FAIR SHARE
Monitor 2021

For this 3rd edition of the FAIR SHARE Monitor, 56 organisations from the social impact sector were invited to share data on the gender breakdown of their staff and leadership. 

For organisations from which we did not receive data, we researched this information on public websites and shared our findings to give them a chance to amend or confirm our research. 

For organisations that do not actively participate in the Monitor and for which we are able to find data, we assume a proportion of 70% of women on staff. We add a symbol in the ranking to make transparent which organisations did or didn’t confirm their data.

Women’s work not reflected in leadership

According to our research, women comprise around 63%-70% of the international civil society workforce. But the leadership of the sector, over half of which is men, doesn’t reflect this. And while the proportion of women on staff has grown since last year, the proportion of women leaders has stayed at 46%.

Organisations led by women in 56 international organisations

Almost half (43%) of all monitored organisations are led by a woman. However, this signals a downward trend from 2020 when the proportion of organisations with a woman CEO or ED was 45%.

Almost half (43%) of the organisations are led by a woman. However, this actually signals a downward trend from 2020, when the proportion of organisations with a woman CEO or ED was 45%.

While our research confirms that boards still lag furthest behind when it comes to gender equality, there are also indicators of positive change: the proportion of boards with a majority of women has been increasing, from 25% in 2019 to 36% this year.

While senior management teams, made up of 46% women, are more representative than boards, this number has stagnated since last year. Senior management teams with a majority of men, on the other hand, has increased from 45% to 48%.

For more details on the data and results, see the FAIR SHARE Monitor report.

Gender equality, but for whom?

True gender equality will require not only addressing sexism, but also the other forms of discrimination that affect women. We started by asking: how are Black, Brown, Indigenous women and women of colour (BIWoC) faring when it comes to representation in leadership?

BIWOC-led organisations

While 44% of the organisations in the Monitor are led by a woman, only 26% of those woman leaders are BIWoC.

Other indicators compound these findings: 16% of the 43 organisations had zero BIWoC on their board, and 42% had zero in their senior management teams.

The data we were able to gather shows a clear lack of diverse representation in our sector. Focus on gender equality alone, without taking into account intersectionality, can result in primarily white women having access to leadership opportunities. 

The perspectives, experiences and voices of BIWoC need to be uplifted and amplified in order to reach equality both within organisations and in their external programmes. 

Want to learn more about why we started collecting this data?

Let’s make gender equality the new normal

Organisations with a FAIR SHARE

Committed to gender equality

What’s changed since 2020?

CSOs and foundations are key players in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda. Not only is gender equality Goal 5 of this agenda, but it is also a condition for achieving the other 16 goals. We hold the sector accountable for meeting this target by measuring and making transparent the proportion of women in leadership every year until 2030. 

But the necessary change cannot be achieved by numbers alone: that’s why we also promote Feminist Leadership as a means of creating a wider cultural transformation in our sector.

Want to learn more about Feminist Leadership, and how you might practice it on an individual or organisational level?