What co-ops and mutuals can do to balance the scales

10 March 2026

By Melina Morrison

International Women’s Day is a prompt to reflect on how our sector is progressing on gender equality and where the real work continues. The theme this year – Balance the scales – speaks to the co‑operative difference: inclusive leadership and workplaces. Our updated analysis of the Top 100 co‑ops and mutuals shows movement in the right direction, with women now chairing 33 per cent of boards in the Top 100 co‑ops and mutuals and holding 39 per cent of directorships, but more importantly, it underscores why our business model is so well positioned to support women into leadership roles.

Progress in our sector has always come from collaboration and intention, not from waiting for change to happen. As we continue engaging with government and industry on broader reforms, ensuring inclusive leadership remains a core part of that advocacy.

BCCM’s initiative to champion and support this mission, Eliza’s Project is named for Eliza Brierley, an inspirational pioneer in the co-operative movement who embodies the ideals of parity and inclusion. In 1846, Eliza paid her £1 membership fee to join the Rochdale Pioneers and brought about a true revolution – women having their membership and their vote in a democratic organisation, more than fifty years before women even gained the right to vote or to join trade unions.