Sophie L’Helias, a senior fellow with The Conference Board Governance Center and founder of the LeaderXXchange, was named to Global Proxy Watch’s “2018 GPW 10” list. It recognizes 10 people worldwide who have had a “salutary impact on corporate governance.”

She was honored for her company’s new search engine that allows people to see how public companies compare in gender leadership diversity. Called the Gender Diversity Exchange, the search engine uses a proprietary methodology and investor-grade data from ESG rating firm Vigeo-Eiris. It will expand to more than 4,000 companies in the near future from 1,500 in 27 countries across 38 industries.

Others named by the governance publication include: Chris Ailman of CalSTRS; Cindy Fornelli of the Center for Audit Quality; Kenneth Hayne, who headed the Australian Royal Commission’s review of the banking industry; SEC Commissioner Rob Jackson; Nell Minow of ValueEdge Advisors; Simon Osborne, who oversaw UK board accountability efforts by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators:The Governance Institute; Chris Sier  of the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s Institutional Disclosure Working Group; Yasumasa Tahara  of the Financial Services Agency that reviewed Japan’s stewardship code; and Christianna Wood of Harvard University.

L’Helias serves as a director on the board of Kering, a company listed on Euronext Paris in the CAC40 Index and world leader in apparel and accessories that develops an ensemble of luxury, sport and lifestyle brands.

She began her career as an M&A attorney in New York and Paris. She later joined an event-driven hedge fund in New York as managing director and founded a strategic corporate governance advisory firm. An expert on governance issues, she co-founded the International Corporate Governance Network, today’s leading global investor-led governance organization. Recently, she founded LeaderXXchange™ that brings together institutional investors, business leaders, and other market participants to promote diversity on corporate boards worldwide. 

Author of the book “Le Retour de l’Actionnaire” (“The Shareholder Comeback”), L'Helias frequently publishes articles in Europe, the United States, and Canada and is a regular speaker at business and academic forums. An inactive member of the New York and Paris Bars, L'Helias holds an MBA from INSEAD, an LLM from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Masters of Laws from the law schools of the University of Pantheon-Sorbonne- Paris I, following law studies at the University of Saarbrücken, Germany.