PNC Honored with Board Diversity Award

October 23, 2019 /3BL Media/ - One-fifth of seats on a broad swath of public-company boards are now held by women, up from 19% earlier this year and 15% since Equilar Inc., a governance-data firm, began tracking the measure in late 2016. So, while 20% represents progress, it's still a long way from equality.

DirectWomen is a national nonprofit that works to increase the representation of women lawyers on corporate boards. At its annual Sandra Day O'Connor Board Excellence Award luncheon this year, the organization presented its 2019 Board Diversity Award to PNC for illustrating a strong commitment to diversity in our boardroom, C-suite and across the company.

"PNC's board includes four women directors, one of whom holds a law degree," DirectWomen said of the selection. "Three of 10 members of PNC's executive team are also women, [demonstrating] PNC's recognition of the value women bring to its leadership team."

Vicki Henn, PNC's chief Human Resources officer, accepted the award on behalf of PNC and our board.

"Let me start by thanking DirectWomen — not only for this award, but for the role you play in the effort to seat more highly qualified women on corporate boards across the country," Henn said. "Having diverse perspectives and leaders with diverse experiences on corporate boards has never been more important."

As an HR leader, Henn said she's very aware of how board members' decisions affect the careers and lives of PNC's 53,000 employees, as well as our customers, communities and shareholders. That's why PNC has worked hard over the past decade to bring more diversity to our board, where women are now fully one-third of our independent directors and there are more people of color than at any point in our company's history.

"They are deeply involved in and committed to our efforts around diversity and inclusion as part of our broader talent strategy," Henn said. "This is about so much more than just moving the numbers when it comes to diverse representation at the board level. It's about creating better-performing companies, which means better opportunities and more security for workers; healthier, more prosperous communities; and a stronger national economy."

As PNC's board has evolved, there are also more women on our Executive Committee, among our regional presidents and holding other senior leadership positions throughout the company. We're also committed to being a vocal leader with other organizations in raising awareness of the importance of diversity within company workforces and boards.

"PNC is very proud to accept this award on behalf of our board and all of our employees as recognition of the progress we are making as an organization," Henn said. "We also take seriously the platform it gives us to talk about the importance of these issues, in our boardroom and beyond."