Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and UN Women Nordic Office bring together 19 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

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English:

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.   

Mai-Britt Poulsen

Partner & Managing Director, Global Chief of Staff

Boston Consulting Group

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Mai-Britt is Partner and Managing Partner and Global Chief of Staff at Boston Consulting Group. She has until recently been on the global Women@BCG leadership team, serving as Chair for Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions, working on strengthening the diversity agenda inside and outside of BCG. She is a co-founder of the Gender Diversity Roundtable Denmark. Together with four other members, she co-authored the book 'The Queen's New Clothes' based on learnings from the GDR.

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.

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 is the newly appointed director of KVINFO. 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

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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

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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.

Chris Preuss

President

Danish Youth Council

Chris Preuss was appointed President of Dansk Ungdoms Fællesråd (DUF) in June 2019. He is also a senior consultant on public affairs at Landbrug & Fødevarer and have also been a political consultant at Brintbranchen. Prior to this, he was involved with politics through the liberal youth party Venstres Ungdom. Here he held the position president. He has a bachelor’s degree in Education from UCC.

Lars Werge Andersen

President

The Danish Union of Journalists

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Lars is the president of The Danish Union of Journalists since 2015, and before that he was vice-president of the Union for four years after decades of working in Danish journalism. Lars Werge is also chairman of AJKS – the unemployment insurance fund of the media and communication business in Denmark.

Malou Aamund

Country Director

Google Denmark

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Malou is the Country Director for Google Denmark. She has previously held international leadership positions at Microsoft and IBM in Europe, EMEA and Americas. Malou was Member of Parliament for four years and acted as a spokesperson on science, technology and innovation. She holds a M.Sc. in Economics and Business.

Morten Mølholm Hansen

CEO

Sports Confederation of Denmark (DIF)

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Morten is 55 years old and 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 new president of CBS.

Peder Holk Nielsen

President and CEO​

Novozymes

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Peder has a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering, and he holds a B.Com. in International Business Management. Before becoming President and CEO of Novozymes in 2013, he held different positions as EVP within Novozymes. Peder has also held various leadership positions in business development and R&D Novo Nordisk.

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. 

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Pernille Erenbjerg

Deputy Chair 

Millicom

 Pernille is the Deputy Chair of international mobile and cable operator Millicom, 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. 

Thomas Bustrup

COO/Deputy Director General

Confederation of Danish Industry

Thomas Bustrup has worked on the agenda of internationalization of Danish companies in the EU and globally throughout his career with a strong focus on emerging markets. Promoting the best possible business conditions for growth of companies in Denmark has been at the forefront of all his efforts, as he has assisted companies in accessing new markets around the world. Furthermore, Thomas Bustrup has many years of experience in undertaking Danish business interests in EU policy. Thomas Bustrup holds several board memberships including vice-chairmanship of the board of Global Compact Network Denmark and the organization World’s Best News. 

Thomas Thune 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.

Bjarne Corydon

CEO and Editor in Chief

Dagbladet Børsen

For the past two years 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.​

Lasse Pilgaard

CFO

TDC

Lasse Pilgaard has been the CFO of TDC since March 2019, and has through his four years with the company held the positions of CSO and Head of Strategy. Before joining TDC, Lasse worked at AutoButler as. Prior to this, he was Investment Manager at Creandum, Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company. He has a Master’s Degree in Business and Economics from Aarhus University.

Alumni

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MAR

2020

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MAR

2019

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JUN

2017

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 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

Report, BCG 2011

Hard-Writing Diversity into Your Business

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

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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

8 MAY 2019

News Article, Børsen

Det er en myte at det går godt med ligestillingen

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8 MAR 2018

TV2 Interview, TV2

News segment live from GDR3 at UN City including interviews with Pernille Aamund, Karen Ellemann, Mai-Britt Poulsen, and Pernille Erenbjerg

8 MAR 2018

News Article, Børsen

Mai-Britt Poulsen: "Det er lykkedes at sætte en dagsorden, hvor virksomheder forstår værdien af mangfoldighed"

25 NOV 2017

News Article, dr.dk

Virksomheder og universiteter skal skabe flere kvindelige ledere

13 NOV 2017

News Article, Berlingske Business

Kvindekampen rykker ind i direktionslokalerne

13 OKT 2017

News Article, MetroXpress

Unge kvinder vælger topleder-uddannelserne fra

13 OKT 2017

News Article, Berlingske Business

Mænd skal være med til at vise vejen for flere kvindelige ledere

12 OKT 2017

News Article, Berlingske Business

100 kvinder på toppen

Listen omfatter GDR-medlemmerne: Mai-Britt Poulsen, Pernille Erenbjerg, Malou Aamund og Hanne Leth Andersen.

02 AUG 2017

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News Article, mandagmorgen

Fortsat stort uudnyttet lederpotentiale i kvinder

10 JUL 2017

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News Article, CSR.dk

FN og Boston Consulting Group: Der skal flere kvinder i ledelse

27 JUN 2017

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News, DTU

DTU´s President member of UN equality initiative

26 JUN 2017

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News Article, CBS

CBS and UN come together to get women in leading positions

25 JUN 2017

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News Article, fyens.dk

Kvinder skal være med til at skabe den digitale fremtid

21 JUN 2017

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News, DIF

Ligestilling skal hjælpe DIF med at få flere medlemmer (Danish)

13 JUN 2017

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News, Copenhagen Business School

CBS går med i nyt ligestillingsinitiativ fra FN (Danish)

12 JUN 2017

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News, KVINFO

FN's Gender Diversity Roundtable 21. juni (Danish)

08 JUN 2017

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News Article, UN City

Nyt dansk ligestillingsinitiativ skal bane vejen for flere kvinder i ledelse (Danish)

08 JUN 2017

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News Article, Altinget

Danske topchefer samles i nyt FN-ligestillings-initiativ (Danish)

08 JUN 2017

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News Article, Berlingske Business

Kvindelige ledere skal findes tidligt i fødekæden (Danish)

08 JUN 2017

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News Article, Dansk Journalistforbund

Nyt initiativ skal øge antallet af kvinder i topledelse – DJ deltager (Danish)

08 JUN 2017

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News Article, DIF

DIF-direktør med i FN -ligestillings-initiativ (Danish)

07 JUN 2017

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Press Release, GDR

Nyt dansk ligestillingsinitiativ skal bane vejen for flere kvinder i ledelse (Danish)