IBM WINS MAJOR BELGIAN AWARD FOR DIVERSITY AND GENDER BALANCE
Christel Verschaeren, Director Integration and Change management IBM Europe wins 2nd AXA Wo_Men@work Award
Christel Verschaeren, Director Integration and Change Management of IBM Europe, yesterday won the 2nd edition of the AXA Wo_Men@work award. This award recognizes the personality that contributed the most to the improvement of diversity between men and women in his or her company or organization. Christel Verschaeren was awarded for her pro-active promotion of gender balance and her personal commitment to guaranteeing an equal representation of men and women in the company’s management and top management.
Christel Verschaeren is considered one of the diversity pioneers in Belgium. She works already for 8 years in an environment mostly dominated by men. In addition her different diversity initiatives have continuously been expanded to the different international IBM sites. This way, the past 5 years, 81 women gained access to c-level functions. As winner of the AXA Wo_Men@work Award, this Christel Verschaeren becomes the diversity ambassador for the Belgian economical world.
In Belgium, women represent only 7% of members on the Boards of Directors of companies listed on the stock exchange and only 6% of those on Management Boards. The AXA Wo_Men@Work Award is unique in that it celebrates and supports a woman or a man at the top of an organization who, through her or his commitment and actions, actively promotes gender equality in their teams and among their managers.
IBM has a long history of commitment to Diversity and has consistently taken the lead on Diversity policies long before it was required by law. This strong foundation brought IBM to the point where they can take best advantage of their differences — for innovation. IBM considers diversity as a competitive advantage and consciously builds diverse teams to helps drive the best results for its clients.
For more information about IBM: ibm.com
For more information about diversity in IBM: http://bit.ly/rTXZxI
For more information on the Wo_Men@Work Award: womenatworkaward.be
Information for the press:
High Resolution Pictures (courtesy Axa Press service): http://bit.ly/vGEmvT
Youtube (Courtesy Jump): http://bit.ly/rqoOgz
