“NAFE Top 50 Companies for Executive Women” of 2013 Expands Female Leadership to 25%

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) today named the Top 50 Companies for Executive Women which now make up 25% of corporate executives up from 22% last year vs. 14% at the Fortune 500. The companies, which now lead the nation in their commitment to female leadership, are featured in the February/March issue of Working Mother, out today.

“This year we see measurable progress for women at companies that have made their advancement a priority, a smart strategy given the growing research that correlates greater numbers of women in top positions with higher revenues”

The new report, conducted by the Working Mother Research Institute for NAFE, also finds that women now occupy 26% of all board of director seats at the NAFE Top 50 compared with 17% across the Fortune 500.

The Top 10 Companies for 2013 are: Abbott, AstraZeneca, General Mills, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, KPMG, Marriott International, Procter & Gamble, Prudential Financial and State Farm.

The NAFE Top 50 Companies lead corporate America in recruiting, retaining and advancing women. Some findings from this year’s research include:

Women now make up 22% of the profit-and-loss corporate executives, up from 19% last year.
Female CEO representation at the NAFE Top 50 Companies held steady at 10% vs. 4% for the Fortune 500.
Women make up 26% of the leaders of billion-dollar divisions at the NAFE Top Companies, up from 23% last year.
The percentage of board seats occupied by women increased this year to 26% (vs 17% across the Fortune 500) after remaining steady for three years.

Carol Evans, CEO of NAFE and president of Working Mother Media, points out that “the NAFE Top 50 Companies are major employers committed to hiring, retaining and promoting executive women diversity at the top leads to a healthy bottom line. We are proud to honor companies that place women in leadership positions.”

“This year we see measurable progress for women at companies that have made their advancement a priority, a smart strategy given the growing research that correlates greater numbers of women in top positions with higher revenues,” says NAFE President Betty Spence. “For women, these are the top companies to work for.”

For a complete list of the 2013 NAFE Top 50 Companies for Executive Women and the Top 10 Nonprofit Companies, click here. The complete report is published in the February/March issue of Working Mother.

Methodology: The 2013 NAFE Top 50 Companies application includes more than 200 questions on female representation at all levels, but especially the corporate officer and profit-and-loss leadership ranks. The application also tracks access and usage of programs and policies that promote the advancement of women, as well as the training and accountability of managers in relation to the number of women who advance. To be considered, companies must have a minimum of two women on their boards of directors as well as at least 1000 employees in the U.S.

About NAFE

The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE), founded in 1972, serves 20,000 members nationwide with networking, tools and solutions to strengthen and grow their careers and businesses. Working Mother magazine publishes the annual NAFE Top 50 list. NAFE.com provides up-to-date information, community for women in business and access to member benefits. NAFE is a division of Working Mother Media, owned by the Bonnier Corporation.