The ‘Independent Women Directors’ Project, which aims to help publicly listed companies to give priority to women in nominating independent board members and help strengthen the position of women in decision making mechanisms, was announced to the public and press with a launch event on 13 December 2012 at Conrad Hotel, Istanbul. Candace Johnson, Coordinator of the ‘Global Board Ready Women’ Project delivered a key note speech at the event.

Following the message of Daniela Bankier, Head of Unit for Equality between Women and Men at the European Commission and the speech of Torkel Stiernlöf, Consul General of Sweden in Istanbul, Caroline Sundewall, an independent director of a number of Swedish firms, shared the experience of Sweden that has achieved a relatively high percentage of women in boards without a quota. Dr. Melsa Ararat followed with the results of ‘Women Directors in Turkey’s Publicly-Listed Companies 2012’ report with the participants. Closing remarks by Murat Yeşildere, the Head of Egon Zehnder International’s Istanbul Office and the event ended with a cocktail.