Gender Diversity Roundtable Denmark
Bringing Denmark to the Forefront of Gender Diversity
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and UN Women Nordic Office bring together 24 Danish leaders in The Gender Diversity Roundtable (GDR), an initiative to share experiences and best practices on how to advance gender diversity in Denmark.
Leaders need gender diversity to perform, however today there are still very few female top leaders in Denmark, and companies, institutions, and organizations lose out on the value that diverse management brings.
To obtain gender diversity leaders must step-change efforts along the career ladder.
GDR is dedicated to identifying concrete and actionable steps to advance gender diversity along the career journey – from education to the executive team – with the objective to strengthen performance and promote greater diversity in management teams.
GDR is a beacon for gender diversity in Denmark and provides perspectives to influence policymakers to create the optimal environment for gender diversity in Denmark.
GDR is managed and facilitated by UN Women Nordic Office and Boston Consulting Group. BCG is supporting with related publications.
Read our Manifesto here
Danish:
English:
Roundtable members
To have the broadest Impact in Danish Society, UN Women and BCG brings together in the Roundtable 24 Leaders of the Danish Private Sector, Educational Institutions and Societal Member Organizations
Caroline Rusten
Director
UN Women Nordic Office
Caroline has been the Director of the UN Women Nordic Liaison Office since September 2018. She has been in UN Women since 2015 and before her current role, she worked as UN Women Chief Humanitarian in New York, and UN Women Country Programme Manager in Somalia. Before joining UN Women, Caroline worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the World Bank and UNDP among others. Caroline holds a PhD in Political Geography.
Gertie Find Laerkholm
Managing Director & Partner
Boston Consulting Group
Gertie is a Managing Director and Partner at the Copenhagen office of Boston Consulting Group and has been the BCG representative of the Gender Diversity Roundtable since 2021. At BCG, Gertie's experience sits chiefly in the consumer & retail practice area with a passion for strategy, commercial & leadership topics. Besides her efforts with GDR and DE&I more broadly, Gertie also leads BCG Copenhagen’s internal efforts to include representation, equity and inclusion of women.
Anders Bjarklev
President
Technical University of Denmark
Anders is Dr.Techn. and President of Technical University of Denmark since 2011. Anders is Chairman of the Danish Rectors’ Conference of Universities Denmark. Anders has a research background in optical fibres and optical communication, among others.
Anders Schelde
Chief Investment Officer
MP Pension
M.Sc. Economics from Copenhagen University, MBA from Copenhagen Business School.
Anders has worked in the financial sector since 1989, as investment director for nearly a decade at Velliv (formerly Nordea Liv & Pension) and MP Pension since 2017. An active investor committed to delivering high returns on a responsible basis.
Bjarne Corydon
CEO and Editor in Chief
Dagbladet Børsen
Since 2018 Bjarne Corydon has been the CEO and Editor in Chief of the newspaper Dagbladet Børsen. Before assuming this position, he spent two years with McKinsey & Company as Global Director for their Center for Government. Prior to entering the private sector, Bjarne served as a politician for the Danish Social Democratic Party. During his approximately 20 years in politics, he has held positions such as Minister of Finance of Denmark and Chief of Staff under the Helle Thorning Schmidt administration. He holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Aarhus University.
Photographer: Thomas Nielsen
Brian Bech Nielsen
Rector
Aarhus University
Brian Bech Nielsen took office in August 2013. As a former Dean of the largest faculty at Aarhus University, Faculty of Science and Technology, he has been part of the Senior Management Team since 2010. Prior to that, he was Head of the Department of Chemistry, the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Vice Director of the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO). Brian Bech Nielsen holds a PhD in physics and he became Professor in 2007 at the department of Physics and Astronomy.
Christine Ravn Lund
President
Danish Youth Council
Christine Ravn Lund was appointed President of Dansk Ungdoms Fællesråd (DUF) in December 2021. Coming from FDF she has previously been voluntarily engaged in Red Cross, KFUM, KFUK and YMCA Amager.
Deborah Dunsire
President & CEO
Lundbeck
Deborah Dunsire has more than 30 years of clinical, commercial, and international management experience from the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, primarily in the fields of oncology and CNS, thus bringing a breadth of scientific and business experience. Her professional and executive experience includes positions as President and CEO of XTuit Pharmaceuticals, Inc., FORUM Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Deborah joined Lundbeck as President & CEO in September 2018.
Ester Baiget
President and CEO
Novozymes
Ester holds a chemical engineering degree and an MBA from the University of Tarragona (Spain). Before becoming President and CEO of Novozymes she held a position as Business President for Dow’s Industrial Solutions and was a member of the executive leadership team. She is an experienced international leader with a strong track-record.
Hanne Leth Andersen
President
Roskilde University
Hanne is rector at Roskilde University (RUC) since 2014. Prior to that she was vice rector at RUC, after a period as director at CBS Learning Lab. She has also served as vice-dean, head of studies and professor at Aarhus University.
Henriette Laursen
Director
KVINFO
Henriette has been a Director of KVINFO since 2017. She is a lawyer, and started her career at the Attorney General before she became director for the Danish AIDS fund for a number of years, only interrupted by two years of posting in Vietnam. Most recently, she has been Secretary General of the Danish Youth Council.
Henrik C. Wegener
President
University of Copenhagen
Henrik has been the rector of the University of Copenhagen since March 1, 2017. He is M.Sc. in Food Science (1988) and Ph.D. in Microbiology (1992). Furthermore, he holds a Master of Public Administration (2007).
Jais Valeur
CEO
Danish Crown
Jais is M.Sc.in Economics. He has previously worked at Arla Foods, Fonterra and Royal Unibrew. Since 2015, he has been Group CEO at Danish Crown.
Bianca Bruhn
Country Director
Google Denmark
Malou is the Country Director for Google Denmark. She has previously held leadership positions at YouGov and IDC and holds a Master's degree from Henley Business School
Kinga Szabo Christensen
Deputy Director General
Danish Industry
Kinga Szabo Christensen is deputy director general at Danish Industry. Born in Hungary, she has lived and worked in North-Africa, Denmark, Hong Kong, Mexico, Brazil and the US, gaining broad experience from business development, strategy and opertaions.
Morten Mølholm Hansen
CEO
Sports Confederation of Denmark (DIF)
Morten holds a Master in both Political Science and Corporate Communication. Since 2015 he has been CEO at the National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark (DIF). Prior to that he was Director of Development at DIF.
Nikolaj Malchow-Møller
President
CBS
Nikolaj Malchow-Møller is Ph.D. and Professor of Economics. He has served as director of research at CBS and as head of the department and later dean at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU). He established and chaired the SDU’ social science faculty’s gender equality committee. As of March 2019, Nikolaj Malchow-Møller is the president of CBS.
Nicolaj Reffstrup
Founder
GANNI
Nicolaj studied business, administration and philosophy at Copenhagen Business School, followed by an MA in information technology at IT University of Copenhagen. After graduating, he went on to hold tech roles and co-founded various companies, including Oryx Invest and Spleak Media Network Ltd. Nicolaj is the Founder of GANNI.
Per Michael Johansen
Rector
Aalborg University
Professor Per Michael Johansen has been Rector of Aalborg University since 2014. He holds a PhD in Physical Optics from Aalborg University, a DSc in Physics from the University of Copenhagen, and is the former Dean of Engineering at the University of Southern Denmark. Currently, Per Michael Johansen is Vice Chair of the Danish Rectors’ Conference.
Pernille Erenbjerg
Chair
Nordic Entertainment Group
Pernille is the Chair of iNordic Entertainment Group, and in addition to this serves on the boards of Nordea and Genmab. From 2003 to 2018 Pernille held multiple leadership positions within the TDC Group, latest as Group CEO and president until December 2018. She holds a Master of Science in Business Economics from CBS (Copenhagen Business School)and is today an adjunct professor of CBS. Together with four other members, she co-authored the book 'The Queen's New Clothes' based on learnings from the GDR.
Stefan Hermann
Rector
University College Copenhagen
Stefan is rector of University College Copenhagen and the chairman of Univesity Colleges Denmark.
Thomas Tune Andersen
Chairman
Ørsted
Thomas is Chairman of the Board of directors of Ørsted A/S and has many years of experience from the energy sector and sits on the boards of directors of several international companies dealing in energy, logistics and distribution. Together with four other members, he co-authored the book 'The Queen's New Clothes' based on learnings from the GDR
Tine Johansen
Chairman
The Danish Union of Journalists
Tine Johansen is the Chairman of the Danish Union of Journalists. She was educated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2001, and has prior to being appointed the Vice Chairman of the Danish Union of Journalists in 2015, held numerous roles as journalist at Danish media, including e.g., Ekstra Bladet and Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR).
Meetings
The Members of the Roundtable have been meeting regularly since 2017.
Friday, March 6th 2020
Boston Consulting Group, Kalvebod Brygge 24,1560 København V, Denmark
Gender Diversity Roundtable Denmark #7
Women Retention and Advancement
MAR
2022
AGENDA
08:15-09:00
09:00-09:10
09:10-09:40
09:40-10:00
10:00-10:35
10:35-10:55
10:55-11:00
Breakfast, registration & group picture
Welcome & introduction
Beyond Diversity
Perspective on women advancement
Discussion
GDR going forward
Wrap up & next steps
Monday, March 8th 2021
Online
Gender Diversity Roundtable Denmark #6
Diversity in the Workplace, Beyond Gender
MAR
2021
Friday, March 6th 2020
Boston Consulting Group, Kalvebod Brygge 24, Copenhagen, Denmark
Gender Diversity Roundtable Denmark #5
Diversity in AI
MAR
2020
Friday, March 8th 2019
UN City, Marmorvej 51, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Gender Diversity Roundtable Denmark #4
Wake Up Denmark
MAR
2019
MAR
2018
Friday, March 9th 2018
UN City, Marmorvej 51, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Gender Diversity Roundtable Denmark #3
Perspectives: How to Advance Gender Diversity
NOV
2017
Friday, November 10th 2017
UN City, Marmorvej 51, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Gender Diversity Roundtable Denmark #2
From Insights to Action: Members Implementing Key Initiatives
Wednesday, June 21st, 2017
UN City, Marmorvej 51, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Gender Diversity Roundtable Denmark #1
Experience Sharing and Perspectives from Current and Future Danish Leaders
JUN
2017
Pictures
Pictures from the Gender Diversity Roundtables
Video
Video from the Gender Diversity Roundtable #2 by BCG
Reports
Download and Access related Reports and Publications
Report, BCG 2022
Inside the black box: fixing the leaking pipeline of women leaders
Report, BCG 2021
Finding Value in Diversity
Report, BCG 2020
Gender Diversity in AI
Report, BCG 2019
Wake Up Denmark
Report, BCG 2018
How Policies Can Drive Gender Diversity in Denmark
Report, BCG 2017
How Leaders Can Advance Gender Diversity in Denmark
Report, BCG 2017
Universities Are Key to Unlocking Diversity in Denmark
White Paper #1, BCG 2017
Leaders must Step-Change Diversity along the Career Ladder to Perform
DI Analyse 2017
Stadig flere kvinder i selskabernes bestyrelser
DI Analyse 2017
Markant flere kvinder i ledelse og bestyrelser
Report, BCG 2017
What's Working to Drive Gender Diversity in Leadership
Report, BCG 2016
Creating Value with Gender Diversity in Danish Companies
Article, BCG 2017
Women on the Move - Shaping Leaders Through Overseas Postings
Article, BCG 2017
Dispelling the Myths of the Gender “Ambition Gap”
Report, BCG 2016
The Rewards of an Engaged Female Workforce
Report, BCG 2011
Hard-Wiring Diversity into Your Business
Report, BCG 2016
Sleeping Beauty - Awakening the Slumbering Potential of Women for the German Economy
Report, BCG 2012
Shattering the Glass Ceiling - An Analytical Approach to Advancing Women into Leadership Roles
Access additional resources by BCG on gender diversity here
Experts on Gender Diversity in Denmark involved in the GDR
Nina Smith
Professor, Department of Economics and Business Economics
Aarhus University
E-mail: nsmith@econ.au.dk
Web: www.econ.au.dk
Lisbeth Odgaard Madsen
Founder and CEO
Potential Company
E-mail: lom@potentialco.dk
Web: www.potentialco.dk
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