NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Exelon joined the United Nations Women’s HeForShe campaign today with a commitment to invest $3 million in STEM programs for young women and girls and to improve the company’s retention of women by 2020. Launched by UN Women three years ago, HeForShe was created to foster a movement with a systematic approach and targeted platform where men can become change agents for gender equality.

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Exelon committed to improve retention of women at the company by 2020, with a goal to reach parity in voluntary turnover of men and women professionals. In addition, to continue building the pipeline of women pursuing careers in the historically male-populated energy sector, the Exelon Foundation will invest $3 million over the next three years to encourage and support young women’s involvement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The programs will create opportunities for girls and women to learn about and pursue careers in STEM-related fields.

“A diverse team of people – with different backgrounds, experiences, cultures and perspectives – makes Exelon a better company and a stronger community partner, and results in greater innovation and market competitiveness,” said Chris Crane, Exelon president and CEO. “We are actively and successfully recruiting women to join Exelon; it's just as important that they thrive here and find a long-term career with our company. We are pleased to join with UN Women and distinguished world leaders to create the change necessary to build a brighter, more sustainable future where generations of boys and girls have the tools to solve societal challenges together.”

In 2016, HeForShe launched a Thematic Champions program with global leaders who stand out as visionaries on gender equality. Each Champion is assigned a focus area and will actively leverage their unique resources to drive change that’s fundamental to gender equality. Crane was named as one of six new HeForShe champions at their annual meeting.

“We are delighted to mark the third anniversary of HeForShe by having these leaders join our UN Women family as HeForShe Champions. They represent diverse sectors and areas of expertise, and each has carefully crafted commitments that will be invaluable to creating equal societies,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women.

Exelon’s HeForShe commitment reflects the company’s ongoing focus on policies and programs that support employees and promote gender equality. In 2016, Exelon became the first utility to sign the White House’s Equal Pay Pledge to close the gender pay gap. This year, the company expanded family leave policy with an industry-leading benefits package that extends to adoptive parents and partners, as well as primary caregivers of critically ill relatives.

The company’s efforts to hire, retain and promote employees from a variety of backgrounds earned it a spot on this year’s “Top 50 Companies for Diversity,” the national recognition from DiversityInc. Exelon also recently joined 150 leading companies for the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™, the largest CEO-driven business commitment to take action to cultivate a workplace where diverse perspectives and experiences are welcomed and respected.

To learn more about Exelon’s initiatives to support the communities where its employees live and work, visit exeloncorp.com.

About Exelon

Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) is a Fortune 100 energy company with the largest number of utility customers in the U.S. Exelon does business in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Canada and had 2016 revenue of $31.4 billion. Exelon’s six utilities deliver electricity and natural gas to approximately 10 million customers in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania through its Atlantic City Electric, BGE, ComEd, Delmarva Power, PECO and Pepco subsidiaries. Exelon is one of the largest competitive U.S. power generators, with more than 35,500 megawatts of nuclear, gas, wind, solar and hydroelectric generating capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company’s Constellation business unit provides energy products and services to approximately 2.2 million residential, public sector and business customers, including more than two-thirds of the Fortune 100. Follow Exelon on Twitter @Exelon.

About HeForShe

Created by UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, the HeForShe solidarity movement for gender equality provides a systematic approach and targeted platform where a global audience can engage and become change agents for the achievement of gender equality in our lifetime. HeForShe invites people around the world to stand together as equal partners to craft a shared vision of a gender equal world and implement specific, locally relevant solutions for the good of all of humanity. For more information, visit http://www.HeForShe.org/en.

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