2018 Catalyst Award Winners Receive Honors

Last month, Catalyst, a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding opportunities for women and business, honored recipients of the 2018 Catalyst Award at its annual awards conference and dinner in New York City.

For more than 30 years, Catalyst has recognized innovative initiatives that accelerate progress for women. This year, The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), IBM, Nationwide, and Northrop Grumman Corporation (Northrop Grumman) are winners of the Catalyst Award.
This year’s award-winning initiatives include:

• The Boston Consulting Group—“Women @ BCG.” This initiative has increased the number of women in senior leadership roles and created a more effective work environment. It has been successful by targeting consulting staff at all levels through five pillars: recruiting and hiring, talent development and mentoring, work-life and flexibility, awareness and affiliation, and external engagement. Importantly, partners and other senior leaders are highly engaged and accountable for many aspects of the initiative.
• IBM—“Leading the Cognitive Era Powered by the Global Advancement of Women.” Since launching in 2012 – during the appointment of its CEO, Ginni Rometty, and in the midst of global transformation – IBM’s global diversity and inclusion initiative has strategically and purposefully focused on technical women’s career development and advancement. HR and global business leaders partner to drive IBM’s diversity and inclusion goals by attracting and recruiting diverse talent, prioritizing leadership development and talent discussions, and engaging as a good corporate citizen.
• Nationwide—“Our Associates’ Success Drives Business Success.” This initiative is a comprehensive framework of programs enabled by strong senior level and board sponsorship resulting in increased associate-level engagement as well as better inclusion scores year over year, aligning with steady business growth. Women at all leadership levels – and in particular women of color – have achieved success as the result of the initiative’s strategic and intentional efforts to attract, accelerate, and advance the best talent while maintaining a strong focus on sustaining an inclusive workplace culture for all.
• Northrop Grumman—“Building the Best Culture, Leveraging the Power of Women.” In response to projections for increasing retirements and the lack of diversity in engineering disciplines, Northrop Grumman chose to position itself in 2010 for future growth by designing a comprehensive initiative. This effort – aiming to expand the company’s leadership pipeline with a specific requirement for diverse representation inclusive of women and people of color – has five strategic elements: leadership commitment, talent acquisition, work-life integration, employee development, and building the future pipeline.

“Thriving in a fast-changing world requires businesses to move toward more inclusive workplaces where power is shared by both women and men. It’s time for leaders to put an end to persistent gender gaps, biases, and harassment—rethinking old definitions and rejecting traditions of inequality,” said Deborah Gillis, president and CEO of Catalyst. “By celebrating some of the world’s most powerful CEOs and leading companies that are building workplaces that work for women, Catalyst is showing what diversity and inclusion programs can and should be. This year, BCG, IBM, Nationwide, and Northrop Grumman are commended for leading the change.”