AllonBoard.jo is launched as a partnership between Amam Ventures, the Association of Banks, and the International Labour Organization (ILO)

Under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan, AllonBoard.jo was launched as a national digital platform to provide a comprehensive database of competent Jordanian women qualified to hold corporate leadership and board positions, and hence increase their presence in private sector decision-making roles. The platform was launched as a partnership between the Association of Banks in Jordan (ABJ), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and Amam Ventures.

Seeking increased gender diversity and balance in the Jordanian private sector, the platform also connects these women with corporate boards and senior management to fill top executive positions, explained ABJ Chairperson, Bassem Al Salem. “The idea of the platform was born as boards of banks lacked institutional talent acquisition strategies to enable qualified women to join these boards,” Al Salem said.

Despite progress in certain areas of women’s empowerment in Jordan, the female labour force participation remains low at 14% – 15 %, compared to 54% for males, according to figures issued by the Department of Statistics (DOS). Women hold just 3.5% of corporate board seats in the country, according to a 2015 joint report by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Jordan Institute of Directors.

The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) has directed banks to enhance labour force participation of women by increasing their representation on boards of directors to 20%, and in senior management positions to 25% by 2024. “Women on boards of banks are still underrepresented,” CBJ Governor Adel Sharkas said. “The CBJ is currently drafting a new financial inclusion strategy, which will aid women’s empowerment efforts and expand their access to financial services.”

“The platform was the product of a collective national action by stakeholders working on legislative reform and women’s capacity development and believing in the need for improving their access to decision-making positions,” said Reem Aslan, ILO Arab States gender specialist with the Decent Work for Women Programme. “It is an important step towards empowering Jordanian women to hold leadership positions and increasing the female labour force participation in the country in general,” Aslan added, calling on other national economic sectors to take similar steps. “The ILO will help Jordan in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5.5 on ensuring full participation in leadership and decision-making, and its indicator 5.5.2 on the proportion of women in managerial positions,” Aslan said.

Amam Ventures Chief Executive Officer Tamara Abdel-Jaber explained that “magic happens when both men and women are at the decision-making table. Our role at Amam Ventures, together with our partners, through our Get on Board program and the AllonBoard.jo platform is to bring more women to the decision-making table. Only then can Jordanian corporates and SMEs start realizing their growth potential and effectively contributing to our national economy.”

Amam Ventures, through its technical assistance arm – Arcan, has designed and is implementing Get on Board, a practical one-year program to promote diversity on corporate boards and support the next generation of female board members in Jordan. The program just launched its third cohort and 57 Jordanian women have been part of its first two cohorts.

The program targets women in senior management or director-level positions, where they are equipped as current and prospective board members with corporate governance, leadership, and executive presence skills. As a way for them to pay forward, the program also entails helping SMEs who are committed to equality and diversity to incorporate good governance practices through advisory boards comprised of trained board members with expertise in areas that matter to them. This is a stepping-stone for Jordanian SMEs to establish formal boards of directors.

The boardroom is where strategic decisions are made, governance is applied, and risk is overseen. Globally, there has been progress by increasing the percentage of women on boards from 20.4% in 2018 to 23.3% in 2020, and projections to reach 30% and 50% in 2029 and 2045. Unfortunately, the percentage of women on corporate boards in Jordan remains one of the lowest in the world which means that women are effectively not part of the decision-making process.

Hence the AllonBoard.jo platform comes as an important initiative to showcase Jordanian female talents and connect them to board and leadership opportunities at Jordanian banks and corporates.