Top 75 Massachusetts Companies
- Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, however, we strongly recommend using a personal computer or laptop for ease of use in viewing the data and completing the information request, including making comments, edits, and answering a brief questionnaire.
Please verify that email links are enabled, check your Internet connection, and open a new browser window. By clicking the Start Information Request button, a new tab should open with the welcome instructions as seen below. If not, please contact team@womenspowergap.org or call 508-430-8130.
Yes. Our research team has tested the information request on each browser to ensure ease of use and functionality. If you experience issues with completing the information request on your browser, please contact team@womenspowergap.org or call 508-430-8130.
We have taken great care to ensure the information request is easy to navigate and complete, providing instructions in each section. If you need additional technical assistance, please contact us at team@womenspowergap.org or call 508-430-8130.
Yes, both. If you want to print the data, please click the Print PDF button in the top right corner of any information request pages. If you want to download the data, please click the floppy disc icon.
You will not be able to change data once you submit the information request. If you realize you made an error and need to correct it, please contact team@womenspowergap.org or call 508-430-8130.
We captured senior leadership positions and fiduciary board members for the top 75 publicly traded companies, with headquarters in Massachusetts and based on market capitalization as of September 1, 2022.
All position details were obtained by our research team from publicly available sources, such as:
- Most recent proxy statements
- Company websites
- Press releases and news articles
We would be happy to share this information. Please contact team@womenspowergap.org or call 508-430-8130.
Executive leadership has been defined and displayed in two groups:
- Top Executive: This is the Chief Executive Officer of your company
- Other Executive Leadership: These positions include Named Executive Officers – as listed in your company’s most recent proxy statement, and other executives listed on your company’s website under “Executive Leadership,” “Management Team,” etc. This group of leaders is typically referred to as the C-suite. If an individual was a NEO during the 2022 proxy season but since then left the company, they are listed with a Title Type “Former Employee.”
Yes, all executive leaders and board members listed in Section 1a. and 1c. of the information request should reflect the leadership at your company as of September 1, 2022. NEOs, however, reflect your company’s most recent proxy statement and the same methodology is used for all companies in the dataset.
If the data we collected does not reflect most recent turnovers among your company’s leadership and board members, we ask you to verify, and if needed, add new leaders who resumed their post prior to or on September 1, 2022.
We defined gender in accordance with current convention, utilizing W (Woman), M (Man), and NB (Nonbinary) to represent an individual’s gender identity. Nonbinary is the term used to identify a person who does not identify within the gender binary classifications of woman or man.
When gender was not available in your company’s proxy statement or company’s website, we used at least two methods in our research process to determine gender, such as photos and pronouns from bios, press releases, and articles.
To define race, we turned to the U.S. Census designations, except for Hispanic or Latinx, which we treated as a race and designated the category as race/ethnicity. We assigned “Unknown/Undisclosed” when a determination could not be made:
- White
- Black or African American
- American Indian or Alaska Native
- Asian
- Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
- Hispanic or Latinx
- Two or More Races
- Unknown/Undisclosed
To identify race/ethnicity, we utilized the same process as gender. If race/ethnicity was not identified in the company’s proxy or on the company’s website for the individual, we pulled bios, articles, press releases, and other public documents relating to the individual. We then identified a race/ethnic determination based on notations, such as: “first-ever African-American president.”
In addition to race/ethnic data, we are collecting information on LGBTQ+ in your top leadership and board as more companies are adding this metric to their DEI initiatives.
We are collecting data on Chief Operating Officer or an equivalent title. If your company doesn’t have a COO title but there is an executive who leads operations function, this is who we are looking for. We may have already identified an executive at your company who may not hold the COO title but they are in charge of operations. If operations function is not considered “key” in your industry, please select “No COO at our company.”
The Women’s Power Gap (WPG) Initiative was created by the Eos Foundation in 2018 to dramatically increase the number of women from diverse backgrounds among CEO and C-suite leaders nationally. We conduct and commission actionable research on prominent sectors of the economy and measure the extent of the power and wage gaps at the company or institutional level to highlight those making fast progress and those falling behind. Each report is accompanied by a public dialogue and community conversation, highlighting the issue and offering practices and policies to increase representation and inclusion.
The Eos Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation based in Massachusetts. We support systemic solutions aimed at nourishing children’s bodies, nurturing their minds, building economic security for families, and achieving gender equity and diversity in leadership across society. We invite you to visit our website to learn more.
This research will help us create an expanded baseline to measure and improve gender and racial/ethnic diversity among the leadership of the top 75 publicly traded companies in Massachusetts. Our goal is to determine the current make-up of leadership at these companies as well as their fiduciary boards, then to build collaborations and partnerships to identify best practices to greatly accelerate diversity and parity at the top. Please click on this link to view our 2020 report on the top 25 publicly traded companies in Massachusetts.
There are two sections: 1. Leadership, and 2. General Questionnaire.
Section 1: Leadership
This section has 3 subsections:
1a. Executive LeadershipIn this subsection, we ask companies to verify the name, title, gender, and race/ethnicity of their company’s CEO/President and NEOs/HPEs (named executive officers/highest-paid executives). In addition, we ask that companies provide race/ethnicity for all their listed executives and NEOs/HPEs. If companies prefer not to disclose it individually, we ask companies provide this data in the aggregate table.
1b. Chief Executive Officer/President and LID History:
In this subsection, we ask companies to verify the immediate past CEO/President and answer general questions about any previous permanent women/persons of color CEOs/Presidents and LIDs. We also ask a question about the current Chief Operating Officer (COO) or equivalent and their gender and race/ethnicity.
1c. Board:
In this subsection, we ask companies to verify the names and gender of their company’s Board of Directors and whether they are the LID and/or chair of the Audit, Compensation, and/or Governance committees. Please provide race/ethnicity for all your listed board members. If you prefer not to disclose it individually, please provide this data in the aggregate table.
Section 2. Race/Ethnicity and General Information Questionnaire
In this section, we ask for feedback on the survey and contact information for the person completing the survey.
After consultation with an advisory board comprised of current and former board members, we were advised to send the survey to General Counsels. If contact information was unavailable, we sent it to either the Chief of Human Resources or the Chief Executive Officer.
If you are not the right person at your company to complete this request, please forward the email to the correct person or contact us at team@womenspowergap.org or call 508-430-8130.
The first email sent on September 27, 2022 from Eos Foundation President Andrea Silbert (andrea@eosfoundation.org) asks for your participation in this important survey and includes a snapshot of your leadership data. Instructions and a link to begin the information request are included: please click Start Information Request (the orange button) at the bottom of the email.
In addition, you may receive a call to your office to ensure this first email has been received as well as to answer any questions you may have. We will send periodic reminder emails to companies that have not completed the information request.
Early in 2023, we will send an email invitation to the report release event. The exact date has not been finalized but we expect it to happen sometime in February 2023.
We recommend heading to the instructions for each section, located at the top of each information request page. The instructions will walk you through each step of completing the information request.
We anticipate the information request to take 20 to 30 minutes for you to verify the data and make corrections, as needed. Depending on your access to internal employee records and other information, this process may take longer.
You will need internal employee records on the individuals listed in the information request, including their name, title, gender, and when available, race/ethnicity, as well as the same information for your board of directors. You will also need some historical data, which we expect will be available in the companies’ human resource database.
No. If you exit the information at any point before finishing, you will be able to return by clicking the Start Information Request button in our initial information request email. This will bring you back to the start of the information request, but any changes you have made previously will be saved and appear as you go through the information request.
Yes. Once you forward the email, the recipient will be able to click Start Information Request from the email and complete and/or view the information request.
The link in the email will bring you into the information request for your company only.
Our report will analyze data at both the aggregate and individual company levels for comparative purposes. Gender and racial/ethnic data for groups of individuals will be used in aggregate only. Names of individuals will be used for only top executives of the company and Board chairs.
Friday, October 28, 2022, by 5pm EST.
