This
is the ambitious goal of the Kellogg
Center for Executive Women, which provides critical education,
research and resources for women to achieve top leadership
roles in business.
With
only eight women occupying CEO positions in Fortune 500 companies
as of January 2005 and just 13.6 percent of corporate director
seats belonging to women (1),
there is much to be done to bring parity to this landscape.
And Kellogg is leading the way.
For starters,
one of those eight CEOs — Brenda Barnes of Sara Lee
Corp. — serves on the Center's prestigious steering
committee, which includes a raft of other talent such as Margery
Kraus, president and CEO of APCO Worldwide and one of Fast
Company's 25 "Top Women Business Builders" for 2005; Ginger
Graham, president and CEO of Amylin Pharmaceuticals; and Betsy
Holden '82, former co-CEO of Kraft Foods.
Kellogg
is distinguishing itself among its peers not only by describing
the challenges confronting executive women, but also by making
tangible progress in delivering solutions to those challenges,
says the Center's director, Professor Victoria
Husted Medvec.
"The Center
for Executive Women says we at Kellogg believe so strongly
that women should be half the work force and play huge roles
in corporations that we are committed to changing the corporate
landscape," says Medvec, the Adeline Barry Davee Professor
of Management and Organizations. "No other institution has
this; the Center is a real differentiator for Kellogg."
Tools,
such as a database of qualified female directors, permit the
Center to promote outstanding executive women for governance
roles, Medvec says. "We offer this information to CEOs, nominating
committees and search firms. We have some amazing women who
have gotten onto corporate boards through our program and
we encourage companies who don't have any women on their board
to contact us."
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| 1
According to Catalyst, a leading research and advisory
organization working to advance women in business.
The figure ranks women's presence among the boards
of the largest 500 U.S. firms. |
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The four-year-old
Center, with its research based insights, practical strategies
for success, and a powerful network of executive women, is one
way Kellogg works to ensure that all its students have the opportunity
to develop their full potential. Other important efforts, such
as the student-driven Women's Business Association and the Executive
MBA program's Alumni Leadership Group, also complement the Kellogg
School's overall culture of inclusion. The
following stories detail some of the Center's valuable contributions,
including its outstanding programming. — MG
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