Calvert Pushes Anew for Board Diversity - Building Gender Balanced Business

• The parent company of Calvert Funds filed its 50th shareholder resolution on diversity, adding to seven years of pressure from the firm on companies to add minority and/or female representation on their boards of directors.

• Calvert says that its resolutions and letters have helped lead to the appointment of 26 women or minority candidates to company boards.

• But Calvert remains in discussions with 9 companies that have yet to meet its demands.

• The company argues, “In our view, companies combining competitive financial performance with high standards of corporate governance, including board diversity, are better positioned to generate long-term value for their shareholders.”

• Aditi Mohapatra, Sustainability Analyst at Calvert Asset Management said: “It’s not enough that boards elect a token woman or minority occasionally. We would like to see them specifically incorporate race and gender into their director selection criteria and expand their searches so that every time a slate of directors is provided, qualified women and minority candidates are included.”

The Calvert news release