Around the world, hundreds of international social impact organisations are working towards equity and justice. However, the underrepresentation of women in the social impact sector’s leadership reflects a gap between the sector’s aspirations and its own internal structures and culture.
That’s why we built the FAIR SHARE Monitor: to annually measure the proportion of women on staff and in leadership in the largest and most well-known international organisations. In doing so, we aim to create awareness on the gender gap that exists in the sector’s leadership and foster change towards achieving a FAIR SHARE of women leaders by 2030.
Through the FAIR SHARE Monitor, we collect and publish data on the proportion of women in the staff and leadership of civil society organisations, which in turn encourages transparency and accountability. We began collecting this data in 2019 and will continue to do so until 2030, in line with Goal 5 of the United Nations Sustainable Development agenda. Read more about why we built the Monitor on our blog.
| Rank | Organisation name | Size | Women in staff | Women in leadership | Proportion of BIWOC in women leadership | FAIR SHARE Index 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sightsavers International ✅ | Medium | 51% | 50% | 45% | 0.53 ↗ |
| 2 | 350.org ✳️ ✅ | Small | 63% | 62% | 25% | 0.96 ↗ |
| 2 | WeMove Europe ✳️ ⚠️ | Small | 73% | 75% | N/A | 0.96 ↗ |
| 3 | ActionAid International ⚠️ | Large | 51% | 53% | 4% | 1.12 ↗ |
| 4 | Restless Development ✳️ ✅ | Medium | 49% | 51% | 46% | 1.17 ↗ |
| 5 | Partners in Health ✅ | Large | 50% | 50% | N/A | 1.60 ↗ |
Based on the data we collect, we rank organisations according to how close they are to a FAIR SHARE of women in their leadership. The Monitor can therefore be used by both individual organisations and the sector in general to set benchmarks and measure progress towards internal gender equity.
The annual data collection for the FAIR SHARE Monitor takes place in Q4 or Q1. International social impact organisations are called upon to participate by sharing their figures via an online survey. Organisations we do not directly invite could also volunteer to participate by contacting us.
When organisations do not share their data with us, we research it for them through their websites, then give them the opportunity to confirm the figures we find. Once the data is in, we begin data analysis and publish the results in April.
For the FAIR SHARE Monitor 2024, 104 international organisations were invited to participate in data collection. About 40% actively supported us in collecting data, either submitting figures on their own or confirming data researched by us. Take a look at the results of the FAIR SHARE Monitor 2024 here.
We collect organisations' data through an online questionnaire. Organisations invited to participate in the FAIR SHARE Monitor receive a link to submit their data. You can see the full FAIR SHARE Monitor 2024 questionnaire here.
Generally, our data collection involves the following categories:
Black, Brown, Indigenous women and women of colour
Initially, the FAIR SHARE Monitor only collected data about the number of women and men in staff and leadership. Since 2021, we also ask for data on Black, Brown, Indigenous women and women of colour (BIWoC). Read more on that here.
We recognise that diversity encompasses significantly more dimensions than just gender and race/ethnicity. We see collecting data on BIWoC as a first step towards making the Monitor more intersectional, but by no means an exhaustive one. Through our other work, such as advocating for Feminist Leadership, we aim to contribute to wider cultural change and help create the conditions for a truly equitable and inclusive sector.
Gender inclusivity
In 2023, we also started collecting data on non-binary staff in the social impact sector. This comes after consultation with members of the non-binary community and thorough reflections on how to collect and communicate this data in a way that wouldn’t jeopardize the integrity and privacy of individuals who entrust us with such sensitive information. Read more here.
Middle Management
Since 2024, our data collection also includes data on Middle Management gender distribution. While our approach to women’s leadership, and subsequent Monitor ranking, remains focused on the top leadership of organisations (i.e. Senior Management Teams and Boards), we also acknowledge that tracking the gender distribution of organisations’ Middle Management is a significant step towards developing a more comprehensive picture of women’s contribution to and leadership journey in the social impact sector. We therefore invite organisations for whom Middle Management is a relevant organisational structure to share their data with us if available.
We focus on the largest international organisations covering a wide variety of issues including but not limited to poverty, children’s rights, environmental protection and humanitarian work within the international social impact sector. To date, over 90 international social impact organisations have been part of the FAIR SHARE Monitor.
This selection is expanded annually and we welcome additional international social impact organisations that would like to be included in the FAIR SHARE Monitor on their own initiative. If you are interested, please contact us at monitor@fairsharewl.org.
An organisation has achieved a FAIR SHARE of women leaders if it has:
The FAIR SHARE Commitment is a pledge to:
The FAIR SHARE Commitment is for leaders who want to take a concrete step towards gender equity and demonstrate their dedication to their staff, external partners and the sector at large.
The FAIR SHARE Index shows how well or poorly women are represented in leadership based on our criteria for a FAIR SHARE. It takes into account:
The lower the index, the more fairly women are represented in leadership. The perfect Index would be “0” but to acknowledge fluctuations in staff, we defined an index below 15 as a desirable FAIR SHARE.
However, calculating the index as described above meant organisations with more women leaders than the share of women staff received a negative score, and the higher the proportion of women leaders, the worse this score would be. For example, an organisation made up of 40% women staff and 60% women leaders would be penalised for this gap, even though it actually indicates a positive shift from the norm and a willingness to go beyond the minimum benchmark of 50/50.
In 2021 we therefore adjusted the formula to ensure that a FAIR SHARE gap in favour of women (more women leaders than their share of staff) would not be penalised in the same way as a FAIR SHARE gap in favour of men (more male leaders than their share of staff). We do this by applying a 50% correction to the score of such organisations.
Our vision is not that eventually all organisations are fully led by women. However, given that for so long the norm has been that men dominate the ranks at all levels, we understand gender dynamics skewed towards women as part of the process towards gender equality.
We do not publish any personal data, but only the aggregated number of women at the different organisational levels. Leaders of organisations are usually publicly presented on their organisations’ websites and this is the information we use when researching organisations who do not submit their data to us.
You can learn more about this in our privacy policy.
We answer further questions about our work on our FAQ page.
The FAIR SHARE Monitor is an exciting project with enormous potential and added value for our sector – and at the same time a complex challenge in terms of data analysis, technical design, implementation and further development. We are therefore grateful to have knowledgeable and energetic supporters at our side, with whom we can realise the FAIR SHARE Monitor.
Allen Gunn is the Executive Director of Aspiration in San Francisco, USA, and works to help NGOs, activists, foundations and technologists make more effective use of technology for social change.
Gunner has worked in numerous technology environments from NGO to Silicon Valley start-up to college faculty to large corporation, serving in senior management, engineering, teaching and volunteer roles. He is an experienced strategist, mentor and facilitator with a passion for designing collaborative open learning processes, and he believes in melding hard work with serious fun.
Zoe Langer is a graphic designer and freelancer based in Berlin specialising in design for social change. She works with feminist organisations, non-profits and small businesses focused on social justice, community building, the environment, etc.
Zoe initially worked in advertising and design agencies, but then turned to projects that were more aligned with her values.
Garret O’Connell is a data scientist from Ireland interested in applying data analytic methods (e.g. causal inference, forecasting, ML) to problems in the civil society and non-profit sectors. He volunteers with CorrelAid, a non-partisan, non-profit network that enables data scientists to use their skills for the common good and helps social organisations increase their impact on society through pro bono (Data4Good) projects.
No Borders is a website design and development studio that works with nonprofits and impact-driven companies. Led by Ilya Thainovich and Maia Iva, the studio is comprised of graphic designers, photographers, and copywriters who bring their expertise to the design of user-centered websites.
With its values-driven approach, the studio reflects its commitment to human rights, inclusivity and feminism in its work for nonprofit organisations.
Jay Goulden is a consultant on program strategy and innovation based in the UK. Since 2017 he has served as Head of Knowledge Management & Learning for the CARE International Secretariat’s Programs team, where he is responsible for coordinating the collection, aggregation and sense-making of CARE’s global impact evidence. Prior to working in CARE, Jay worked for several international and local NGOs in the UK and Central America, including Oxfam, Christian Aid, and International Alert.
DisCheck is a consulting collective that helps and supports companies and organisations to make their media landscape and internal corporate structures sensitive to discrimination, intersectional and authentically diverse. DisCheck employs 18 experts and various consultants, the consulting collective putting a lot of value on having different perspectives. DisCheck also offers lectures and workshops, as well as reviews and analysis of media content of all kinds. Clients can also book DisCheck consultants as awareness persons for events.