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State Street Global Advisors (SSGA)—the world’s third-largest asset manager—has installed a bronze statue of a girl defiantly facing Wall Street’s famous charging bull in downtown Manhattan.
Unveiled the morning before International Women’s Day, the statue is part of the SSGA’s campaign to increase the number of women on boards. A plaque in front of the new addition states, “Know the Power of Women in Leadership.”
“Today, we are calling on companies to take concrete steps to increase gender diversity on their boards and have issued clear guidance to help them begin to take action,” said Ron O’Hanley, CEO of SSGA, in a statement.
The firm is taking concrete steps to help drive gender parity on company boards in which it owns a stake.
“SSGA today issues guidelines to drive greater board gender diversity through active dialogue and engagement with company and board leadership,” said the asset manager in the statement. “In the event that a company fails to take action to increase the number of women on its board, SSGA will use proxy voting power to influence change – voting against the chair of the board’s nominating and/or governance committee if necessary.”
SSGA’s campaign sheds light on the gender gap in the workplace, especially in the boardroom and C-suite, and actively works toward eliminating these imbalances. This accountability is great to see and the awareness that the company has created is spectacular. We hope to see companies follow this initiative and take on the responsibility of eliminating the gender gap.
The temporary statue has a permit allowing it to remain for a week, which the firm is working to extend to a month.