Dubai One’s Emirates News: Interview with Diana Wilde on board diversity

Aurora50 in the media - co-founder Diana Wilde speaks to Emirates News, 16/03/21

Suzanne Locke 17 March 2021

Aurora50 co-founder Diana Wilde was interviewed on Dubai One’s Emirates News television show to discuss the new Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA) quota of one woman per listed board in the UAE by 2025 and the agreement signed with the UAE Central Bank to enhance gender diversity.

Ms Wilde told Emirates News it was “challenging” for male directors to name many women to nominate to boards as “70 percent of boards are all-male so, as a director, you’re spending more time with men than women already”. “The same thing is happening with C-suite,” she added.

“We have to change the ecosystem and create access, so it is easier to connect boards with the female talent that exists,” she said.

She added that it was important to work with both regulators, the UAE Central Bank and ESCA, as they have “different reach and challenges”.

There was a great opportunity to change the boards of future, and that increasing diversity would have “a very direct impact on profitability”, she advised.

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Dubai One’s Emirates News: Interview with Diana Wilde on board diversity

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