Ekta Mendhi Discusses New Initiative to Increase Representation of Women in Leadership Roles

Ekta Mendhi, Co-chair of WCM for Canadian Gender and Good Governance Alliance (CGGGA), spoke with Christine Bentley & Kate Wheeler on Jewel 88.5 about the newly formed alliance and what we are aiming to do.

"The problem that we are trying to solve is a big one. Women are about half of the population and a significant portion of university graduates but when you extend that upwards to corporate Canada Boards, we are about 14%. We have been stuck in a narrow range for many years now, why is this a problem? First there has been overwhelming evidence that diverse companies preform better. For their shareholders, for their consumers and their employee's, so the issue effects us all. Second, diverse companies are also known to be more innovative, for example, research has shown that companies with diverse boards tend to find more patterns. If we want to make Canada an innovation economy this matters to us all. Third, these diverse companies have been proven better at managing risk. In times of corporate or economic crisis for example, they have demonstrated better decision making and risk management. Again, if we take lessons from 2008 we are reminded that it doesn't just affect those companies, it affects us all."