The Mirvac Group has appointed Sam Mostyn and Christine Bartletts as non-executive directors, bringing its female representation on the eight-person board to 50%.
The number of women on the Mirvac board dropped to two in January this year when Marina Darling resigned. The new appointments, pushing the female representation from two or four, significantly improve the board’s gender balance.
Mirvac’s John Mulcahy has been committed to improving gender equality since his appointment as chairman. He has advocated for board quotas for promoting women in the past, saying Australian companies need to undergo a dramatic “cultural shift” towards gender equality.
“With a priority focus on gender, Mirvac’s approach to diversity demonstrates its strong commitment in supporting women entering the workforce, equity in promotion and initiatives to enhance female retention,” the company’s 2014 annual report reads.
Both Mostyn and Bartletts have long histories in the corporate sector. Mostyn is also a non-executive director at Virgin Australia, Transurban holdings and CoverMore. She is a board member of Carriageworks, the Arts Council of Australia and Australian Volunteers International. On top of this, she works at Climate Council and Climate Works Australia and sits on the advisory board for the Crawford School of Government at the Australian National University. She is the president of the Australia Council for International Development and the Deputy Chair of the Diversity Council of Australia.
Mostyn’s appointment to Mirvac will be effective in March of 2015.
Christine Bartlett is currently the Executive General Manager, asset services of the National Australia Bank. She was previously the CEO of Jones Lang LaSalle and the COO of IBM’s Business Consulting Service. She is a member of the Australian School of Business Advisory Board, Chief Executive Women and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is also the director of the Smith Family.