Collaboration aims to fill director seats with openly LGBTQ+ executives, who currently represent less than one percent of leaders in the Fortune 500

NEW YORK - June 29, 2021 - Diligent Corporation, the global leader in SaaS governance, risk and compliance, announced the addition of three new LGBTQ+ partners - Gaingels, Harvard Business School (HBS) LGBT Alumni Association and Out Leadership - to its growing Modern Leadership initiative which was created to further increase diverse representation at the executive and board levels for global businesses.

The initiative, launched in June of 2020, was developed to provide senior leaders with the resources, partnerships, and technology needed to build more diverse and inclusive boards and executive teams. Modern Leadership now has over 50 global partners, which are collectively contributing to Diligent Director Network - the largest and most diverse community of highly-qualified, board-ready directors and executives globally, accompanied by an expansive list of open board opportunities.

The new LGBTQ+ organizations joining the Modern Leadership initiative are:

• Gaingels - Gaingels founders are connected to a global network of LGBT/Ally investors to have better access to capital, investors' business acumen and contacts to recruit more diverse talent into its portfolio companies. Gaingels' members include venture capitalists, exited entrepreneurs, and leading angel investors from twelve venture capital funds, nine angel groups and over a dozen Fortune 500 companies.
• HBS LGBT Alumni Association - The HBS LGBT Alumni Association leverages its alumni community to influence the national LGBT agenda and conversation. HBS LGBT provides a forum for increased engagement to its current students, through programs such as its LGBT Fellowship and a soon-to-be-launched mentorship program.
• Out Leadership - The global LGBTQ+ business network has been instrumental in making LGBTQ+ equality a priority in global C-Suites. The network now counts more than 70 of the world's leading companies across 13 industries as members who are leading the conversations that inspire multinational companies to grow business through inclusion.

'We are delighted to be partnering with Diligent's Modern Leadership initiative in its pursuit of a diverse and transparent marketplace,' said Todd Sears, Founder & CEO of Out Leadership. 'This initiative is radically changing the way boards identify and recruit employees through a more diverse network of talent. They are the perfect partner in the fight to advance LGBTQ+ equality and elevate visibility in the workforce for our community.

'A diverse and inclusive workforce starts at the top of the organization with its leadership and Board,' said Brian Stafford, CEO of Diligent. 'With connections to more than 700,000 board members and leaders around the world, Diligent is committed to partnering with the LGBTQ+ community and allies to ensure boards and executive teams look more like the world we live in.'

Diligent is committed to enacting change at the board level by helping executives connect with more diverse candidates to fill leadership opportunities. To learn more about Diligent's Modern Leadership initiative, please visit https://diligentmodernleadership.com.

About Diligent Corporation

Diligent is the largest governance, risk and compliance (GRC) SaaS provider, serving more than one million users from over 25,000 organizations around the globe. Our modern GRC platform ensures boards, executives and other leaders have a holistic, integrated view of audit, risk, information security, ethics and compliance across the organization.

Diligent brings technology, insights and confidence to leaders so they can build more effective, equitable and successful organizations. We empower 79% of the Fortune 500, 90% of the FTSE 100 and 83% of the ASX 200 to improve their bottom line, keep pace with stakeholder expectations and create lasting, positive impact on the world.

For more information visit www.diligent.com.

Media contact:
Samuel Barber
Cognito
+1 917 246 2775
Samuel.Barber@cognitomedia.com