WittKieffer Announces Inaugural Sponsorship of The Equity Collaborative

Global executive search firm WittKieffer announced that it is a founding sponsor of The Equity Collaborative, a new program of the Carol Emmott Foundation (CEF) that aims to further gender parity in healthcare leadership and governance.

The Equity Collaborative is comprised of 13 dedicated large healthcare systems working together to accelerate progress in achieving and promoting institutional gender equity across the industry. Each member system has made a three-year commitment to work together and share best practices in a learning community. Members will create shared metrics to measure how much they are able to "move the needle" and influence other healthcare organizations to join the movement.

"We are very proud to sponsor The Equity Collaborative as part of our ongoing commitment to supporting women leaders," said Andrew Chastain, WittKieffer president and CEO. "This program aligns with our firm's core values and is an important way that healthcare organizations can take a step toward improving equity in their own leadership."

The Carol Emmott Foundation was created to help address structural challenges within healthcare that are preventing women and minorities from ascending to senior executive roles within the field. Fellowships are granted to exceptional women leaders who complete a 14-month program with hand-selected mentors and nationally-known senior executive healthcare leaders. The Equity Collaborative is a new program for the Foundation.

"Gender equity in the C-suite doesn't just happen from good intentions," said Donna Padilla, managing partner of WittKieffer's Healthcare Practice. "It requires specific, strategic actions such as those encouraged by The Equity Collaborative in order to achieve meaningful results." Padilla and colleague Joyce De Leo, Ph.D., a principal in the firm's Academic Medicine and Health Sciences Practice, are WittKieffer's liaisons for the program.

“We are delighted that WittKieffer is bringing its support and 50-year reputation to our cause,” said Gayle Capozzalo, executive director of The Equity Collaborative. “Through their actions and those of The Carol Emmott Foundation and our other sponsors, we can make great strides toward improving equality in all levels of healthcare leadership.”

For more on The Equity Collaborative, view this video interview with Mary Pittman, president and CEO of the Public Health Institute and CEF board member. A prospectus on The Equity Collaborative is also available to download.