Alliance for Board Diversity (ABD)

Founded in 2004, the Alliance for Board Diversity (ABD) is a collaboration of four leadership organizations: Catalyst, The Executive Leadership Council, the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, and LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics). Pat Prout and Betsy Bruening, partners at The Prout Group Inc., an executive search firm, were founding strategic advisors for the Alliance. They later merged with Diversified Search, which now serves as a full ABD partner. The partners have a unified value proposition: To serve as a one-stop shop for companies, investors, the media and the public interested in advancing gender and ethnic/racial diversity on corporate boards.