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• Women increase presence on state, national boards - 2003-09-22 - The Business Journal (... Page 3 of 3 companies, said John Stout, an officer and shareholder at Minneapolis-based Fredrikson&Byron and the president of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD)Minnesota Chapter. • "While women may not have the representation that you would expect in the CEO ranks, they are clearly gaining representation in the senior executive ranks,"he said. "Because CEOs are serving on fewer and fewer boards ... boards and search committees ... are starting to look in these ranks,too." The increase also may be proportionate to the increase in women investors, said Paul Conley, a principal with Towers Perrin, a New York-based management consulting firm. Conley cites an April 9 NACD article that found that women make up 47 percent of all U.S. investors, purchase 81 percent of all goods and services in the United States and own 38 percent of all U.S. firms. "Boards of directors exist to represent the interests of shareholders," Conley said. "When you look at 47 percent of investors being women, you understand why it is important that they serve on boards." Sarbanes-Oxley, a federal law passed last year that governs corporate disclosure, requires at least one financial expert to serve on each public company board, said Dolan. According to the April 2003 NACD article,women account for 52.1 percent of all financial managers and 58.8 percent of all auditors and accountants. "Coming up through the finance track is where women have had more success than coming up through some other tracks," Dolan said. More can be done While the number of women serving on corporate boards certainly has increased, the numbers are not quite what they need to be. • "We're 51 percent of the population, but are we 51 percent of the CEOs or board members?" Grogan asked. The answer is a resounding no, but there are efforts to change that. Female directors, including Moffitt, said they themselves are trying to encourage diversity on the boards where they serve. "[At Graco] we are always trying to build and put forward great candidates of diverse gender and race," she said. "I'm also looking to build an increasingly diverse board at my company." The Minnesota NACD chapter is working on a list of women and people of color eligible for board service to be distributed to Minnesota public and private companies. ngarrison@bizjournals.corn1 (612) 288-2112 ©2003 American City Business Journals Inc. Web reprint information All contents of this site©American City Business Journals Inc.All rights reserved s http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2003/09/22/focus6.html?t=printable 9/22/2003