2015 Catalyst Award Goes to Initiatives from Chevron and Procter & Gamble (Media Release)

NEW YORK (March 26, 2015)—Today Catalyst honors initiatives from Chevron and Procter & Gamble with its prestigious Catalyst Award, recognizing their success in creating workplaces where women and men have equal opportunity to advance and lead.

Nearly 1,600 guests, including CEOs and other leading executives from top corporations and professional firms, will celebrate the winners at tonight’s 2015 Catalyst Awards Dinner at The Waldorf Astoria in New York City. This year’s Dinner Chair is Ellen Kullman, Chair of the Board & Chief Executive Officer, DuPont; Dinner Board Reception Sponsors are General Motors Company, Juniper Networks, Inc., and Shell Oil Company; and the Dinner General Reception Sponsor is Walmart.

“Our 2015 Catalyst Award-winning initiatives from Chevron and Procter & Gamble don’t just challenge the status quo, they bust through barriers to build a more inclusive workplace where everyone is valued for their unique talents,” says Deborah Gillis, President & CEO, Catalyst. “Both initiatives demonstrate a focused, long-term commitment to developing talented women and men across all levels and regions. This is not a one-time token effort—it is central to how these companies do business, every single day.”

Chevron’s US-based initiative, The Chevron Way: Engineering Opportunities for Women is designed to attract, retain, develop and advance women in the traditionally male-dominated oil and gas industry, where recruiting women has been historically difficult. Diversity is a key  component of the company’s core values, and nearly all employees have Diversity Action Plans (DAPs) as part of their performance evaluations. “We are honored to receive this recognition from Catalyst of our success in promoting diversity throughout our organization,” said Chairman and CEO John Watson. “Diversity is fundamental in our efforts to attract, develop and promote women. The company’s long-term success depends on all of our people being given the opportunity to realize their full potential.” Watch more.

Procter & Gamble’s global initiative, Everyone Valued, Everyone Included, Everyone Performing at Their Peak™, is rooted in its “build from within” culture, with a strong talent development component and a focus on advancing women to leadership roles, workplace flexibility for employees across regions, and addressing gender-diversity challenges in geographies where women are underrepresented in the workforce, such as Asia and the Middle East. “At P&G, our focus is on creating brands and products that improve the lives of the world’s consumers,” said A.G. Lafley, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer. “When we truly leverage the strategic value of diversity and inclusion, we understand consumers better, we innovate more consistently, and we develop each other and ourselves much better, much faster, and much stronger.” Watch more.

Both Mr. Watson and Mr. Lafley will be at the Catalyst Awards Dinner to accept the Catalyst Award on behalf of their companies.

The Catalyst Awards Dinner is immediately preceded by the 2015 Catalyst Awards Conference, themed around #DisruptTheDefault, Catalyst’s awareness-to-action campaign that calls upon companies and individuals to make bold moves to forge meaningful change for women and men in the workplace and the world. The Conference features a full day of inspirational speakers and action sessions. Highlights include:

• Insights from teams representing the Catalyst Award-winning initiatives.
• Luncheon Keynote Conversation with Mary T. Barra, Chief Executive Officer, General Motors Company.
• Panels on Millennials, unconscious bias, men as partners in gender equality, and a closing session on amplifying the positive portrayal—and power—of women.
• A special screening of “The Mask You Live In,” a new film by The Representation Project.

Walmart is lead sponsor, and session sponsors include QBE, Alcoa Foundation, Rockwell Automation, EY, and Talent Lab.

March 26 also kicks off the two-day Catalyst Women of Color Summit, which gathers global experts to provide fresh thinking and spark change for women of color in the workplace and the world.

Interviews available.

Media Contacts

Susan Nierenberg, Catalyst, +1 646 388-7744
Canada: Francine Beck, FB Strategies Group, +1 416 725 3710
Europe: Frances Knox, Frankly PR, + 44 7850 470123
India: Shilpa Mathapati, Gutenberg Communications, +91 22 3057 9113

ABOUT CATALYST
Founded in 1962, Catalyst is the leading nonprofit membership organization expanding opportunities for women and business. With offices in the United States, Canada, Europe, India, Australia, and Japan and more than 800 member organizations, Catalyst is the trusted resource for research, information, and advice about women at work. Catalyst annually honors exemplary organizational initiatives that promote women’s advancement with the Catalyst Award.