Please take a few minutes to read Tara Patel’s (Bloomberg) article, referencing our fellow member Miriam Garnier of the Paris City Network.

The article starts as follows:

“A group of women wearing fake beards stormed the podium at Veolia Environnement’s crowded shareholders’ meeting in Paris last month, challenging Chairman Henri Proglio over the gender makeup of his overwhelmingly male board. “Is it really wise to allow women to define the strategy of a company, a task requiring intelligence, an ability to react, and coolheadedness?” asked a disguised member of the feminist advocacy group La Barbe, or “The Beard.” She taunted the French water utility for having only one woman on its 17-member board.”

The bottom line: French boardrooms have long been a male domain. A proposal requiring that at least 40 percent of directors be women could change that.

Read the full article by clicking here.