Catalyst (nonprofit organization)
Encyclopedia
Catalyst, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that promotes inclusive workplaces for women. It was founded in 1962 by feminist, writer, and advocate Felice Schwartz
. Sheila Wellington served as president of Catalyst following Schwartz for ten years. Ilene Lang has been serving as Catalyst's president since 2003.
Catalyst publishes an annual census
of women in management and on corporate boards of Fortune 500
and Financial Post 500 companies. In 2010, the organization published a study in the Harvard Business Review
that found that women with MBA degrees earned an average $4,600 less than men in their first job, even if they had the same amount of previous work experience. The organization also worked with the U.S. Government Accountability Office to analyze the small growth of women in management positions.
Catalyst holds an annual awards conference and dinner in New York City which has featured a keynote speech by former Xerox
Corp. chairman and CEO Anne Mulcahy and has awarded initiatives from companies including The Campbell Soup Company, Deloitte LLP, and CH2M HILL
.
The Catalyst Award
annually honors innovative organizational approaches with proven, measurable results that address the recruitment, development, and advancement of all women, including diverse women.
Catalyst’s rigorous, year-long examination of initiatives culminates in intensive on-site evaluations at select organizations. Catalyst assesses a range of strategic approaches related to women's advancement in the workplace, including discrete efforts as well as those that facilitate cultural change. In addition, initiatives must benefit women across a range of dimensions, among them race/ethnicity, sexual orientation
, gender identity
, religion, generation, nationality
, disability
, and status as Indigenous
or Aboriginal peoples. By recognizing, sharing, and celebrating successful initiatives, Catalyst provides models for creating initiatives that are good for women and good for business.
Catalyst Award winners share their initiatives with Catalyst members, Award winners, and other like-minded organizations at the Catalyst Awards Conference, which is attended by more than 600 people from close to 200 organizations. Initiatives are also publicly celebrated at the Catalyst Awards Dinner, one of the most prestigious and broadly attended events in the business community.
Since 1987, Catalyst has recognized 77 initiatives at 72 organizations with the Catalyst Award. Significantly, initiatives have evolved from discrete programs to recruit, retain, and advance women to culture-changing efforts that recognize the business imperative for diversity
and inclusion
.
Award Winners by year:
2011
Kaiser Permanente
,
McDonald's Corporation,
Time Warner Inc.
2010
Campbell Soup Company
,
Deloitte LLP,
RBC,
Telstra Corporation Limited
2009
Baxter International Inc.,
CH2M HILL
,
Gibbons P.C.
,
KPMG LLP
2008
ING U.S. Financial Services
,
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
2007
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.,
PepsiCo, Inc.,
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP,
Scotiabank
2006
BP p.l.c.,
The Chubb Corporation,
Safeway Inc.
2005
Georgia-Pacific Corporation,
Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP
2004
General Electric Company,
Harley-Davidson, Inc.,
Shell Oil Company U.S.
2003
Accenture
,
Ernst & Young LLP,
WellPoint Health Networks Inc.
2002
Bayer Corporation,
Fannie Mae,
Marriott International, Inc.
2001
American Express Company,
General Mills, Inc.,
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
2000
Charles Schwab & Co.,
IBM Corporation,
The Northern Trust Company
Felice Schwartz
Felice N. Schwartz was an American writer, advocate, and feminist. During her career, Schwartz founded two national advancement and advocacy organizations. In 1945, she established the National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students , an association committed to placing African Americans...
. Sheila Wellington served as president of Catalyst following Schwartz for ten years. Ilene Lang has been serving as Catalyst's president since 2003.
Catalyst publishes an annual census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of women in management and on corporate boards of Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
and Financial Post 500 companies. In 2010, the organization published a study in the Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review is a general management magazine published since 1922 by Harvard Business School Publishing, owned by the Harvard Business School. A monthly research-based magazine written for business practitioners, it claims a high ranking business readership among academics, executives,...
that found that women with MBA degrees earned an average $4,600 less than men in their first job, even if they had the same amount of previous work experience. The organization also worked with the U.S. Government Accountability Office to analyze the small growth of women in management positions.
Catalyst holds an annual awards conference and dinner in New York City which has featured a keynote speech by former Xerox
Xerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
Corp. chairman and CEO Anne Mulcahy and has awarded initiatives from companies including The Campbell Soup Company, Deloitte LLP, and CH2M HILL
CH2M Hill
CH2M Hill is an American-based global provider of engineering, construction, and operations services for corporations, nonprofits, and federal, state, and local governments. The firm is headquartered in Meridian, an unincorporated area of Douglas County, Colorado in the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan...
.
The Catalyst Award
annually honors innovative organizational approaches with proven, measurable results that address the recruitment, development, and advancement of all women, including diverse women.
Catalyst’s rigorous, year-long examination of initiatives culminates in intensive on-site evaluations at select organizations. Catalyst assesses a range of strategic approaches related to women's advancement in the workplace, including discrete efforts as well as those that facilitate cultural change. In addition, initiatives must benefit women across a range of dimensions, among them race/ethnicity, sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
, gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
, religion, generation, nationality
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
, disability
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
, and status as Indigenous
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
or Aboriginal peoples. By recognizing, sharing, and celebrating successful initiatives, Catalyst provides models for creating initiatives that are good for women and good for business.
Catalyst Award winners share their initiatives with Catalyst members, Award winners, and other like-minded organizations at the Catalyst Awards Conference, which is attended by more than 600 people from close to 200 organizations. Initiatives are also publicly celebrated at the Catalyst Awards Dinner, one of the most prestigious and broadly attended events in the business community.
Since 1987, Catalyst has recognized 77 initiatives at 72 organizations with the Catalyst Award. Significantly, initiatives have evolved from discrete programs to recruit, retain, and advance women to culture-changing efforts that recognize the business imperative for diversity
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
and inclusion
Inclusion
Inclusion may refer to:- Metallurgy :*Inclusion , a type of metal casting defect*Inclusions in Aluminium Alloys, solid particles in liquid aluminium alloy- Social inclusion of persons :...
.
Award Winners by year:
2011
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield...
,
McDonald's Corporation,
Time Warner Inc.
2010
Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company , also known as Campbell's, is an American producer of canned soups and related products. Campbell's products are sold in 120 countries around the world. It is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey...
,
Deloitte LLP,
RBC,
Telstra Corporation Limited
2009
Baxter International Inc.,
CH2M HILL
CH2M Hill
CH2M Hill is an American-based global provider of engineering, construction, and operations services for corporations, nonprofits, and federal, state, and local governments. The firm is headquartered in Meridian, an unincorporated area of Douglas County, Colorado in the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan...
,
Gibbons P.C.
Gibbons P.C.
Gibbons P.C. is a large U.S. law firm based in Newark, New Jersey. The firm has 230 lawyers in five offices across three states. In 2008, Gibbons was ranked 188th in the National Law Journal's list of the 250 largest American law firms. The firm also ranked 179th in profit per attorney on the...
,
KPMG LLP
KPMG
KPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....
2008
ING U.S. Financial Services
ING Group
The ING Group is a global financial institution offering retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, asset management, and insurance services. ING is the Dutch member of the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks, a cooperative consortium of 11 prominent European banks...
,
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
2007
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.,
PepsiCo, Inc.,
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP,
Scotiabank
Scotiabank
The Bank of Nova Scotia , commonly known as Scotiabank , is the third largest bank in Canada by deposits and market capitalization. It serves some 18.6 million customers in more than 50 countries around the world and offers a broad range of products and services including personal, commercial,...
2006
BP p.l.c.,
The Chubb Corporation,
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...
2005
Georgia-Pacific Corporation,
Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP
2004
General Electric Company,
Harley-Davidson, Inc.,
Shell Oil Company U.S.
Shell Oil Company
Shell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The head office in the U.S. is in Houston, Texas...
2003
Accenture
Accenture
Accenture plc is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company headquartered in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. It is the largest consulting firm in the world and is a Fortune Global 500 company. As of September 2011, the company had more than 236,000 employees across...
,
Ernst & Young LLP,
WellPoint Health Networks Inc.
2002
Bayer Corporation,
Fannie Mae,
Marriott International, Inc.
2001
American Express Company,
General Mills, Inc.,
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational banking corporation of securities, investments and retail. It is the largest bank in the United States by assets and market capitalization.It is a major provider of financial services, with assets of $2 trillion and according to Forbes magazine is...
2000
Charles Schwab & Co.,
IBM Corporation,
The Northern Trust Company