Welcome to Episode Thirty-Five (Season Two) of the Executive Career Jump Podcast with your host, Andrew MacAskill!

Today our guest is Fiona Hathorn. Fiona is the CEO of Women On Boards UK – an organisation committed to accelerating women into non-executive director roles. 

In addition, Fiona is an Advisory Board Member to Spktral (a technology company that helps organisations simplify the gender pay gap reporting process), advisor to Peel Hunt (mid-cap stockbroker), and Chair of Hanx's Board Nominations Committee (FMCG start-up). She is an expert in the areas of Governance, Regulation, and Talent Management who has sat on both marketing and audit & finance committees. Fiona is also a Patron of Fight for Sight (a medical research charity) and was formerly a Director for Hill Samuel Asset Management. She has advised the board of the Thai Euro Fund and is a Judge for the Non-Executive Director Awards, sponsored by The Sunday Times. In 2020 Fiona joined King's College London's 'Global Institute for Women's Leadership' Advisory Board. 

More than a third of FTSE 350 board positions are now held by women, an increase of 50% over the past five years. Women on Boards UK has played a key role in this progress, but there is a long way to go before all boardrooms have equal gender representation. What’s more, progress outside of the FTSE 350 is glacially slow and women from ethnic minority backgrounds are still woefully represented. Yet, the evidence is clear that boardroom diversity is not just about fairness but that it delivers better business results.

You will learn:

Why UK Boardrooms still have a long way to go with diversityHow you can best position yourself in order to be considered for both Director and Non-Executive Director positionsThe steps you can take today to move towards your first Board role

Links:

Connect with Fiona on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionahathorn/

You can find out more about the work that Fiona and her team does by visiting their website: https://www.womenonboards.net