International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on the 8th of March each year across the world in over 100 different countries. It is an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the social, political, academic, economic and cultural achievements of women.
This year’s theme, ‘Inspiring Inclusivity’ rings true to the roots of CF. Originally founded by two female leaders, CF prides itself on diversity and inclusivity. Our aim has always been to build a gender-balanced organisation, inclusive to all genders, at all levels of seniority.
The Management Consulting Associations latest report revealed that gender balance in the industry overall has been declining, but most recently has seen an increase of female partners, with 28% now at this level.
We are proud to have improved our company-wide gender balance of men and women over the past 12 months, 15% in favour of females, with 53% of this group overall in leadership roles. We continue to work on improving the gender balance of our partner team with 36% females, it is still below our target, but ahead of the industry average by eight percentage points.
CF Gender Balance 2024
CF Company Data 01/03/24
Hannah Farrar, CEO and Co-Founder of CF comments:
“As Co-Founder and CEO of CF, in parallel to our mission of improving healthcare for all, I remain committed to providing an environment for our teams and peers to flourish. I’ve always been passionate about encouraging women to excel in leadership positions, and as someone fortunate to have had fantastic mentorship over the years, I believe it critical to provide this support to others. In healthcare, while the majority of the workforce is female, this is not mirrored in senior positions, and that’s something that needs to change. I have faced adversity and challenges while balancing the progression of my career and having a family. This furthered my determination to provide the necessary support and working conditions at CF, so that everyone has equal opportunity – regardless of gender.”
Ben Richardson Managing Partner of CF says:
“As a veteran of management consulting with over 25 years in the industry, I’m acutely aware of how male-dominated it can be. Joining the industry 25 years ago the expectation was clearly that I’d be on the road or, if in town, in the office or out to dinner with clients for Monday to Thursday night. There are a whole host of reasons for this, including organisational attitudes and societal expectations about working hours, travel, and who is there to be home for dinner with the kids. These can be unconscious biases to many but are reinforced by the lack of female representation at senior levels, as highlighted by the MCA. At CF we try to systematically address this, including a commitment to ensuring our team has a work/life balance, offering shared parental leave and being hugely invested in people’s individual development.”
Tamzen Isacsson, Chief Executive of the MCA comments:
“At the MCA we are proud to celebrate IWD and its theme of inclusivity today. We are promoting the many role models that work across the industry and are highlighted in our MCA awards each year. We also have many inspirational female leaders who help lead our MCA activities from our talented MCA team members to the Chairs of our working Groups from Hannah Farrar to Jackie Lees, Anne Gosal and Elizabeth Adebayo and Kate Bamford and Emily Ireland Jones. Thank you for your brilliant service to our industry and being inspirational leaders.”
Find out more about our commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion here.
