Spencer Stuart reception celebrates the placement of 1,000 women in corporate boards around the world

Former Secretary of State Clinton joins event highlighting the contributions of female directors

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Jun 06, 2013, 06:00 ET

NEW YORK, June 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Senior executive search consulting firm Spencer Stuart today celebrated having helped place 1,000 female directors to corporate boards with a reception in New York, joined by many of the women executives the firm helped bring to the boardroom and featuring remarks by Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. In addition to acknowledging the milestone Spencer Stuart reached in January, the event is intended to highlight the contributions of women in the boardroom and spark additional momentum behind the advancement of women in leadership.

"Having helped place 1,000 accomplished female executives on corporate boards worldwide is a noteworthy achievement, and one we are very proud of," said Julie Hembrock Daum, co-leader of Spencer Stuart's North American Board & CEO Practice. "However, I think all of us who care about corporate governance and board performance believe that we collectively have much more work to do to increase the representation of women on boards and senior leadership teams, both here and around the world."

After making significant strides in the past 30 years, women's progress in corporate boardrooms and executive suites seems to have slowed.

Women represented 17 percent of all S&P 500 boards directors in 2012 — an increase of just 1 percent from five years earlier.
Nine percent of the S&P 500 companies still have no female directors.
Twenty of the S&P 500 CEOs in 2012 were women, just 4 percent of the total.
While progress seems to have stagnated in the U.S., the representation of women on boards has grown significantly in several European countries that have made board diversity a priority. Norway, Finland, Sweden, France, Denmark and the Netherlands all surpass the U.S. in female representation on boards.

Former Secretary of State Clinton, who has been a trailblazer for women throughout her career, delivered keynote remarks at the reception.

The premier firm for board counsel and recruitment, Spencer Stuart conducts well over half of all director assignments handled through executive search. For more than 25 years, the Board Practice has helped boards around the world identify and recruit independent directors and provided advice to chairmen, CEOs and nominating committees on important governance issues. In the past year alone, the firm conducted more than 400 director searches. In early 2013, the firm reached an important milestone — the placement of 1,000 women on corporate boards around the world.

About Spencer Stuart
Spencer Stuart is one of the world's leading executive search consulting firms. Privately held since 1956, Spencer Stuart applies its extensive knowledge of industries, functions and talent to advise select clients — ranging from major multinationals to emerging companies to nonprofit organizations — and address their leadership requirements. Through 54 offices in 29 countries and a broad range of practice groups, Spencer Stuart consultants focus on senior-level executive search, board director appointments, succession planning and in-depth senior executive management assessments. For more information on Spencer Stuart, please visit www.spencerstuart.com.

SOURCE Spencer Stuart