Perspectives

In 2022, the number of footwear companies that named female CFOs was zero. In 2024, three influential footwear players named female CFOs in a single week. Trend or coincidence?

“Definitely a trend,” says Dana Levine, who spoke with FN about these notable hires. “Female CFOs are highly sought after, especially in the footwear sector,” she explained. “It is women, many times, that are transacting at the end of the day, and businesses that are looking to broaden and retain new customers are looking at women. The best way to do that is to bring in diverse executive leadership teams and to bring females to the table.”

This insight is informed by recent Chief Financial Officer executive search assignments that have increasingly included a preference for female-leaning candidate slates, as well as an industry-wide analysis of CFO appointments for the last three years. Aggregate data from our Daily News Brief showed that more female CFOs were hired in footwear companies in the first half of 2024 than all of 2022 and 2023 combined, further validating the rising demand.

Only time will tell if the recent spike marks a lasting change or something more fleeting. In the meantime, “Seeing that there now is space for [female] CFOs to come in is exciting,” Levine added. “Across the industry, we’re starting to see CFOs ascend into the No. 1 seat. It hopefully will open up more gender diversity at the executive leadership team level across the board.” Read the full article on Footwear News:

Shoe Companies Are Hiring More Women to Be Their CFOs — Here’s Why>