of a quota implemented in Norway ten years ago, women sit on 40 percent of boards there today.[21] This success lead the European commission to draft a proposal to force Europe’s listed companies to reserve at least 40 per cent of their non-executive director board seats for women by 2020 or face fines and other sanctions[22].

The mere threat of quotas can also bring about change. For example, in the year that the French government introduced, but didn’t yet pass, a quota for women on boards, companies in France doubled their female representation on boards.

Instead of forcing quotas, Malaysia opted to use a shared goal among companies as a source of national inspiration (Corporate Governance Blueprint 2011), setting a target of 30 percent of women directors on boards.[23]

This is similar to the policy instituted in 2004 to increase women in the ranks of civil service, which resulted in the ratio of women in senior leadership roles there rising steadily from 18.8%  to 32.3%  in 2010.[24]
Companies should consider other motivating factors unique to their situations. For example, in Japan–which has one of the lowest female labour participation rates among OECD countries–the labor force is predicted to shrink by 15 percent between 2010 and 2030, threatening GDP growth. Women can help fill this gap.

High-visibility industry experts or persons of authority can also help create urgency around gender diversity simply by calling attention to it as a critical component of corporate governance. This approach has been used in Singapore. Magnus Böcker, CEO of Singapore Exchange Ltd. has said “It is imperative for boards to comprise an appropriate mix of skills and mindsets. Our listed companies are encouraged to review their Boards’ composition and balance of gender diversity, to meet the increasing demands from investors on good governance and corporate sustainability.”[25]

2. Plan for succession

Let’s assume a company has prioritized gender diversity at the board level, or is looking to replace or add members. How does that company create a pipeline for the next generation of female directors?

Many regions around the world are already making strides toward finding, recruiting, and nurturing female candidates for future board positions. For example, the European Business Schools and Senior Executive Women recently launched a call to action for business schools to identify and promote female senior leadership, enable professional networking for women, increase the inflow of women to business schools, and tailor curricula to prepare female candidates. Following the call to action, a growing list of “board ready” women–7,000 as of June 2012– highlights the enormous female director candidate pool for European (and global) corporations.[26]

In the US, the Forté Foundation, a group of 39 business schools, asked its member schools to identify at least five potential women to serve as corporate board members. The foundation will partner with other groups to expand the list, with a goal to produce a pool of roughly 165 board ready women. Last, Forté will offer assessment tools and education to prepare women for potential board positions in the future.[27]

In Australia, the Australian Institute of Company Directors has developed a wide range of initiatives to increase the pipeline of women on boards and in senior management positions, including recommendations for boards to report on diversity policies and goals for senior management; transparency in board selection processes; and a database for current and aspiring women directors.[28]

The Singapore Institute of Directors has created a site where women can post their interest in serving on boards. To make further strides locally, perhaps the SID can initiate its own programs with business schools and women’s networks in a similar fashion to the European and US efforts above. The need for urgent action in Singapore is clear: it will take 158 more board seats held by women to reach 10% female representation on SGX boards.[29]

With the new corporate governance code in Singapore, the definition of an independent director is now more strict. As a result, companies will need to hire new independent directors, which represents a great opportunity for boards to consider female candidates.

3. Be creative
I challenge all of us to think more creatively about how to find and develop potential female director candidates: Within our own companies, can we pilot programs where women can serve on internal committees or subsidiary boards? How about grooming mid- and top-level executives for board positions early on? For example, the Australian Institute of Company Directors developed the Chairmen’s Mentoring Program, where leading chairmen and experienced directors of ASX 200 companies provide personal guidance to aspiring female directors over the course of a year, share their knowledge of governance issues, and help mentees build their professional networks.

To complement our internal activities, can we also look externally and consider sourcing director talent from outside our industry? For example, Google’s board of directors includes Shirley M. Tilghman, president of Princeton University, and Ann Mather, who has a varied background in media, finance, and computer animation.

THE GOAL: A FULLER, RICHER BOARD TO DRIVE COMPANY SUCCESS
As, Susan Wojcicki, a member of Google’s senior management team, said: “With stiff competition and fast product cycles, there’s not enough room to be gender-biased. What matters is being able to show product innovation and growth.”[30]

I look forward to seeing more global companies proactively harness the contributions of both men and women at the highest levels of their organizations. Until that point, however, we need to revolutionize our thinking around corporate boards and aggressively seek out the diversity in leadership that will make our businesses thrive.

Susan Stautberg

The issue of diversity on corporate boards is gaining interest globally – with countries such as Malaysia implementing quotas – but male and female directors around the world disagree on how to best address the lack of women in the boardroom.

In the newly released global 2012 Board of Directors Survey – conducted by WomenCorporateDirectors (WCD), Heidrick & Struggles, and Harvard Business School Professor Boris Groysberg – men and women corporate directors reported similar viewpoints on most strategic priorities, but not on diversity.  Just over half the women directors believe that quotas are an effective tool for increasing diversity in the boardroom, but only 25% of men agreed.

The survey elicited responses from 1,067 directors in 58 countries, including several in Asia, and is the largest and most global survey the group has facilitated. 

When asked to rank the most effective ways to build diverse corporate boards, women directors cited “board leadership serving as champions of board diversity” as the #1 factor. Men in the survey ranked this equally with “developing a pipeline through director advocacy, mentorship, and training.”

“Women tend to put the responsibility squarely on board leadership, while men see it as both a pipeline and a leadership issue,” said Henrietta H. Fore, Global Co-Chair of WCD and of the Asia Society Board of Trustees. “Women view the board chairs, lead directors, and nominating committee chairs as the real change agents in building a diverse boardroom.”

As the largest global organization of women corporate directors – with new chapters opening in Japan, and soon the Philippines, and South Korea – WCD sees board leadership as the instrumental force in making their boards more diverse. The group promotes its “Call to Action” to business leaders – a series of action steps that includes roles for various stakeholders, including:   

• Search firms and nominating committees. Similar to the National Football League’s “Rooney’s Rule” (which ensures that an African-American coach is considered in each coach search), these groups should ensure that every director slate includes at least one woman.
• Academic institutions, research groups and the media. More research and resources should be focused on the business case and business issues around board diversity.
• Investors and shareholders. Prudent investors should demand that their boards select the best board members, period, and not just those who are best friends with the CEO.
• CEOs. But diversity-friendly CEOs are also a powerful force for change. At Campbell’s Soup, then-CEO Doug Conant became an active sponsor for an exceptionally talented executive in his ranks who he knew had what it took to lead the company. Today, that person, Denise Morrison, is CEO and director. At DuPont, Chad Holliday championed Ellen Kullman, who now serves as the company’s CEO and chairman of the board.

In addition to the “Call to Action,” WomenCorporateDirectors has also launched their Global Nominating Commission to provide guidance for boosting the number of women on boards of the Fortune 500, FTSE 100, Nikkei 225, and other corporate groups in Asia and throughout the world. Through databases and other resources, such initiatives can help make sure that companies know how to find diverse talent and will compile the best approaches for supporting diverse board recruitment.

Other tactics that are being employed globally – most particularly regulatory quotas mandating certain percentages of women on boards – are finding a much more mixed reaction among directors.

While women directors are more sympathetic than men to the idea of quotas, the whole topic of regulation in general is one that concerns male and female directors across the board. According to the Board Survey’s U.S. respondents, the threat of increasing regulations on top of those already levied since the start of the global financial crisis is seen as the biggest obstacle to achieving strategic objectives. Both men and women directors in the U.S. cited the “regulatory environment” as the top challenge for their companies, followed closely by the need to “attract and retain top talent.” Directors outside the U.S. named regulatory environment and talent concerns equally.

Rather than a regulatory solution, the individualized needs of different companies demand a complex and more nuanced set of tools to improve diverse representation in the boardroom — including the advocacy of many different layers of stakeholders.

Enlisting more women directors is part of a larger effort, in fact, to increase board diversity across many levels. Global companies today require governance informed by the kind of diversity that isn’t easily addressed by quotas. This calls for different cultures within boardrooms and for different skill sets, experiences and ideas from directors.

Within a company, leadership can insure that there are women and other diverse candidates with the ability to achieve success.  They can identify talent and make sure that these individuals are visible to senior management and to outside networks.  Pipeline arguments can be mitigated as talent is identified and celebrated, and as channels through various networks to the boardroom become more open to these candidates.

Social and historical realities may call for governments in certain parts of the world to take a more active role in pushing private enterprise to adopt a more equitable gender balance, as was the case with new mandates introduced last year in Malaysia. But elsewhere, a nuanced and pragmatic approach makes more sense.

An internal mandate and business case for diverse leadership in governance allows for an organic change to occur without regulation and c-level management can contribute to this by finding senior diversity candidates and helping to open networks to the boardroom through the leadership of their companies.

Susan Schiffer Stautberg is the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of WomenCorporateDirectors (WCD), the only global membership organization and community of Women Corporate Directors.