Catalyst Awards Dinner
The Catalyst Awards Dinner is the signature event for Catalyst and its many supporters. Each year close to 1,600 attendees—including CEOs from corporations, professional firms, and other organizations around the world—gather to honor the Catalyst Award-winning initiatives at a gala dinner at which Catalyst presents its Catalyst Award and celebrates these extraordinary programs that result in the recruitment, development, and advancement of women in the workplace.
The 2008 Catalyst Awards Dinner, sponsored by Shell Oil Company, was held on Wednesday, April 9, at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York. More than 90 CEOs joined Catalyst to honor Award-winning initiatives to advance women from ING U.S. Financial Services (USFS) and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman & CEO, American Express Company, served as Dinner Chair.
Kenneth I. Chenault
Mr. Chenault opened the festivities, calling for "a strong and ongoing commitment to increasing diversity of our workforces from the first point of entry to all levels of leadership."
Watch: Windows Media Player | Quicktime
Ilene H. Lang
Catalyst President Ilene H. Lang issued a challenge to corporate leaders. “Tonight I say we shift the focus. We’ll stop asking, ‘Why women?’ and start asking, ‘Why not women?’”
Watch: Windows Media Player | Quicktime
Charles O. Holliday, Jr., Chairman & CEO, DuPont, and Chair, Catalyst Board of Directors, presented the Catalyst Award to…
Thomas J. McInerney
ING Group Executive Board Member
Chairman & CEO, ING Insurance Americas
Mr. McInerney: “Diversity for ING is not...the flavor of the month. It’s an integral part of how we do business.”
Speech: Windows Media Player | Quicktime
Company Video: Windows Media Player | Quicktime
Carlos Ghosn
President & CEO
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Mr. Ghosn: “Our diversity is a strength, and we aim to nurture and protect it as we would any other asset.”
Speech: Windows Media Player | Quicktime
Company Video: Windows Media Player | Quicktime
Charles O. Holliday, Jr., Kenneth I. Chenault, Thomas J. McInerney, Ilene H. Lang, Carlos Ghosn, and Robert Pease, Shell Oil Company (left to right)
View Catalyst’s 2008 Dinner Video. © Catalyst 2008, Not Intended for Public Reproduction or Further Distribution
Check out the 2008 Catalyst Awards Conference retrospective, which features Forbes.com interviews with Catalyst Board Chair Charles O. Holliday, Jr., and the CEOs of ING USFS and Nissan.
Dinner Program
Dinner Invitation
Dinner Contributor List
Dinner Associate Chair List