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REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Equilar, the trusted source of corporate leadership data, today announced a partnership with Third Arrow Strategies. The Third Arrow Strategies Japan Board Diversity Network (JBDN), founded by CEO Tracy Gopal, recently launched with the support of 21 global influential leaders as charter members. The JBDN intends to be a powerful force in raising Japan to board gender diversity standards in the west through aggregating and elevating global female talent for Japan. Despite the global focus on board gender diversity, the Japanese Gender Equality Bureau Cabinet Office reported that only 6.2% of board director seats were held by women as of July 2020. Many high-profile investors, including State Street Global Advisors, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and LGIM have directly engaged with portfolio companies about the lack of female representation on their boards. Companies often express difficulties in identifying qualified female board talent. The JBDN intends to be a solution for companies seeking to identify qualified female talent for their boards and invest in their senior female leadership to create a pipeline of future board candidates. I have been amazed by the positive support from both charter members and the global community. Each charter member was selected due to unique accomplishments, board skills, leadership, influence and a firm belief in the mission, said Tracy Gopal, founder and CEO. Charter members include several of the first female board directors appointed in Japan, recently appointed board directors, lawyers, startup founders, business leaders, financial professionals, investors, non-profit leaders, diplomats and politicians. With this powerhouse group of women and advisors, we are positioned to provide great resources and opportunities to make real progress in advancing board gender diversity in Japan and beyond. Charter Members: Masako Arakawa, Suzanne Basalla, Andrijana Cvetkovik, Masako Egawa, Amy Guarino, Debbie Howard, Kumi Ito, Naomi Koshi, Aiko Lane, Kahori Matsui, Kathy Matsui, Kaoru Matsuzawa, Sawako Nohara, Jenifer Rogers, Catherine OConnell, Naoko Okumoto, Susie Roos, Kaori Sasaki, Ako Williams, Tasha Yorozu, Emi Yoshikawa. In partnership with Equilar, Third Arrow Strategies Japan Board Diversity Network will be part of the Equilar Diversity Network (EDN), a resource to companies and recruiters seeking to identify diverse talent. All JBDN members will be separately identified under the Third Arrow Strategies Japan Board Diversity Network on the Equilar BoardEdge platform. JBDN is the only EDN partner focused exclusively on Japan. The Equilar Diversity Network has always had a global mission. With this new partnership with Third Arrow Strategies Japan Board Diversity Network, we are taking the first step toward expanding our reach to Japan, said David Chun, founder and CEO of Equilar. We are in full support of the JBDN mission and look forward to partnering closely to further the international expansion and our commitment to global gender diversity efforts. Founded in 2016, EDN is a consortium of more than 40 leading organizations focused on advancing diversity on boards for underrepresented groups. Across the 40+ partner organizations, Equilar has aggregated a pipeline of thousands of qualified, diverse board candidates. EDN partners and members are featured in the Equilar BoardEdge platform that contains more than one million senior executive and board member profiles. Since its founding, more than 2,000 members have been placed on corporate boards. The JBDN welcomes applications for membership from both Japanese and non-Japanese current board members and senior professionals who desire to elevate their board leadership skills and opportunities, as well as contribute to global thought leadership exchange in alignment with the JBDN mission. For more information visit www.thirdarrowstrategies.com. About Equilar Equilar is the leading provider of corporate leadership data solutions. Companies of all sizes rely on Equilar for their most important business decisions, including 70% of the Fortune 500 and institutional investors representing over $20 trillion in assets. Equilar offers data-driven solutions for business development, recruiting, executive compensation and shareholder engagement that bring together business leaders to drive exceptional results. Founded in 2000, Equilar is cited regularly by Associated Press, Bloomberg, CNBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other leading media outlets. Learn more at equilar.com. About Third Arrow Strategies Third Arrow Strategies offers solutions to promote excellence in corporate governance and board effectiveness. The firm offers a variety of board director and board director candidate trainings, interactive workshops, and global thought leadership exchange programs related to finance, governance, ESG, and investor engagement. Through its Japan Board Diversity Network, the firm helps companies identify female board candidates and invest in their female leadership pipeline. The firm supports individual female directors and director candidates in achieving board excellence, elevating their influence, and in identifying new opportunities.

Answer: The Equilar Diversity Network Welcomes New Partner Third Arrow Strategies Japan Board Diversity Network with a Focus on Increasing Board Gender Diversity in Japan