Message from Geneviève Fortier

Message from Geneviève Fortier, Chief Executive Officer, Promutuel Assurance Honorary Co-Chair of the 2025 La Gouvernance au Féminin Gala

Fifteen years is a significant milestone that deserves to be celebrated! Congratulations to all the companies that continue to make parity a key element of their success. Hats off to Caroline Codsi and her team at La Gouvernance au Féminin for their commitment to relentlessly keeping the beat and continuing this important mission.

The progress made over the past fifteen years is remarkable. Although the work is far from complete, our organizations are moving forward. One step at a time, slowly but surely, one decision after another, our boards of directors and management teams are creating the necessary space for equity, diversity, and inclusion to establish themselves sustainably within companies. Impact, influence, and fully assumed leadership; the facts are there to demonstrate it. Companies that integrate strong EDI practices are on average 120% more likely to achieve their financial objectives, 70% more likely to penetrate new markets, and have 2.5 times higher cash flow*.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion are not just moral values: they are strategic levers of performance.

Since the beginning of my career, I have been committed to promoting diversity and inclusion within the management teams and companies where I have worked. Because diversity keeps us connected to our customers and the communities in which we operate. Because inclusion allows us to better understand the complexity of our business challenges and respond to them with fairer and more effective solutions. Because equity, diversity, and inclusion are not accessories to performance: they are its engine.

At Promutuel Assurance, it took 170 years for a woman to reach the position of Chief Executive Officer. This milestone is not an end in itself; it is a starting point. And we have a duty, together, to continue building companies that recognize, value, and cultivate the full richness of diversity. When diverse voices come together around the same table, they enrich discussions, ask better questions, and lead to more informed, fairer, and more human decisions.

Tonight, like the many organizations honored here, we are sending a clear collective message: the future of leadership is built by focusing on inclusion and the real wealth of backgrounds, ideas, and experiences. Breaking glass ceilings was providential for our society. Continuing to evolve our ecosystem and our companies so that everyone can thrive freely and fully is a commitment we must maintain, strengthen, and pass on.

Fifteen years is both an anchor point and a springboard for what's ahead.

Have a wonderful evening, everyone.

^{Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence | Gartner}