Covington Hosts Out Leadership for Quorum Event

Covington Hosts Out Leadership for Quorum Event

September 26, 2018

Covington partnered with Out Leadership to host "Strength at the Intersections: Diverse Directors Working Together," a panel discussion that gathered leaders from a variety of industries and sectors to address the value of board diversity.

Washington partner Jean Veta kicked off the event with opening comments addressing the importance of diversity in the business world. She focused specifically on the LGBT+ community and Covington’s own commitment to diversity and inclusion.

The panel examined the business case for diversity among corporate boards from several dimensions - gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation. The panelists included:

• Esther Aguilera, President & CEO, Latino Corporate Directors Association
• Susan C. Keating, Chief Executive Officer, WomenCorporateDirectors Foundation
• Paul Wendel, Manager, Talent Accelerators, Out Leadership
• (Moderator) Andrew Jack, Partner, Covington & Burling

Much of the discussion centered around the benefits of board diversity, investor demands for greater diversity, some challenges to enhancing board diversity and various tools and strategies for overcoming these challenges.

New York partner Bill Collins offered the closing comments. Mr. Collins stressed the need for the business community to remain focused on diversity and inclusion to achieve the desired results.

Out Leadership, an organization committed to advancing LGBT+ equality in public company C-Suites and the corporate world more generally, is highly regarded by the global business community. In 2015, Out Leadership launched Quorum, an initiative to identify and place senior LGBT+ executives on corporate boards. Covington has been a member of Out Leadership since 2014.