Ad agency McCann New York has unveiled a statue of a young girl staring down Wall Street’s famous “Charging bull” as part of International Women’s Day.
The sculpture, titled “The Fearless Girl”, was made by artist Kristen Visbal and was funded by McCann’s client State Street Global Advisors (SSGA).
The installation is supposed to symbolise the power of women in leadership roles and bring attention to the lack of women in corporate boardrooms.
McCann did get permission to erect the sculpture and plans to keep it there for at least a week. Images of the art piece have already made news sites around the globe.
Interestingly, the “Charging Bull” was installed outside the stock market without permission in 1989. It was the work of artist Arturo Di Modica and was supposed to symbolise strength following the stock market crash of 1987. Locals loved it so much it’s stayed ever since.
Commenting on “The Fearless Girl” sculpture, Ron O’Hanley, president and chief executive officer of SSGA, said:“We believe good corporate governance is a function of strong, effective and independent board leadership. A key contributor to effective independent board leadership is diversity of thought, which requires directors with different skills, backgrounds and expertise.
“Today, we are calling on companies to take concrete steps to increase gender diversity on their boards and have issued clear guidance to help them begin to take action.”
