
“Things are changing, but there is still a lack of female representation in executive roles” Vivienne Artz OBE, Chief Executive Officer, FTSE Women Leaders Review.
Originally from Canada, Vivienne Artz, studied philosophy and theology at the University of Oxford before qualifying as a lawyer. Her experiences as a woman working in law and finance during the 1990s ignited a passion for addressing the underrepresentation of women in senior leadership roles. Today, as CEO of the FTSE Women Leaders Review, she leverages her influence and the power of data to showcase the business advantages of diversity.
I qualified in the 1990’s when it was frowned upon for women to wear trousers in the legal profession. My first job was in the City of London, and I enjoyed the sense of community, professionalism and purpose that came with a career in law. I loved working with intelligent people, but I learnt that, although women represent 60% of those entering the legal profession, the majority of partnership positions were, and still are, held by men.
Sexism was commonplace at this time in both intended and unintended ways, but expectations have changed the business case for diversity has been accepted and inclusive leadership has become a priority from the very top of organisations. After a number of years in private practice law firms, I pivoted to an in-house legal role in financial services and enjoyed 17 years at Citi which gave me fantastic opportunities. However, I noticed that every time I moved up, there were fewer women around me. I didn’t have a problem working with men, but I was aware of the lack of credible female role models the further I progressed.
I was lucky enough to be at Citi when Jane Fraser (now CEO of Citigroup) was Head of Private Banking. She was an inspirational role model for me; an example of how to lead as a woman and to both challenge and work with her colleagues to build high achieving and inclusive businesses. She asked the difficult questions about why women weren’t working at all levels and backed up her arguments with data.
This was a ‘wow’ moment for me. This was not an emotional argument or opinion driven approach. Rather, she presented the business case and sought answers as what people were going to do about it. Her work heightened my interest in understanding the barriers which prevent women getting to the top and opened my eyes to the power of data in helping to drive change. I had the fantastic opportunity to lead Women in Banking & Finance for a number of years, working with members, both individual and corporate, to realise the change that they were seeking to create workplaces which attracted and retained diverse talent.
After several years as chief privacy officer at Thomson Reuters and then the London Stock Exchange, I took the decision to embrace a portfolio career. I have NED, chair, board advisor roles and I am a patron of Women in Finance Rwanda. Since April 2024 I have also been Chief Executive of the FTSE Women Leaders Review.
The FTSE Women Leaders Review focuses on increasing women’s representation across UK boards and leadership positions. I am delighted to report that a great deal of progress has been made – 42% of board roles are now held by women – but there is still a significant lack of female representation in other executive roles. And the further you move down the FTSE, the percentage of women in senior roles becomes even lower.
The IoD has an extraordinary reputation and joining was the obvious way for me to connect with a broad community of directors. I realised that if I wanted to share best practice then these are my people to do that with. I am learning quickly that the benefits of membership stretch way beyond having 116 Pall Mall as a hub. It is a living community full of dynamic entrepreneurs as well as established business leaders.
I hope that we can come together to enable UK business leaders to achieve inclusivity and reap the business benefits that come from more diverse leadership.
