Several major Connecticut-based companies have pledged to bring more women into corporate leadership roles with the goal of reaching “gender parity” in those positions by 2030.
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz announced that Trinity Health of New England, Hartford HealthCare, Yale New Haven Health System, Avangrid, Otis Elevator Co. and Hubbell are working toward the new goal in partnership with Paradigm for Parity, a coalition of business executives, board members and academics that helps companies accelerate gender equity-focused changes in senior leadership posts.
The Jackson Laboratory, which is headquartered in Maine but has a research location in Farmington, and New York-based Pfizer have also signed on, Bysiewicz said.
“These companies have a large presence in our state, and today is a critical step as we continue to facilitate and encourage gender equity in our workforce, including meeting our goals of elevating women into leadership positions,” the lieutenant governor said.
Paradigm for Parity says its short-term goal is to help companies ensure that women hold at least 30% of senior roles. The ultimate goal is to reach 50% by 2030.
The organization’s five-point plan calls for companies to institute unconscious bias training; ramp up the number of women moved into senior operating roles; measure progress toward the 50/50 mark; pair women with “sponsors” who can help guide them through their careers; and give men and women flexibility and “control over where and how they work, whenever workable.”
Ten major employers either based in Connecticut or with significant operations in the state signed the parity pledge back in March 2020: Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Cigna, Aetna parent company CVS Health, Eversource Energy, Frontier Communications, KeyCorp/KeyBank, Stanley Black and Decker, Synchrony Financial, The Hartford and UTC.
