FROM 30% CLUB A new collaboration between the 30% Club and S4S to help progress diversity from the schoolroom to the boardroom
The 30% Club’s new partnership with Speakers for Schools launches today with a debate on the theme of “Equality Across the Board”, as a start to a campaign to encourage the ambitions and talent of young girls as the next generation of female leaders. Helena Morrissey, CEO of Newton Investment Management and Founder of The 30% Club will moderate a discussion between Sir Roger Carr, Douglas Flint, Sir Nicholas Montagu (Chairman, Financial Ombudsman Service) and Fiona Dunsire (Mercer UK) and the Head Boy, Samuel Wilson, and Head Girl, Sara Sadek-Attalla, of the St Angela’s Ursuline School in Newham.
The 30% Club’s collaboration with Speakers for Schools, a charity that organises free talks from eminent professionals and academics for state secondary schools and colleges, will begin with a fortnight of talks from top business leaders, encouraging girls to see their potential in leadership positions. A host of leading industry executives will deliver a series of talks on the theme of ‘Equality Across the Board’ to teenagers help encourage and make them aware that opportunities and workplaces are changing, especially for women, and gender should not prevent them from fulfilling their aspirations.
This programme further develops the 30% Club’s ‘Schoolroom to Boardroom’ campaign, which aims to support young women prior to starting their career. The scheme will also bridge the gap between other 30% Club initiatives aimed at female professionals, such as those with Henley, London and Saïd Business Schools to provide executive educations scholarships.
So far 22 industry leaders have confirmed they will be supporting this school campaign, including: Sir Roger Carr, Chairman of BAE Systems; Sir Peter Gershon, Chairman of Tate & Lyle; Robert Swannell, Chairman of Marks & Spencer; Ian Powell, Chairman of PwC; Steven Lovegrove, Permanent Secretary for DECC; Sir John Parker, Chairman of Anglo American PLC; Baroness (Mary) Goudie and Helena Morrissey, CEO of Newton Investment Management.
Helena Morrissey CBE, Founder of the 30% Club commented: “The 30% Club is proud to be teaming up with Speakers for Schools to encourage all young students to believe that leadership positons in business are achievable and that their potential is limitless. I am excited about the prospect of extending the 30% Club’s influence across women at all stages of their lives, whether they be ten years into their career or in this case, still in education. To make gender diversity sustainable – and the norm – we need a continuum of change, from schoolroom to boardroom.”
Robert Peston, BBC Economics Editor and founder of Speakers for Schools said: “It is vitally important both that young women aim for the top, including sitting on the boards of our biggest businesses, and that young men understand how pernicious it is that women are so under-represented among those who run our most important and powerful institutions. The cost to the economy – to us – of female talent being squandered is huge. Which is why Speakers for Schools is so thrilled to be in partnership with the 30% Club to make sure young people understand they should not tolerate any barriers to their success based on gender.”