If you want to meet a well connected and influential board director, approach a woman.
When it comes to our most ‘influential’ board directors on the ASX – those with the greatest number of direct and indirect board connections – women dominate the very top of the list.
Of the 25 most ‘influential’ non-executive board directors according to research by Optimice (originally prepared for AFR Boss magazine but examined separately for Women’s Agenda), 16 are female.
It’s a surprising result when you consider the fact women still make up a tiny percentage of non-executive board positions on the ASX, holding just 10.1% of the almost 7000 or so board positions analysed.
Men start to gain the ‘most influential’ advantage the further you go down the list, with women accounting for just 34% of the top 100.
Optimice determines how much influence a board director has according to how many other board members they can access directly (by sitting on the same board), as well as indirectly, via an introduction to another ASX board member who can be accessed from within their board network.
For example Linda Nicholls, who comes up as our most influential board director male or female, can reach 25 board members directly with her five ASX-listed board positions (Japara Healthcare, Medibank Private, Fairfax Media, Pacific Brands and Stigma Pharmaceuticals) and a total of 169 directly and indirectly.
The next woman on the list, Maxine Brenner, can access 24 board directors directly, and a total reach of 163. She’s followed by Jane Hemstritch (with a reach of 153 connections ) Eileen Doyle (with 148 connections), Yasmin Allen (142 connections) and Sandra McPhee (141 connections). These six women round out the top 10.
Optimice co-founder Cai Kjaer says he can’t fully explain the gender imbalance when it comes to influential board positions, but believes it could relate to the fact the pool of female board directors is still significantly smaller than that of male directors.
“It could be that it becomes a self-reinforcing whirlwind,” he says. “People often go with people they have heard from before. But because there are so many men, that echo chamber of ‘who to nominate’ is not nearly as loud as it is for these women.”
Although women hold the majority of the top ‘influential’ positions according to the Optimice research, the female dominance changes significantly when the list of directors is analysed according to ‘power’ – determined by adding the market cap of the total number of ASX listed companies the person is a board member of. On that list, women hold just eight of the top 25 positions. According to this data, Jane Hemstritch is our most ‘powerful’ female ASX board director.
The data was pulled from Thomson Reuters Connect 4 on 1 February 2015, and only covers chairman, deputy chairman and non-executive director roles.
See the 25 most ‘influential’ female directors below, as well as what we’ve gleaned from their education and career backgrounds.
1. Linda Nicholls
Current boards include Japara Healthcare, Medibank Private, Fairfax Media, Pacific Brands and Stigma Pharmaceuticals.
Linda has an MBA from Harvard Business School and is the former chairman of Australia Post and HealthScope.
She also holds a BA in Economics from Cornell University.
2. Maxine Brenner
Current boards include Growthpoint Properties, Orica, Origin and Qantas Airways.
Maxine is a former lawyer (Freehills), investment banker and a previous managing director of Investec Bank.
She has a Bachelor of Law and Arts from the University of NSW.
3. Jane Hemstritch
Current boards include Lend Lease, Santos, Commonwealth Bank, and Tabcorp.
Jane is the former Asia Pacific managing director of Accenture.
She has a Bachelor in Biochemistry and Physiology, and studied at King’s College London.
4. Eileen Doyle
Current boards include Bradken Limited, Boral, and GPT Group.
Eileen has previously served as Deputy Chairman of the CSIRO and has written a book, Back to Business Basics.
She has a PHD in Mathematics from the University of Newcastle.
5. Yasmin Allen
Current boards include Cochlear, IAG and Santos.
Yasmin is a former investment banker.
6. Sandra (Sam) McPhee
Current boards include AGL, Carindale Property Trust, Fairfax Media, Kathmandu Holdings and Scentre Group.
Sandra is a former Group General Manager of Qantas and has a background in sales and marketing.
7. Rebecca McGrath
Current boards include Goodman Group, CSR Limited, Icitec Pivot and Oz Minerals.
Rebecca is a former CFO of BP Australia.
She has a degree in Town Planning (Hons) from University of NSW, and a Master of Applied Science from RMIT. She has also completed executive education at Harvard Business School and Cambridge.
8. Paula Dwyer
Boards include Tabcorp, Healthscope, and ANZ.
Paula has had a long career in finance, with senior positions in investment banking.
9. Jacqueline Hey
Current boards include Australian Foundation Investment Company, Qantas, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.
Jacqueline is a former MD and CEO of Ericsson.
She has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Melbourne, and a Graduate Certificate in Business from Southern Cross University.
10. Sam Mostyn
Current boards include Cover-More Group, Mirvac, Transurban Group and Virgin.
Sam is a former member of the senior executive team at IAG, and has held senior positions with Singtel Optus.
She has a Bachelor/LLB of Law, Political Science and English.
11. Kathryn Fagg
Current boards include Boral, Djerriwarrh Investments and Incitec Pivot.
Kathryn is a former petroleum engineer and management consultant with McKinsey & Company.
She has a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Queensland and a Master of Commerce from UNSW.
12. Anne McDonald
Boards include Spark Infrastructure, Specialty Fashion Group, GPT Group.
Anne was a partner with EY for 15 years.
She has a Bachelor of Economics and is a Chartered Accountant by training.
13. Nora Scheinkestel
Current boards include Telstra, Orica, Macquarie and Atlas Roads Group.
Nora is a former senior banking executive in international and project financing.
14. Karen Penrose
Current boards include Novian Property Group, Spark Infrastructure Group and AWE Limited.
Karen has had a long career in banking, including in senior positions with CBA and HSBC.
She has a Bachelor of Commerce and is a CPA.
15. Anne Brennan
Current boards include Argo Investments, Charter Hall Group, Nufarm, Myer Holdings.
Anne has had a career in senior finance roles and in professional accounting firms.
She has a Bachelor of Commerce.
16. Christine McLoughlin
Current boards include Suncorp, Whitehaven, NIB, and Spark Infrastructure Group.
Christine had a career in commercial law, and joined Optus during deregulation of Telecommunications. She later moved into financial services and senior leadership positions with AMP and IAG.
She has a Bachelor of Law from ANU.
17. Christine O’Reilly
Current boards include CSL, Transurban and Medibank.
Christine has had a long career in finance and business, and moved into operational leadership roles, which later saw her become CEO of GasNet Australia Group.
18. Catriona Alison Deans
Current boards include Westpac, Cocklear and IAG.
Alison is a former CEO of technology-based investment company netus and has had a career in senior management and strategy consulting roles. She is also the former CEO of Hoyts and eCorp, and a former MD of eBay Australia.
She has an MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge.
19. Nicola Wakefield Evans
Current boards include Lend Lease, Macquarie Group and Toll.
Nicola is a former partner with King & Wood Mallesons, and spent almost 30 years with Mallesons.
She has a Bachelor of Law from UNSW.
20 Catherine Brenner
Current boards include Coca-Cola, Boral and AMP.
Catherine is a former investment banker and a former corporate lawyer.
She has a Bachelor of Economics and Master of Laws from Macquarie University, and an MBA from AGSM.
21. Emma Stein
Current boards include Aluminia, DUET Group, and Programmed Maintenance.
Emma has a leadership background in utilities and energy markets, and moved to Australia in 2003.
22. Margaret Cattermole
Current boards include Pact Group Holdings, Tatts Group, and Treasury Wine Estates.
Margaret is the founder and managing director of Aspect Computing.
She has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Melbourne.
23. Ilana Atlas
Current boards include ANZ, Westfield and Coca-Cola Amatil.
She is a lawyer, a former general counsel of Westpac, partner at Mallesons and Chancellor of ANU.
She has a Bachelor of Jurisprudence and bachelor of laws with honours from the University of WA, and a Master of laws from the University of Sydney.
24. Penelope Bingham-Hall
Current boards DEXUS, and Bluescope.
Penelope had a 20 year career in senior management including with Leightons.
She has a Bachelor of Arts, industrial and product design.
25. Shirley In’t Veld
Current boards include DUET group and Asciano Ltd.
Shirley is a former managing director of Verve Energy and started her career as a commercial lawyer with Mallesons before going on to hold major legal and commercial marketing positions.