2017 Catalyst Award Honors Global Initiatives at 3M, BMO Financial Group and Rockwell Automation (Media Release)

Innovative Corporate Initiatives Striving to Accelerate Progress for Women in the Workplace to be Celebrated at Annual Dinner Gala, International Women's Day

New York City, N.Y. (January 31, 2017)—Catalyst announced today that initiatives from 3M, BMO Financial Group and Rockwell Automation are winning the prestigious 2017 Catalyst Award. For 30 years, these awards have recognized exceptional efforts that help advance women in business.

“Intentional change requires bold leadership, which these companies embody. This is how diversity, inclusion and gender parity come to life in the workplace. It’s incredible to see these Award-winning initiatives changing minds, changing behaviors and creating more opportunities for women,” said Deborah Gillis, CEO of Catalyst. “Business leaders have the power and a greater responsibility than ever before to make room for all employees to succeed. 3M, BMO and Rockwell Automation are to be commended for leading the change.”

This year’s Catalyst Award-winning initiatives include:

• 3M’s global initiative, I’m in. Accelerating Women’s Leadership, comprises a variety of talent management and leadership development components, including networking, mentoring, talent development, work-life and workplace flexibility programs and external community efforts. More than 70 countries have embraced inclusiveness across their organizations through the I’m in campaign. From 2011 to 2016, 3M’s global initiative has accelerated progress for women throughout the company and across the world. Globally, women’s representation at the director level increased from 18.2% to 23.0% and at the vice president and above levels from 16.7% to 24.2%. Women leaders have also made progress in traditionally underrepresented roles across regions, including an increase from 19.1% to 23.9% for technical and lab managers and from 11.4% to 17.4% for plant managers.
• BMO Financial Group’s initiative, Diversity and Inclusion Renewal for Sustainable Change, is a strategy to identify and remove barriers to advancing diversity and build an inclusive work environment across the organization. The initiative focuses on achieving equitable representation of women and men in senior leadership and building a robust pipeline of women to advance to senior leadership roles. The DIR initiative has helped BMO achieve important results. Between 2012 and 2016, the bank met its five-year goal of 40% women’s representation among senior leaders in the United States and Canada, with women in these roles increasing from 33.0% to 40.1% and women of color and visible minority women increasing from 4.4% to 6.5%. Within the same time frame, women’s representation has increased from 7.7% to 31.3% among executive committee members and from 32.2% to 35.2% among senior managers and managers overall. Finally, women’s representation on BMO’s Enterprise Board of Directors has increased from 30.8% to 36.4%.
• The Rockwell Automation Culture of Inclusion Journey is a culture-change initiative that comprises programs and strategies executed throughout the company’s businesses and functions. In the United States, the initiative has impacted more than 8,000 employees in 100 locations. Results demonstrate that this contributed to advancing women across businesses and functions at the company. Between 2008 and 2016, women’s representation in the United States has increased from 11.9% to 23.5% among vice presidents, from 14.7% to 23.2% among directors, and from 19.3% to 24.3% at the middle-manager level. At the most senior leadership levels, women’s representation doubled, increasing from 11.1% to 25.0% among the CEO’s direct reports and from 11.1% to 20.0% on the board of directors.

Winners will present their Award-winning initiatives at the 2017 Catalyst Awards Conference and Dinner, both held on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2017, at the New York Hilton Midtown. The 2017 Catalyst Awards Dinner Chair and guest speaker is David S. Taylor, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Procter and Gamble Company.

As an official charity partner for the International Women’s Day organization, Catalyst will also mark the day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women with an International Women’s Day Exhibit Hall at the 2017 Catalyst Awards Conference.

Nearly 100 CEOs of major multinational corporations and firms are expected to attend both events, along with more than 1,600 guests—including leading executives from top global corporations, professional firms, governments, NGOs and educational institutions. The Conference is being supported by lead sponsor, Target Corporation, and partnering sponsors, Chevron Corporation and UPS; as well as the Arconic Foundation, Dell and Edward Jones. The Dinner is being supported by Nationwide. Additional event sponsors include General Motors, Shell and Toyota Motor North America, Inc.

Learn more about the Conference registration and Dinner table reservations. For questions regarding the 2017 Catalyst Awards Dinner, please contact [email protected].

Follow us on Facebook.com/catalystinc, Instagram.com/catalystinc and Twitter.com/catalystinc to join the conversation about both events. Use #LeadershipRedefined and #CatalystAwards2017 on Instagram and Twitter.

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About Catalyst

Founded in 1962, Catalyst is the leading nonprofit organization accelerating progress for women through workplace inclusion. With operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, India, Australia, and Japan, and more than 800 supporting organizations, Catalyst is the trusted resource for research, information, and advice about women at work.

About 3M

At 3M, we apply science in collaborative ways to improve lives daily. With $30 billion in sales, our 90,000 employees connect with customers all around the world. Learn more about 3M’s creative solutions to the world’s problems at www.3M.com or on Twitter @3M or @3MNewsroom.

About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817, and currently marking its 200th year of operations, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services provider based in North America. With total assets of $688 billion as of October 31, 2016, and more than 45,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and information, makes its customers more productive and the world more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 22,000 people, serving customers in more than 80 countries.