Laidlaw Women’s Leadership Fund announced

New Laidlaw Foundation and LBS partnership propels women in business

London Business School (LBS) has received £3.69m from the Laidlaw Foundation to advance women in business.

The creation of the Laidlaw Women’s Leadership Fund strengthens the School’s ambition of moving towards 51% female representation across LBS’s degree programmes, in particular the number of women from socio-economically diverse backgrounds. The fund aims to attract the highest calibre women who might not otherwise have been able to afford a top-tier business education.

Significant progress has already been made towards addressing the gender balance at LBS. With this investment, the School can further strengthen its efforts to achieve gender parity.

“With the Laidlaw Foundation we share a joint vision – to help exceptional women excel in their careers and take positions of leadership around the world,” François Ortalo-Magné, Dean of LBS, said.

“Unfortunately, many women reach a glass ceiling, particularly in the corporate world. I am deeply committed to helping more of them break that glass ceiling through expanding access to top business education,” Lord Laidlaw, Chairman, Laidlaw Foundation, said.

The Laidlaw Women’s Leadership Fund will support 20 outstanding female scholars per year for three years in the MBA, Executive MBA and Masters in Management programmes. It will create a strong network of cross-generational peers at LBS and beyond.

“Our aim is to achieve greater gender parity on executive and non-executive boards by fuelling female scholars with the education, resources and network to drive real change,” Susanna Kempe, Chief Executive of Laidlaw Foundation, said.