A series of appointments announced by Grant Thornton on Monday mean women have gone from comprising 22% of the company’s board earlier this year to 44% by Christmas 2018.
The election of a new chair, Louise McCann, to replace the outgoing chair Tony Crawford who is stepping down after an 8-year term, and the appointment of two new female directors has significantly boosted the representation of women on the board.
Louise has been a member of the board since August 2014 and is the first female chair for the tax and advisory firm.
Grant Thornton’s head of National Specialist Tax, Elizabeth Lucas, and experienced non-executive director, Andrea Waters, will join the new board, with another new recruit, Tim Hands a Grant Thornton partner in Brisbane.
“We are proud to have four women on our Board who are exemplars of our culture, our commitment to diversity, providing our firm with strategic direction and outstanding leadership,” Greg Keith the CEO of Grant Thornton Australia said.
Greg Keith, Diane Grady AM, Mark Phillips, Michael Catterall and Peter Woodley round out the nine-member board.
“I would like to welcome the new members of our Board as well as thank Tony Crawford for his leadership during a time of unprecedented change for Grant Thornton,” Keith said.