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Each year since 1987, Catalyst has honored exceptional initiatives that advance women in the corporate world with our prestigious Catalyst Award. We are very proud to celebrate three far-reaching initiatives in 2013:

• Alcoa Inc.’s Building Opportunities for Women in a “Hard Hat” Company develops women supervisors and leaders in its refineries, smelters, and factories worldwide.
• The Coca-Cola Company’s Global Women’s Initiative: Women as the Real Drivers of the 21^st Century advances women as leaders and entrepreneurs across the organization and around the world.
• Unilever’s Global Reach With Local Roots: Creating a Gender-Balanced Workforce in Different Cultural Contexts helps advance high-potential women across different regions by creating flexible “anytime, anywhere” work-life programs.

Click on the image below to learn more about the initiatives from Ilene H. Lang, President and CEO, Catalyst.

Companies create Catalyst Award-winning initiatives for two main reasons: it’s the right thing to do and it makes good business sense.

But let’s take a closer look: how exactly does breaking down barriers in a male-dominated industry benefit Alcoa as a company? How does advancing women help Coca-Cola? Why should Unilever—or any company—care about promoting flexibility and gender diversity?

Here are several of many possible answers to these very important questions:

• According to Alcoa Inc.’s Chairman and CEO, Klaus Kleinfeld, “Talent is the only truly sustainable advantage...To get the best talent, you must have diversity of thought, experience, skills and background.”

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• Women make over 70 percent of consumer purchasing decisions related to Coca-Cola products worldwide—and, according to Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, they are “the most dynamic and the fastest growing economic force in the world today.”

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• According to Unilever CEO Paul Polman, “The benefits of having a gender-balanced organization are plain to see; it helps power creativity and innovation, deepens the talent pool, and allows us to better serve our diverse consumer base.”

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Smart business leaders understand the compelling case for advancing talented women to leadership. And smart companies pioneer groundbreaking initiatives in service of this goal. But what makes this year’s initiatives especially impressive? And what can other companies learn from the success of these programs?

• Catalyst’s 2013 Award-winning initiatives were made priorities on day one by the companies’ CEOs and have the strong support of senior leadership.
• Leaders at these companies are held accountable for producing measurable results.
• These programs were applied at all levels and throughout company units around the world, as well as successfully adapted for local markets.
• They embody Catalyst’s vision of “Changing workplaces. Changing lives,” by transforming the lives of employees and their families, communities, economies, and societies.

Click the image below to view a video introduction from Laura Sabattini, Chair, Catalyst Award Evaluation Committee, and Senior Director, Research, Catalyst.

At Catalyst, we believe that closing gender gaps in opportunity, leadership, and pay will improve the world for everyone—women, men, business, and communities alike.

And we are thrilled to celebrate the women and men behind this year’s Catalyst Award-winning initiatives who have worked so hard to advance talented women to leadership and impact lives, both inside and outside the workplace!