Lehman Brothers Needed a Few Sisters

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012

One of the most inspiring speakers during the opening session of SOCAP 12, an annual event that brings together investors, philanthropists, nonprofits, and social entrepreneurs, was Jackie VanderBrug. She talked about gender gaps that still exist within the U.S. as well as abroad. I was staggered by some of the statistics she was throwing around.

For instance, companies lead by women outperform their competitors by a significant margin, and companies with at least three women board members are more profitable than their peers. One of her interesting tidbits was that a CEO who has his first daughter is much more likely to implement gender equality pay scale. She then closed with a comment that went something like: “It’s too bad the Lehman Brothers didn't have more sisters!”

I next attended a workshop on the “gender lens” movement in order to dig into the issue and connect with others who shared the belief that gender equality is as much about the bottom line as it a social cause. I immediately realized this group of people was on a different level than the rest of the conference.

Instead of having the “experts” sitting at a table spouting philosophical truths to the audience, these panelists sat with the audience at tables. This meant wherever you sat, you were in a small group of about six people, one of whom was a major influencer in the gender lens movement.

My group discussed the concept of scoring a company for gender equality the same way companies are rated for things like environmental impact. We were given a sheet that looked something like a magazine cover page, and were asked to condense our discussion into headlines, quotes, and metrics. It was a great way to distill the conversation down to actionable items.

Even though I was one of only a few men in the room, I felt totally welcomed, and more importantly, inspired by this workshop on gender equality. In a conference that involved continuously mind-blowing ideas and heartfelt inspirations, this topic and session was a clear stand out. If you want to get involved please visit: www.criterioninstitute.org. Also, the twitter hashtag we were using during the conference is #genderlensinv (gender lens investment). -Will

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