With the exception of one director who resigned earlier this year, Algoma Steel Group Inc. has re-elected the same board it elected this time last year.
All 11 past directors nominated at a virtual annual meeting on Tuesday were elected.
Brian Pratt resigned from the board for personal reasons on March 29 and was not replaced.
The re-elected directors included three women who were added last year: Mary Anne Bueschkens, Ave G. Lethbridge and Gale Rubenstein.
Just two years ago, the Sault steelmaker was proposing to go public with an all-male board, months after the last company on Standard and Poor's 500 with an all-male board had finally added a woman director.
The history of ceiling-smashing at Algoma Steel dates back to 2007, when local lawyer (now a judge) Victoria Chiappetta became the steelmaker's vice-president, legal and general counsel.
"Algoma’s commitment to diversity and equality is real and evidenced in the actions taken since 2019 to improve the gender diversity of our senior leadership team," Laura Devoni, Algoma's director of corporate affairs and sustainability, tells SooToday.
"Since 2019 a significant number of key leadership roles in operations and management were secured by talented women including our general manager – DSPC [Direct Strip Production Complex] mill operations; director – corporate affairs and sustainability; vice president – general counsel; vice president – people and culture; and our chief human resources officer.” Devoni said.
One of Algoma Steel's board members identifies as Asian.
Two identify as underrepresented individuals in Canada.
One identifies as Hispanic or Latino.
Nine don't disclose their demographic backgrounds.
Algoma Steel has no directors identifying as LGBTQ+.
In its inaugural ESG (environment, social and governance) report issued earlier this month, the company stated: "While we do not currently have a formal policy or targets on the representation of women or designated groups on our board or senior management as of the date of this report, the nominating and governance committee is working to adopt a formal policy regarding diversity for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024."
The 2023 board consists of:
- Mary Anne Bueschkens
- Michael Garcia
- James Gouin
- Andy Harshaw
- Ave G. Lethbridge
- Michael McQuade
- Sanjay Nakra
- Eric S. Rosenfeld
- Gale Rubenstein
- Andrew Schultz
- David D. Sgro
The company appointed Deloitte LLP on Tuesday as its auditors for the 2023 fiscal year.