10 október 2025The Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration has been awarded the Balance Scale Recognition for 2025
The Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration has been awarded the Balance Scale Recognition for 2025
The Balance Scale, an empowerment initiative by the Association of Women Business Leaders (FKA), held its annual recognition ceremony this week. The event was first held in 2019. This year, a total of 128 participants received recognition — these are the organizations that have achieved the project’s goal of gender balance in executive management / top-level leadership.
Hópurinn sem hlaut viðurkenningu Jafnvægisvogarinnar 2025.
Dr. Ásta Dís Óladóttir, professor at the University of Iceland and chair of the Balance Scale initiative, opened the ceremony and praised leaders for their remarkable achievements in gender equality. Gunnar Gunnarsson, Head of Analytics and Consulting at Creditinfo, delivered an insightful presentation titled “Isn’t This Done Yet?”, and Minister of Justice, Þorbjörg S. Gunnlaugsdóttir, gave an inspiring and encouraging address.
In addition to FKA, the driving forces behind the initiative include the Ministry of Justice, Creditinfo, Deloitte, Pipar\TBWA, The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service (RÚV), The Federation of Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners, and Sjóvá Insurance.
90 companies, 22 public entities, and 16 municipalities receive recognition
The Balance Scale awarded recognition to ninety companies, twenty-two public entities, and sixteen municipalities from among the 253 participants who have signed the declaration of intent. The evaluation was based on the Balance Scale’s goal of achieving a 40/60 gender ratio in top-level management. A large portion of the signatories have made significant progress in this area.
The Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration was among the institutions recognized by the Balance Scale. The organization employs 348 permanent staff, of whom 23% are women, a number that is steadily increasing. Women make up 37% of managers, and in the executive leadership team, women represent 50%.
Equality has a direct impact on the environment
At the Balance Scale conference in 2020, a new FKA Equality Grove was introduced, provided by the Reykjavík Forestry Association to support the initiative. Each recipient of the Balance Scale recognition receives a tree as a gift, to be planted in the Equality Grove by the honorees themselves — today, Friday, October 10. Through this symbolic act, participants contribute to reducing their carbon footprint while also demonstrating their commitment to gender equality.
When selecting trees for the grove, emphasis is placed on choosing a diverse range of species, symbolizing the diversity that the Balance Scale promotes. It is the initiative’s goal to repeat this annually, and it would be a joy to see the hillside gradually fill over the coming years — in step with growing equality.
All information can be found on this website.