By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

The lack of diversity on the sidelines has long been a reason for criticism. The majority of sports leadership positions are held by white men, even while players represent a diverse range of races and ethnicities. But in recent years, the National Football League has taken steps to improve their leadership diversity standing.

As Derede McAlpin writes in the Washington Post, “There exists a belief that sports is a true meritocracy where anyone with a proven ability and the right qualifications will succeed. The truth is other intangible factors greatly influence the opportunities that may come someone’s way.”

In 2003, the NFL adopted the Rooney Rule to provide more equal footing for minority coaching candidates. The Rooney Rule states that NFL teams must interview minority candidates for coaching positions. Since enacting the rule, minority leadership positions in the NFL have risen from 6% to 22%.

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By Elizabeth Harrin (London)

Lovells was the first top ten UK law firm to vote in a female managing partner, Lesley McDonagh, in 1995. Ruth Grant has just completed a three-year term as regional managing partner for London and recently assumed the role of global people development partner. The company has a strong history of promoting women so you’d expect Lovells to be at the forefront of developing schemes to support emerging female talent – and they are. This year they have set up a mentoring programme as part of their women’s network.

“We launched the mentoring programme pilot in direct response to the requests of members of the Women’s Network,” says Katherine Mulhern, partner and co-chair of the Network. “Mentoring programmes have been identified as having particular benefit for women seeking to progress internally. The objective of our pilot mentoring programme is to stimulate and progress the professional development and personal growth of women within the firm necessary to deliver sustained business growth.”

The scheme is open to all women, in both support and legal functions, and was launched this September. The plan is to run the programme for between nine and twelve months and see how it goes. “To ensure we get the best results from this programme we have invited Mairi Eastwood and Peninah Thomson from Praesta, an executive coaching and mentoring organisation, to brief our mentors on some useful mentoring frameworks and skills for effective communication,” says Mulhern. “The exact shape and flow of each mentoring assignment will be different. We asked mentees to identify any particular objectives that they wish to achieve from the mentoring programme and have sought to match them with mentors who would be best placed to assist them.”

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation recently released its list of the best companies to work for. These companies show a commitment to equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.

The companies are scored based on the HRC Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI) which considers a number of criteria, including:

• Non-discrimination policy, diversity training — sexual orientation
• Non-discrimination policy, diversity training & benefits — gender identity or expression
  Partner benefits
• LGBT employee resource group / diversity council
• Engages in appropriate and respectful advertising and marketing, or sponsors LGBT community events or organizations
• Employer exhibits responsible behavior toward the LGBT community; does not engage in action that would undermine LGBT equality

According to HRC Foundation President Joe Salomonese, companies are increasingly recognizing that LGBT equality and inclusiveness programs are vital to employee retention. Even in this year’s tough economic climate, he writes, “The number of top-rated businesses continues to climb, reaching an unprecedented 305 businesses — a net increase of 45 over last year — representing more than 9.3-million full-time employees.”

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By Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

Four law firms made the Working Mother magazine Top 100 companies this year. Considering the legal profession’s reputation, this is encouraging news.

Washington, D.C.-based Arnold & Porter is on the list for the tenth time, and the sixth consecutive year. Says Managing Partner, Richard M. Alexander, “Working mothers are a vital part of our work force. Our goal is to have programs and benefits in place to enable them to balance their professional life with the needs of raising a family.”

The firm was recognized specifically for its unique on ramping/off ramping policies. The practice lets lawyers leave for up to three years and encourages them to keep in touch via development opportunities. Arnold & Porter also offers generous flexibility and child care at its Washington headquarters and close to its Manhattan office. And, particularly relevant this winter as the H1N1 virus is expected to cause turmoil for working parents, Arnold & Palmer lets employees take six paid weeks of leave. Their strategy is clearly paying off. Forty percent of the firm’s managers, 50 percent of its top earners, and 32 percent of its directors are women.

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By Elizabeth Harrin (London)

Earlier this year Sir David Walker was asked by the UK Government to examine corporate governance in the banking industry. His consultative report was released in July and caused a stir with its far-reaching recommendations about the role of non-executive directors, the establishment of board risk committees and remuneration. There was a lot of chatter in the news about the fact that the Government was not going to adopt these recommendations. Were they too unpopular? Too wide-ranging? Too complicated? Probably a bit of all of those.

However, the final Walker report has just been issued and on 26 November the UK Government announced that they would “move quickly” to implement the necessary reforms.

What started out as a report into the state of banking was extended to cover other financial institutions, where the recommendations were applicable. It was an extensive study of what could be better, including how financial incentives for board members impact the propensity to manage risk effectively, the balance of skills, experience and independence required on boards and whether the UK approach is consistent with international practice. The overarching message throughout the report is one of poor governance practices, and Sir David is clear about the lack of control. “Serious deficiencies in prudential oversight and financial regulation in the period before the [economic] crisis were accompanied by major governance failures within banks,” he writes. “These contributed materially to excessive risk taking and to the breadth and depth of the crisis.”

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By Jacqueline Libster (New York City)

Engaging more than 80,000 employees spread out over 300 different facilities around the globe is the challenge that Suzanne Fallender, Director of Corporate Social Responsiblity Strategy and Communications at Intel faces every day. Luckily, Intel has 40 years of experience as one of the leading companies in its efforts to advance environmental sustainability and to create a better workplace.

Intel has been recognized countless times as a great place to work. It has garnered many awards and recognitions to prove it: World’s Most Innovative Companies, Most Admired Companies, Ethical Companies, Best Diversity Programs, Best Places to Launch a Career and the list goes on. How does a company like Intel improve itself year after year?

Intel’s solution is innovation. The company is constantly finding new ways to harness the power and spirit of its employees to propel its CSR efforts forward.

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By Jennifer Gonzales-Frisbie, Esq. (New York City)

Over the last year, in large law firms across the country, associates have lived in fear of losing their jobs, accepting and even seeking out longer hours at the office in the hope that if they can accumulate enough billable hours, their jobs will be spared. Unfortunately, such a practice is leading to growing dissatisfaction for all involved. Associates are worn out and resentful of their current predicament. Clients are becoming fed up with large legal bills which reflect the work of several attorneys billing a significant number of hours in order to produce a single piece of work product. Law firm partners are struggling to maintain and bring in business since clients are going in increasing numbers to smaller firms where the same legal work can be done for a lot less.

In this time of high unemployment and economic hardship, should we consider work-life balance a luxury, available only when economic times are good, and just be thankful we have jobs at all?

Although the answer from many quarters seems to be “yes”, others believe that sacrificing work-life balance is not the best strategy to surviving a tough economy. Lisa Gates, life balance coach and author of “Are You Ditching Work-Life Balance Because You’re Afraid of Losing Your Job?” explains that balancing work and personal life in a down economy is important, not just for your well-being outside of work, but to ensure you remain mentally and physically prepared to successfully carry out workplace goals and make sound decisions in your career.

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By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

US-based shoe manufacturing company Timberland has challenged governments participating in the December 7 – 18 Copenhagen climate talks with their new campaign “Don’t Tell Us It Can’t Be Done.”

The campaign includes a petition calling for “government leaders attending the United Nation’s Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen to come to an agreement on fair and binding climate legislation that clearly defines a limit for greenhouse gas emissions.” It then continues the call for both large and small businesses “to lead the way in identifying solutions to achieve those limits.”

It’s not just an empty public relations campaign. According to a Business Wire release, Timberland has “reduced its direct carbon emissions by 27% since 2006 – all while achieving cost savings.”

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By Jacqueline Libster (New York City)

Is “CleanTech” the new, hot buzzword for 2010? It’s on the lips of everyone in finance, banking, law, public policy, economics, regulatory and urban planning. CleanTech is the umbrella term for all clean forms of generating energy. It encompasses all the ways to improve efficiency and performance while reducing waste and saving money.

On December 1, the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future (WNSF) hosted a panel discussion on CleanTech for women in business, addressing CleanTech from a local, national and global perspective, and where it might go in the future.

From “Oil Addiction” to Massive CleanTech Investment

Ann Goodman, Ph.D., the Executive Director of WNSF, said in her opening remarks that we all need to look for “greener, cleaner energy offerings” to reduce waste and improve efficiency. She added that, although innovations in CleanTech can save money in the long run, there needs to be a big financial investment upfront to bring this technology to the market.

Diana Propper, a Partner at Expansion Capital Partners, LLC, a clean technology venture capital firm, was the moderator of the event. She gave an overview of how CleanTech evolved. In her opinion, it all started in earnest around 2006 when crude oil was trading at over one hundred dollars per barrel and President Bush declared that the US was “addicted” to oil. This prompted widespread oil conservation, the likes of which we had not seen since the 1970s. At this point, Propper noticed the clean energy sector “began to engage.’ Investments increased, venture capitalists and investment funds began to raise money. Between 2004 and 2006 for example, Propper said that investments in CleanTech ballooned from $33 billion to $92 billion.

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By Elizabeth Harrin (London)

Would you attend a summit called ‘Finding Your Passion and Living Your Purpose’? Plenty of female employees at AXA Equitable did. “We thought that women at AXA would benefit from working together to create opportunities to do more – for themselves and for the company,” says Barbara Goodstein, Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer at AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company. “We wanted to do something to help create a community for women at AXA. We also feel that given the financial crisis around us, this is the ideal time to connect the women in the company and create a community to support and enable each other.”

This event was the launch of The AXA Equitable Connection – the company’s new women’s programme. Approximately 63 percent of the total AXA Equitable employee population is female, and the company realised that women’s financial needs are different. “Women live longer, they often have been less involved in managing the family finances, and women historically have earned 80% of what men earn for similar jobs,” says Goodstein. “So there is a real need for financial education and support. We want to be the first company women think of when they are looking for financial information and guidance; we want to be the first company women consider when they are interested in pursuing a career in financial services.”

Through The AXA Equitable Connection female employees and financial professionals are building a community through which they can draw from their collective strength, insight and experience to enhance career growth and opportunities. The plans is that AXA Equitable will foster this community through events, mentoring relationships, employee resource groups and networking.

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