Women’s History Month: A Time for Celebration and Reflection
A Reflection by NEWIEE President Joey Lee Miranda
On January 1, 2023, for the first time in history, women helmed more than 10% of the Fortune 500. While this milestone should be celebrated, it is also a stark reminder of what little progress has been made since the first woman was appointed CEO of a Fortune 500 company more than 50 years ago.
According to a 2019 S&P Global Market Intelligence study, companies with women in CEO and CFO positions perform better than their male counterparts. In fact, in the two years post-appointment, female CEOs saw a 20% increase in stock price momentum and female CFOs saw a 6% increase in profitability. Despite this, women now lead just over 10% of the Fortune 500 and Forbes reported, in October, that, after looking at the 500 largest publicly traded U.S. companies (by revenue):
- less than 16% had female CFOs; and
- less than 1% had all female CEO-CFO teams.
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we should honor the vital role that women, including members of our New England energy and environmental communities, play. However, we should also reflect upon what more can be done, not just this month but throughout the year, to ensure that, we have even more milestones to celebrate next year and it does not take another 50 years to achieve gender parity.
Joey Lee Miranda
Partner
Robinson + Cole
NEWIEE President, Director
© 2024 New England Women in Energy and the Environment (NEWIEE). NEWIEE is a non-profit, tax exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
