Navient, Wilmington, a loan management, servicing and asset recovery company spun off from Sallie Mae, has received the “W” Company award from 2020 Women on Boards. The national award is presented to companies that have demonstrated a commitment to board diversity with at least 20 percent women on their board of directors.
Seven of Navient’s 13 directors are women, representing more than half of the board. According to the 2020 Women on Boards Gender Diversity Directory, Navient’s board has the highest percentage of women of any financial services company. In addition, Navient has more women independent directors than any company of its size, according to analysis of S&P 500 companies.
The award comes after Navient successfully completed a spin-off transaction and launched as an independent company last spring.
Anna Escobedo Cabral, former U.S. Treasurer, joined the Navient board in December 2014. Private equity firm partner Katherine A. Lehman and former SEC commissioner Laura S. Unger were appointed in November 2014. Other Navient women directors are Ann Torre Bates, former executive vice president of NHP, Inc., a national real estate services firm; Diane Gilleland, former deputy director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education; Linda Mills, former corporate vice president of operations for Northrop Grumman; and Jane Thompson, chief executive officer of Jane J. Thompson Financial Services LLC.
