ATLANTA, Ga. /eNewsChannels/ — NEWS: Aligned with international calls for gender equality, a new non-profit has been created to help U.S. employees at S&P 500 companies reach the goal of 50 percent women in senior leadership positions. ShowMe50(TM) (ShowMe50.org) provides pragmatic tools individuals can use to identify and challenge gender bias inside their companies.
“Companies need more women in top leadership positions to represent the views of women employees and capture more growth from the female economy,” said ShowMe50(TM) founder Elba Pareja-Gallagher. Research from Catalyst.org and Credit Suisse shows a correlation between greater numbers of women in senior leadership and higher performance on key financial measures. Other studies show women also spur innovation.
Pareja-Gallagher decided to create the non-profit after studying why women have been left behind in corporate America. With women representing more than 50 percent of management positions in the U.S., statistics show they aren’t making the leap into the highest ranks. “The business case for women leading is strong but women continue to be grossly underrepresented,” she added.
After reviewing research and social science findings, she determined that it’s now up to employees and consumers to pressure companies to recognize inherent bias and barriers that are blocking female representation. The clarion call for her website, ShowMe50.org, is for individuals to ask their corporate executives to “show me 50” percent of women in leadership positions. The role of ShowMe50(TM) is to provide the tools and community support employees need to drive change.
ShowMe50.org features seven how-to toolkits, videos, scripted presentations and the ShowMe50(TM) Win-Win Checklist that describes best practices.
Why aren’t women ascending to the heights of senior leadership? “It’s complicated,” said Pareja-Gallagher. She has identified four major areas where barriers exist: individual beliefs and unconscious behavior, the lack of resources to tackle the issue, an internal culture that blocks women, and policies and procedures that alter gender parity.
All of these factors can generate fear among women and others who want to raise the issue, she added. The tools featured on ShowMe50.org are designed to build a strong business case for gender equality so that individuals who raise the issues are confident that their concerns are positively received by their organizations.
The tools are designed to drive awareness, influence change, build coalitions and gain senior support, Pareja-Gallagher said. “America’s corporations are sub-optimizing their workforce by failing to value women’s leadership styles and management approaches. ShowMe50.org is dedicated to addressing the gap.”
About ShowMe50:
Show Me 50 Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) corporation whose mission is to provide a platform to engage individuals in actions that level the playing field for women at work. ShowMe50.org encourages individuals to actively collaborate with their companies to inform and implement a culture of gender equality that leads to an achievement of 50 percent women in senior leadership positions. The seven ShowMe50(TM) action toolkits, scripted presentations and the ShowMe50(TM) Win-Win Checklist create the foundation to build a pragmatic self-directed grassroots institutional change movement. Learn more at: http://www.ShowMe50.org/ .
* VIDEO: ShowMe50 Countdown to 50 percent video on You Tube: https://youtu.be/VR7gwIbTsBo .
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