Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration recruited executives from nearly two-dozen major companies to serve on a panel meant to address the needs of women and girls.
The so-called Corporate Leadership Circle, a collection of 22 executives of companies from Aetna to XPO Logistics, will be tasked with advancing the goals of the Governor’s Council on Women and Girls. Lamont created the Council early this year as a body that would provide a coordinated response to issues impacting women and girls in the state.
“Connecticut has an incredibly diverse collection of businesses representing so many sectors, and I am particularly pleased that an overwhelming number of them have agreed to work with us,” Lamont said in a statement.
The move is the latest example of Lamont, a former cable television entrepreneur, ingratiating his administration with the business community.
In February, Lamont appointed former Goldman Sachs partner David Lehman to lead the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development, and selected former Pepsi chief executive Indra Nooyi and former Webster Bank CEO Jim Smith to run an expanded Connecticut Economic Resource Center.
Last week, Lehman was on hand to cheer technology firm GalaxE.Solutions Inc.’s “Outsource to Hartford” initiative, in which the Cigna vendor will establish an innovation center that CEO Tim Bryan said will employ hundreds.
In a statement, General Dynamics Electric Boat Vice President Elicia Spearman, a member of the Corporate Leadership Circle, said women’s education is of particular concern to her company.
“We are looking for the next generation of engineers and technical experts and skilled tradespeople,” Spearman’s statement said. “We believe that investments in programs and partnerships can help broaden opportunities in these and other STEM fields for women.”
