What's New?
FTSE 100 Cross-Company Mentoring Programme Goes from Strength to Strength
Brook Graham runs the FTSE 100 Cross-Company mentoring programme in partnership with, and on behalf of, Praesta Partners. The aim of the programme is to broaden further the feeder pool of directors in line with the recommendations of both the Higgs and Tyson reports. The basis of the programme is for the chairman or CEO of a FTSE 100 company to mentor a woman in the so-called "marzipan layer" (i.e. just below main board) of another top company. The objective is to help the women mentees, (via the provision of advice and guidance), to manage their careers so that they can attain a non-executive or executive director role in a FTSE 100 company. At its inception in 2004 there were eight mentoring pairs. By June 2008, this had grown to 30 mentoring pairings.
The careers of many of the mentees have developed significantly during or after their mentoring. Six have been appointed to the executive committees of their own companies as group executive directors; and two of them now sit on their companies' main boards. Several have been promoted to important international positions. One mentee has taken a lateral move from a functional role to global operations director, thereby gaining more relevant experience for a board position. One has been appointed a NED of the UK's University for Industry, another is now CEO of an independent media group, a third has been appointed to the regional board of a national charity, a fourth has been appointed to the board of the Department of Work and Pensions, and a fifth to the board of an NHS Trust. Three mentees have been appointed as NEDs to the boards of major UK companies.
A similar programme has now been launched in France and we continue to work with Praesta to advise other countries who are considering starting their own programmes. An international colloquium was held at the London Stock Exchange in May 2008 in order to share learning with representatives from other countries on the challenges of and solutions for getting more gender diversity on boards. We continue to be delighted with the way in which the Programme is developing and contributing to change.
The Diversity Game-UK Edition
Our Diversity board game, launched by Brook Graham Products Limited in 2007, is attracting interest in both the private and public sectors. We're delighted to be able to add this innovative and flexible development tool to our client offerings; in our experience organisations are constantly looking for new and interesting ways to raise awareness about D&I, and engage people about the many issues and challenges it creates, especially in the workplace. We're pleased that The Diversity Game is proving to be a very effective additional tool in the diversity development "kit bag".
To find out more, please go to Products and Services. For more information, please see our Products and
Services.
Cross-Company Executive Women's Consortium
The highly acclaimed Executive Women's Consortium run by Brook Graham is in its third year and we were delighted that in addition to Thomson Reuters, BP, O2, HSBC and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, we were joined by two senior executive women from Unilever to explore the topic "The challenge of authentic leadership in a world of ever more rapid change". The participants (all senior women in their respective organisations) considered what is meant by "authentic leadership" inside large complex organisations and how authenticity contributes to delivering results effectively. We explored the strategies that can be employed to maintain authenticity, and what the costs are of not being authentic.
We were privileged that the FCO hosted the 1.5 day event in the impressive surroundings of Lancaster House and that we were joined for dinner in the evening by the Rt. Hon Meg Munn, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Our guest speaker on Day 1 was Danuta Gray, Chief Executive Officer, O2 Communications (Ireland) Ltd. The women attendees comprised a wide variety of nationalities: American, Canadian, Spanish, British, French and South African.
Their feedback included:
It was a great opportunity to discuss this topic in the context of a mix of private sector companies and the public sector.
It was incredibly empowering and interesting – “I enjoyed the cross-fertilisation of ideas. Maybe there’s room for even more participation from the public sector e.g. teachers, medical profession”.
If you or your company is interested in exploring current business topics in the context of an all-female executive group then please do contact us on: info@brookgraham.com
Charitable Donations and Sponsorship
The Festive Season 2008 - Sight Savers International
This year, instead of sending out our usual small forest-worth of cards, we have decided to mark the festive season by making a donation to Sight Savers International, an organisation which works to combat blindness in many parts of the developing world. Sight Savers transforms the lives of many thousands of people every year, and we are delighted to be able to play a small part in supporting their work.
We wish all our clients, suppliers and friends a healthy and prosperous 2009!
Sense International
This year we were delighted to support Sense International by co-sponsoring a member of a horse-trekking team on a fund-raising expedition to Romania.
Through education and support services, Sense International helps deafblind people in the developing world to communicate, connect, interact and flourish. We think they do hugely important work for some of the world's most disadvantaged people, and we look forward to continuing to be part of their extended network of supporters.
You can find more information about their work at: www.senseinternational.org
"Letts Party in the Park" in Aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, July 2007
We were delighted to join many other sponsors to support this wonderful event in the grounds of Letts Green House, Knockholt, Kent to raise funds for Breakthrough Breast Cancer. The day resulted from the inspiration and hard work of the family of Julie Wheeler, who died after a long battle with breast cancer in 2007. The hundreds of people who came along to enjoy the music, air display and fireworks raised over £30,000 for Breakthrough, the UK's leading Breast Cancer charity.
Monte Carlo or Bust!
In 2006, we were very pleased to co-sponsor a fundraising cycle
ride which saw a brave (mad?) team of cyclists pedal their way from the
Bank of England to the Casino in Monte Carlo, raising £28,000 for
Cancer Research.
Jacey and Lesley did the easy bit of posing for a photo at the start! We were with them in spirit every mile of the way!