Voya Financial Recognized by Women's Forum of New York for Achieving Gender Parity of Board of Directors in 2017

NEW YORK, Nov. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), chairman and chief executive officer, Rodney O. Martin, Jr., presented Voya's path to gender parity of its Board of Directors during the Women's Forum of New York's fourth biennial Breakfast of Corporate Champions held on November 14, 2017. The Women's Forum of New York is a community of women leaders working to advance women's leadership.  In 2011, the Women's Forum of New York established the Corporate Board Initiative to help generate balance on corporate boards, through outreach to senior influencers and leading companies at the forefront of board diversity ? and a database of uniquely vetted, qualified women for board positions.

In his third attendance at the event, Martin spoke of Voya's progress to achieving gender balance as he introduced the "CEO Game Changers" panel discussion.  The panelists included the CEOs of BlackRock, Merck, the NASDAQ, KeyCorp and General Mills, and was moderated by CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin. 

In discussing Voya's path to gender parity on its board, Martin said, "When we began this journey as Voya Financial, we researched best practices and looked at what leading companies were doing from a corporate governance perspective.  The facts were clear to us ? companies with more diverse boards tended to be more successful. I am proud to share that, four years later, we have gender parity on our board ? with 50% of our independent directors being women.  And, three of our five board committees are chaired by women."

Voya Director Ruth Ann Gillis also joined Martin at the event.  "An environment where every board conversation is engaging and enriched by a variety of viewpoints and experiences enables a better and stronger board, providing more valuable oversight and insight for the company," said Gillis. "Having diverse views also mitigates potential groupthink, and allows the firm to be readily adaptable in an ever-changing, competitive landscape."

Martin also noted the business transformation that occurred concurrent with the evolution of Voya's board. "I don't believe that it's coincidental that while we were transforming our board and our Executive Committee, we also transformed our business performance and our culture ?returning more than $3.4 billion of capital to shareholders," shared Martin.

Voya Financial is committed to diversity, inclusion, and gender equality, and has been recognized by several notable organizations, including Catalyst, a global nonprofit working to accelerate women's progress in leadership. Voya's story was recently highlighted as a Spotlight Story on the Catalyst website.

For more information about Voya Financial, please visit www.voya.com

Media Contact:
Jeanne LaCour
Voya Financial
Office: (212) 309-8949
[email protected]

Investor Contact:
Darin Arita 
212-309-8999 
[email protected] 

About Voya Financial®
Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings ? to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13.6 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $11 billion in revenue in 2016. The company had $541 billion in total assets under management and administration as of Sept. 30, 2017. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible ? one person, one family, one institution at a time ? Voya's vision is to be America's Retirement Company®. Certified as a "Great Place to Work" by the Great Place to Work® Institute, Voya is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible and has been recognized as one of the 2017 World's Most Ethical Companies® by the Ethisphere Institute, as well as one of the Top Green Companies in the U.S., by Newsweek magazine. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook and Twitter @Voya.

About the Women's Forum of New York
The Women's Forum of New York is the city's premier organization of women leaders. The invitation-only membership of more than 500 women represents the highest levels of achievement across all professional sectors from finance to fine arts. The organization is dedicated to the advancement of women's leadership through programs which enrich members' lives both personally and professionally, through The Education Fund, which enables talented women whose potential has been disrupted by extreme adversity to resume their education, and through the Corporate Board Initiative, which extends and expands the contribution of women leaders through corporate board participation. Founded in 1974, the Women's Forum of New York is the flagship of the International Women's Forum, a global organization of over 6,500 outstanding women leaders in over 74 Forums around the world.

SOURCE Voya Financial, Inc.