Board of Directors Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility Commitment

Abt Global Board of Directors
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility Commitment
November 2023

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA) at Abt

At Abt, our diverse and inclusive teams are key to the success of One Global Abt. That is why equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility are priorities for the Abt Board of Directors and why they command attention and investment from every member of our executive leadership team. Abt’s executive leadership is actively engaged in fostering a diverse workforce and an equitable, inclusive and accessible environment where all people are valued. It is the responsibility of Abt leadership to cultivate a workplace where staff not only can but choose to bring their differences to work each day. In adopting this statement of commitment, Abt’s Board recognizes the importance of embodying EDIA approaches to its own work, including in selecting future  members and reporting on progress.

Membership

The Board of Directors recognizes that its ability to formulate sound decisions for the organization is improved by the diversity of its membership. As such, the Board is actively committed to a composition that is diverse and inclusive, including a balance of sex and gender, race, age, geographic location, differing abilities, skills and experience, while ensuring that each individual member is an expert in their field and dedicated to Abt’s mission. Abt Global seeks to attract and retain a diverse board of directors who reflect the communities where Abt works and contribute in an, inclusive, and respectful manner.

We will ensure our Board membership is diverse and representative of the communities we serve and affirm our accountability on delivering against a range of commitments related to recruitment and hiring, promoting from within, compensation, engaging partners, our communications and more.

Nominations

At the time of reviewing nominations, the Governance Committee will be made aware of the current demographic makeup and the impact of putting any nominations forward to the Board. The Governance Committee will nominate a designated representative or proposed candidate of the under-represented gender, race, ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation, or country of origin for appointment as Board Member

We will transparently report against these commitments, to be held accountable for progress through an annual Board EDIA Update available on abtglobal.com.

Our Commitments

We commit to ongoing learning to better understand our power, privilege, and the forces of institutional, systemic and structural discrimination and prejudice; and how these manifest in our work on Abt’s Board. To that end, we will:

• Understand Abt’s five-year EDIA strategy and annual priorities
• Recruit new members to increase geographical, personal and professional diversity
• Review and update this statement every other year
• Dedicate time each year to shared and individual learning focused on one or more topics in the EDIA space
• Hold our executive leaders and ourselves accountable to Abt’s EDIA commitments
• Share the lessons we have learned with regards to EDIA work on our Board with other institutions
• Share publicly Abt’s Board EDIA Statement of Commitment as well as metrics that demonstrate our diversity across multiple identities
• Strengthen the connection between our practices and EDIA