Grant Thornton named one of the 2020 “Top 70 Companies for Executive Women” by the National Association for Female Executives

CHICAGO — Grant Thornton LLP has been named one of the 2020 “Top 70 Companies for Executive Women” by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE). This marks the ninth year Grant Thornton has been named to the list.

The list recognizes U.S. companies with a strong focus on best practices that move women to senior ranks, including in the areas of mentoring, sponsorship, involvement in employee-resource groups and leadership-development training. The list also highlights company benefits and corporate cultures of accountability for gender-equity results, including the involvement of the CEO and top leaders in advancing women. The NAFE Top 70 Companies is featured in the April/May issue of Working Mother.

“Grant Thornton has long been committed to implementing strategies and providing visibility opportunities and flexible benefits to build on a culture that attracts and retains top female talent,” said Rashada Whitehead, Grant Thornton’s head of culture, diversity and inclusion. “We’re honored to be recognized again by the National Association for Female Executives for our inclusive efforts. We are proud of the many women that help shape our firm and our clients and teammates continually experience the benefits of their leadership.”

Referring to the S&P 500, where women remain stalled at 6 percent of CEOs, NAFE President Dr. Betty Spence said: “Our research ‘The Gender Gap at the Top: What’s Keeping Women from Leading Corporate America’ uncovered the alarming fact that men— not women—are being trained and selected for the revenue-generating positions that lead to the top job. At the NAFE Top Companies, we do report small increases in women running major operations and moving into the C-suite, and we encourage all companies to focus on gender equity in their succession planning.”

“The 2020 NAFE Top Companies continue to tell the story of what organizations are doing to move women into executive positions by communicating the value of P&L roles and ensuring equity in executive succession planning,” said Subha V. Barry, president, Working Mother Media. “However, corporate America is finally beginning to realize that there is still much work to do. There are still too few women with this experience, but the NAFE Top Companies continue to pave the way for the advancement of women.”

Highlights of the 2020 NAFE Top 70 Companies include:

• Female representation among CEOs at the NAFE Top 70 companies increased 3 percentage points to 22 percent this year, outpacing the S&P 500 at 6 percent.
• The percentage of women on the boards of directors at the NAFE Top 70 companies increased 2 points to 34 percent.
• Female executives responsible for divisions worth more than $1 billion was 38 percent, up from 26 percent last year.
• Women participating in formal one-on-one mentoring increased from 27 percent to 33 percent in the past year.

About the 2020 NAFE Top 70 Companies
The 2020 NAFE Top 70 Companies application includes more than 200 questions on topics including female representation at all levels, but especially the corporate officer and profit-and-loss leadership ranks. The application tracks and examines how many employees have access to programs and policies that promote advancement of women and how many employees take advantage of them, plus how companies train managers to help women advance. To be considered, companies must have a minimum of two women on their boards of directors, a US-based CEO and at least 1,000 US employees.

About NAFE
The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE), founded in 1972, serves members with networking, tools, and solutions to strengthen and grow their careers and businesses. Working Mother magazine publishes the annual NAFE Top Companies list. NAFE.com provides up-to-date information, a community for women in business, and access to member benefits. NAFE is a division of Working Mother Media, owned by Bonnier Corporation.

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