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• Women increase presence on state,national boards - 2003-09-22 - The Business Journal (... Page 1 of 3 The Business Journal(Minneapolis/St.Paul)-September 22,2003 http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2003/09/22/focus6.html (,41,)kfrii.V.A • 11! #E LI a St PAUL TIE S JM i IN DEPTH: LAW: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Women increase presence on state, national boards Nicole Garrison Staff Reporter When John Pillsbury Jr. asked Luella Gross Goldberg to serve on the board of Northwestern National Life Insurance Co. in 1976, it took her less than 24 hours to decide to take him up on his offer. "It was a fascinating opportunity for me," Goldberg said. In addition to the doors the position would likely open for her, Goldberg believed her work with Northwestern National could open doors for other women as well. Perhaps it has. When Goldberg joined Northwestern National only about 40 women served on the boards of Fortune 500 companies, she recalled. According to Catalyst for Women, a New York based nonprofit research and advisory organization working to advance women in business, in 2001, 12.4 percent of all directors at Fortune 500 companies were women. • "I don't think the progress has been as fast as it should be, but at least it's evolving in the right direction," Goldberg said. As of 2002, there were only six female CEOs at Fortune 500 Companies, Catalyst found. Five out of 50 Goldberg is one of five women on The Business Journal's list of the 50 Hardestworking Board Members at Minnesota public companies. While 10 percent seems small, it is considerably higher than the percentage of women serving as CEOs at Minnesota public companies. In fact, according to our Top 100 Public Companies list, only four of the CEOs at the state's largest public companies are women. Goldberg ranks 12th on the board members list. She sits on the boards of four Minnesota public companies: Communication Systems Inc. and Hector Communications Corp., both of Hector;Hormel Foods Corp. in Austin; and TCF Financial Corp. in Wayzata. She also is the first American to serve on the supervisory board for the ING Group in The Netherlands. She was the first woman to ever sit on the board of Northwestern National, TCF and Communications Systems. Goldberg also has been a director at Personnel Decisions International in Minneapolis and NRG Energy Inc. in Minneapolis, among other companies, as well as at a number of nonprofits. She was the first woman to sit on many of those boards as well. Like Goldberg,the other four women on the Hardest-working Board Members list cite personal and 0 professional development as motivation for their board involvement. "I often ask myself why I sit on three boards when I have a CEO job that is extremely timeconsuming," said http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2003/09/22/focus6.htrrll?t=printable 9/22/2003