Women’s Forum of New York to Honor Sanderson Farms for Advancing Gender Parity in the Boardroom at 2019 Breakfast of Corporate Champions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Anna Neel

601-664-2010

Women’s Forum of New York to Honor Sanderson Farms for Advancing Gender Parity in the Boardroom at 2019 Breakfast of Corporate Champions

With 35 Percent Female Board Representation, Sanderson to be Recognized for Raising the Bar and Accelerating Towards Gender-Balanced Boardrooms by 2025

LAUREL, Miss. (June 18, 2019) – Sanderson Farms will be recognized by the Women’s Forum of New York at its Breakfast of Corporate Champions on November 7, 2019 for achieving at least 30 percent female board representation. This benchmark biennial event brings together more than 600 thought leaders and change-makers including CEOs, Board Directors and government officials in support of one shared goal – achieving 50/50 gender parity in the boardroom by 2025.

With a corporate board comprised of 35 percent women, Sanderson Farms exceeds the national average for female-held board seats, which is currently 23.4 percent.

“Our female leadership has played a crucial role in our accomplishments as a company, and we couldn’t be more proud of their contributions,” said Joe F. Sanderson, President and CEO of Sanderson Farms. “We are grateful to the Women’s Forum of New York for honoring our company’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity.”

“On behalf of the Women’s Forum of New York and our more than 500 members who have achieved at the highest levels in every professional sector, we salute Sanderson Farms for actively enhancing its boardroom diversity and increasing its percentage of woman-occupied board seats to 35 percent,” said Janice Ellig, CEO of the Ellig Group and Chair and Founder of the Breakfast of Corporate Champions. “Sanderson Farms is part of a growing number of forward-thinking companies which are raising the bar and accelerating the U.S. towards the goal of gender parity by 2025.”

Sanderson Farms will join 323 S&P 500/Fortune 1000 companies which will be honored at the 2019 Breakfast of Corporate Champions on November 7, 2019 in New York City. Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., President & CEO, TIAA and Maggie Wilderotter, former Executive Chair and CEO of Frontier Communications are Co-Chairs for this year’s event. They will be joined by an impressive line-up of leading CEOs and Directors who will speak on why gender balance in the boardroom is a strategic business imperative and how to accelerate the path toward parity, including:

Michele Buck, President & CEO, The Hershey Company
Michael Corbat, CEO, Citigroup
Mary N. Dillon, CEO, Ulta Beauty, Inc.
Hubert Joly, Chairman & CEO, Best Buy Co. Inc.
Margaret Keane, President & CEO, Synchrony Financial
Larry Merlo, President & CEO, CVS Health
Patricia F. Russo, Non-Executive Chairman, Hewlett Packard Enterprises
Meg Whitman, former CEO, Hewlett-Packard

The 2019 Breakfast of Corporate Champions takes place on November 7, 2019 at Cipriani 42^nd Street, in New York City from 7:30am – 10:30am. To learn more about the event, review sponsorship opportunities or purchase tickets to attend, visit: www.womensforumny.org

About Sanderson Farms

Sanderson Farms, Inc., founded in 1947, is engaged in the production, processing, marketing and distribution of fresh and frozen chicken and other prepared food items. Employing more than 15,000 employees in operations spanning five states and 17 different cities, Sanderson Farms is the third largest poultry producer in the United States. As a company, Sanderson Farms is committed to adopting a fresh approach in everything that we do, not only where products are concerned, but companywide, as well. Though the company has grown in size, it still adheres to the same hometown values of honesty, integrity and innovation that were established when the Sanderson family founded the company back in 1947.

About the Women’s Forum of New York
The Women’s Forum of New York is the city’s premier organization of women leaders. The invitation-only membership of more than 500 women represents the highest levels of achievement across all professional sectors from finance to fine arts. The organization is dedicated to the advancement of women’s leadership through programs which enrich members’ lives both personally and professionally, through The Education Fund, which enables talented women whose potential has been disrupted by extreme adversity to resume their education, and through the Corporate Board Initiative, which extends and expands the contribution of women leaders through corporate board participation. Founded in 1974, the Women’s Forum of New York is the flagship of the International Women’s Forum, a global organization of over 6,500 outstanding women leaders in over 74 Forums around the world.